Attic Insulation MYTHS & FACTS

Attic Insulation: MYTHS & FACTS

Thinking About Insulating Your Attic? Get The Lowdown On
What It Really Entails.

Attic insulation…pretty basic, right? Wrong.

If you’re a Westchester homeowner, you probably want to slash your heating and cooling bills and help your HVAC system work at peak capacity. Attic insulation is a BIG part of that…but you need to know your facts.

Here, we poke some holes in the most common myths about attic insulation.

MYTH #1:

You don’t need to hire expensive professionals to insulate your attic. You can just buy an insulation machine and insulate your attic yourself.

FACT:

There are two ways to insulate your attic:

• You can buy a machine in Home Depot and DIY it.
• You can do it the RIGHT way.

If you choose the first option, your bills will still be sky-high and your insulated attic won’t be doing you any favors, because you’ve skipped a very necessary step: AIR SEALING.

Insulating your attic without air sealing is pointless because all the heated air in your home will be able to escape through cracks and crevices in your attic. Gobs of insulation will do ZILCH if those holes aren’t tightly plugged.

Here’s how to insulate your home the RIGHT (and effective) way:

• Step 1: Hire insulation experts who KNOW what they’re doing. Real insulation pros know exactly which crevices need to be sealed. They know how to seal them effectively. And THEN they expertly install the insulation.
• Step 2: Relax and enjoy your comfortable home and lower energy bills.

MYTH #2:

It’s ok to insulate your attic WITHOUT air sealing it.

FACT:

Absolutely not. That’s malpractice.

According to Energy Star — and every other reputable source for HVAC guidelines — you need air sealing PLUS attic insulation to properly insulate a home.

If you hire a company to insulate your home, and they skip the (more labor-intensive) air sealing step — they’re taking the easy way out AT YOUR EXPENSE. Your home will not be properly insulated and the heated or cooled air downstairs will eventually escape through the attic.

Attic insulation without air sealing is like wearing a sweater on a cold, rainy day — but not wearing a raincoat. Yes, the sweater might be thick and warm, but that won’t help you one bit when you get soaked to the bone.

Similarly, insulation is thick and protective, but if you don’t seal all the spaces on your attic floor, the air will escape regardless of how much insulation you have.

MYTH #3:

Insulating your attic can be a fun family activity, like what you see on HGTV.

FACT:

Newsflash! The things you see on HGTV aren’t real.

Air sealing is a major part of insulating your home — and it’s messy, laborious, and not very fun. Oh, and you also need to be trained and experienced to do it properly. What you see on TV is a romanticized (and ineffective) way to insulate your home.

IHere’s a look at what really happens when Innovative Air insulates your attic:

Our insulation experts go through your attic with a trained eye, looking for cracks and crevices — no detail escapes their notice. Electrical outlets, the bathroom fan, moldings, and the chimney chase are only some of the culprits for escaped air. Then, our insulation professionals call on their training and experience to successfully seal each and every crack. After this whole process is over, the insulation can be installed.

Doing all this minimizes the amount of heated or cooled air that escapes into the attic. Attic insulation AND air sealing is a combination that works together to keep the heated or cooled air in your home.

Contact Innovative Air

You can always rely on Innovative Air to be up to date with the most efficient and cost-effective HVAC practices. Contact Innovative Air today to have your home in trustworthy hands. We don’t cut corners, we NEVER take the easy way out — and our many rave reviews corroborate this.