These industries tout the benefits of their products and while it’s true new windows and/or a new furnace helps, it does not mean your home will cease to be cold and drafty after installing them.

What most homeowners do not realize is that the single biggest contributor to the cold and draftiness of a home is not the windows. All the building performance experts agree, no longer does an old house, or a new house have to be cold, drafty and difficult to heat. The “Secret Solution” to lower heating bills and a more comfortable house is in the attic.

In order to better understand why all the leading experts agree the attic is the “secret solution” to eliminating a cold, uncomfortable and drafty house you must be aware of two basic concepts of building performance. The first concept to know about is the “Stack effect” or “Chimney Effect”, in which, the warmer air inside your home is forced to rise to the uppermost portions of your house.

Next, it’s important to understand the concept of  a “building envelope” which is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of any building. So, as the warm air in your home forcibly rises it will meet the upper envelope, or in this case, your upper ceilings. If this envelope, or ceiling, has been penetrated (can lights, bath fans, attic access panels are great examples of penetration) and left unsealed, the warm air will be forced to escape. This, in turn, produces a “giant vacuum effect” throughout your home which will forcibly suck the cold, outside air into your home through the weaker and more susceptible parts of your lower building envelope (like rim joists, doors and windows and anywhere else that is not properly sealed.) This “giant vacuum effect” sucking cold, outside air into the home is the cause of the drafts in your home and not your doors and windows or some other perceived phenomenon.

If you want to test this in your own home wait for the next cold day when there is not a breath of wind outside. Next, put your hand near your doors and windows. That frigid rush of air you feel will not be a breeze from any wind outside but the force of cold, exterior air being sucked into your house by the “giant vacuum effect”. The best way to eliminate this and stop the drafts is to seal the penetrations in the upper building envelope of your home which will prevent the warm air from forcibly escaping and causing the “giant vacuum effect” in the first place.

The “Secret Solution” to fixing a cold, uncomfortable and drafty home is to seal the unsealed penetrations in the upper building envelope. Unsealed penetrations that a homeowner can see in the upper ceiling are things like attic access panels or stairs, can lights, bathroom fans, electrical boxes, HVAC registers, and entertainment cables or equipment. In the unseen attic space, there may also be dryer vents, chimneys, soil stacks, kitchen vents and walls that also need to be sealed.

The US Department of Energy agrees that the most cost effective way to improve energy efficiency and comfort in a typical home is to first seal the penetrations and then make sure you have adequate and correctly applied insulation. Properly installed insulation in the Atlanta area has a thermal value R-60 or 22 inches. If it is not installed correctly, however it will significantly reduce its thermal value and effectiveness. The good news is that by doing these things it is estimated that you can save up to 30% on heating and cooling costs (or up to 30% on your total annual energy bill).

Now that you have the “Secret Solution” you can make better educated decisions regarding your home and better determine how to best spend your hard earned dollars. For further information regarding the additional things you can do to increase the comfort level of your home like sealing your rim joists, weatherstripping your doors and windows and sealing your ductwork go to www.energystar.gov or contact us at, aladdininsulation.com or 678-528-7115 and we will be happy to visit your home and provide a free inspection.

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How do you know if attic insulation will make your home more comfortable?  These are some of the common occurrences Aladdin Insulation come across during the winter time.

• Our furnace runs all the time and our home is still cold
• Our guest room and bath are colder than any other room in the house
• The room over the garage is cold
• We think our furnace needs replacing
• The upstairs is too cold and down stairs is too hot
• We think it’s our windows
• We think it’s our doors
• We pay a fortune to heat our home and it’s still cold
• We just replaced our furnace and it’s still cold

Does these sound like some of the problems you may be facing with your home? Well, you’re not alone. We hear these issues all the time and we can help. Get your winter home comfortable with attic insulation. The first step is to inspect your home to determine if we can solve your comfort issues. Surprisingly sometimes the issues require a simple remedy. Sometimes the issues are more serious. Whatever the remedy may be, the investment is usually very affordable. Making your home more comfortable with attic insulation does not require spending a fortune. Beware of  characters selling high-priced solutions that usually don’t address the problem.

Aladdin Insulation offers a free in-home evaluation with BPI experienced inspectors that go the extra mile to find affordable ways to make your home more comfortable by:

• Adding Attic Insulation
• Air sealing gaps in the attic
• Air sealing plumbing penetrations
• Air sealing electrical penetrations
• Installing weather stripping to doors
• Installing Attic Tent to staircases
• Installing Insulated sheathing
• Air Duct Cleaning

There are so many ways to make your winter more comfortable. The remedy starts with a free home inspection. Get your winter home comfort with insulation.

We will inspect your home to determine if we can help solve your home’s heating and cooling ( next summer) issues. To get started give Aladdin Insulation a call at 678-528-7115 or visit us online at aladdininsulation.com

Get your winter home comfort with insulation!

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Decorations

-Switch to LED Christmas Lights. Christmas lights are a staple of the holidays and contribute most to high energy costs. LED Christmas lights use 90% less electricity than regular Christmas lights, and can be purchased for around $10 a strand. Want to learn more? LED holiday lights can reduce energy consumption and save you money. LED lights are more energy efficient than traditional lights, with the added benefits of being shatterproof, shock-resistant, and cool to the touch.

-Wait until dark to turn on your Christmas lights and then, turn them off before you go to bed. Six hours or less of daily use is a good goal to aim for. Do you have trouble remembering to turn your lights on and off? Then, set a timer, and forget about it. Using an automatic timer can optimize your energy savings, as you can customize the system to turn on and off at specific times of the day.

-Decorating your home with candles is a great way to bring in the season and reduce your reliance on electrical sources.

-Turn off room lights when tree is lit. The lights on your Christmas tree should provide more than enough lighting to navigate around the room.

Heating

-When entertaining, turning down the heat in your home can save money, as the reduction in temperature will be offset by guests giving off body heat.

-Use your fireplace to heat your home instead of your thermostat – just remember to close the flue and ensure that heat is not escaping through the fireplace when not in use.

-Check your HVAC Filters, Carbon Monoxide Detectors and make sure you have a fire extingusher to be safe.

-Guests and your family with allergy symptoms may benefit from having your Air Ducts professionally cleaned.

-Make sure your attic insulation is up to par for those cold areas of your home.

-Install a programmable thermostat.

Holiday Cooking

-Since many holiday main courses slow cook for hours, there is little need to preheat the oven.

-When checking the progress of food in the oven, use the oven light instead of opening the door. Every time you open the door, you can lower the oven temperature by as much as 25 degrees, which will waste both cooking time and energy. The same concept holds true when cooking on the stove: keeping the lid on pots can help reduce cooking time and energy usage.

-Have multiple items to cook? Let your oven do double duty; if you are able, bake multiple dishes at the same time.

-When cooking on the stove, consider the size of the pan you are using. For instance, using a six-inch pan on an eight-inch burner can result in a 40% energy loss.

-If applicable, use smaller appliances when cooking. This is especially true when it comes to reheating food – using a microwave instead of an oven reduces energy usage by 50% or more.

-To optimize the efficiency of your dishwasher, only run it with a full load.

-Purchasing new appliances? Make sure you check the Energy Star rating for best Energy saving tips this Holiday Season.

Shopping

-One of the Energy saving tips this Holiday Season to conserve energy during the holiday season is to shop online. If store shopping is more preferable, take extra steps to conserve energy – carpool, use mass transit, and purchase multiple items on your checklist in as few trips as possible.

-Buying local foods and goods not only supports your local economy, but ensures that transportation-related energy costs are minimal.

-Purchase gifts that are durable, energy efficient, recyclable, or made of natural products to reduce the need for these items to be constantly replaced.

-Thrift stores and antique shops are great places to find inexpensive and unique gifts, while reducing waste through reuse of products.

-Make a pledge to buy gifts that don’t use electricity or batteries and you can reduce expenses on batteries and electricity.

-If you purchase or receive gifts that require batteries, invest in rechargeable batteries and chargers to reduce waste and take advantage of Energy saving tips this Holiday Season.

-Purchase ENERGY STAR-certified electronics – TVs, Blu Ray/DVD players, computers, etc. These devices use up to 60% less electricity than non-certified electronics.

Take a Walk to See the Christmas Lights

Ultimately, there are many  Energy saving tips for this Holiday Season to reduce energy consumption this year. Taking the initiative to reduce energy usage will not only positively impact your finances, but it will also increas home’s comfort this year. Aladdin Insulation hopes that your family has a happy and healthy holiday season and that you take extra steps during this time of year to increase the comfort and reduce your home’s energy consumption.

Call 678-528-7115 or aladdinhomepros.com to get a free energy auditand provide Energy saving tips this Holiday Season!

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Top 5 Fall Energy Saving Tips! After a hot summer, some of us are ready to cool down and enjoy fall. This means it’s almost time to turn on the heat and turn off the air conditioning. One thing most people don’t enjoy about fall is the amount of energy they use to heat their home. A survey done by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that space heating makes up 41% of energy use in Georgia  homes. It may be time to invest in energy efficient insulation for our planet and for your home’s comfort. Here are our top five fall energy saving tips to help you lower your energy use when it’s time to turn on the heat.

Get an energy audit

An energy audit is the first step in improving your home’s comfort and energy use. The energy audit will show you where you can conserve the most energy throughout your home and what improvements can be made to solve your home’s comfort and energy efficiency issues. This will ensure you fix or install the right systems, and confirms the health and safety of your home. If you get an audit during the fall, you may be able to install energy efficient heating systems just in time for the colder months.

Sealing air leaks save you money

Get a routine maintenance check on your furnace

It’s important to not only inspect your furnace for anything unusual, but to also contact an HVAC professional to look at your furnace and thermostat before you turn on your heating for the season. During the colder months, be sure to replace or clean your air filter every three to six months. This prevents any debris from making your system work harder and getting into your home and causing health issues. Make sure to also dust your registers regularly and open your heating vents.

Invest in insulation and air sealing

Insulation helps keep heat in your home in the colder months and out in the warmer months. This will help limit the amount of work your furnace must do to keep your home warm. Insulation also helps prevent icicles from forming off your roof and creating a potential hazard. Along with insulation, you should also invest in air sealing to prevent leaks. Air leaks typically come from gaps in certain areas of your home such as window trim, recessed lights, top plates, basement rim joists, and above cabinets and showers. Having both insulation and air sealing in your house reduces drafts and slows down the heat transfer in your home.

R-60 22inches of insulation is recommended as the best for Georgia.

air sealing

Use the sun’s heat

During the fall and winter, keep your shades and curtains open to let in sunlight that will help heat your home. Be sure to close them at night when your windows get colder. You can also invest in solar panels to power your home depending on your home’s orientation.

Make small fixes around your home

There are small things you can do around the house that make the most out of the heat you use, while still making your home comfortable.

• Install a programmable thermostat and schedule it to lower the heat when you’re away, or install a wi-fi thermostat to adjust the temperature even when you are not home.
• Turn on your ceiling fan and rotate the blades clockwise. This will help push heat down into the room.
• Move furniture or other objects that are blocking your vents to improve air flow.
• Keep your doors and windows locked. This helps keep them pushed tight against the weather stripping to prevent air leaks.

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Most people think they already have enough insulation in their attic and/or basement, but if there are holes under it, or imperfections in the installation of insulation, then in most cases, your insulation is only averaging around 25% of what the rated R-value should be.

Air sealing and insulation installation process

air sealing and attic insulation

Following are the steps that I take, as a BPI Certified Professional, to make sure that air sealing and attic insulation is properly installed in an attic space. This technique is what I use when applying air sealing and insulation in attics, but these steps may differ between contractors. Use this as an example of what you might see when a contractor works on your home:

1. I educate the owner(s) about air sealing and attic insulation, and inform them that the two go together, then I provide a complete home evaluation to be certain that the attic insulation can be installed properly in the home in the first place. This is about homeowner health and safety, comfort, energy efficiency, and lowering utility bills. If incentives are available, then they are a reward to help offset the costs to the owner for doing the project properly with a trained, educated and BPI-certified home performance contractor.
2. Testing of all combustion appliances, ducts, and more before, during, and after all work is performed to the BPI Standards to make sure that the air sealing and insulation does not affect the combustion appliances’ performance and that the air sealing and insulation were installed properly.
3. Use of a blower door to measure house leakage, Air Sealing and Attic insulation  and to locate all holes, leaks, and pressure differences allows professional recommendations for improvements to be made. A homeowner then decides what measures they would like completed. Testing after the work has been completed proves that the contracted changes have been completed.
4. If the HVAC ducts are designed properly (usually not the case), make sure the ducts are air sealed, so insulation does not get distributed through the ducts and into the home, possibly giving the occupants difficulty breathing. Ducts should be buried in the new insulation to meet or beat the minimum code requirements.
5. A properAir Sealing and Attic insulation proposal could include removing existing insulation (if any), when it is discovered that the old is not in proper working order, or not installed properly. Some insulation could have rodent/bug issues, and/or have carcinogens (yellow or pink in color) in it as a preservative. A thorough preparation of surfaces may include a vacuum clean and sanitizing of the area where the new insulation will be installed to allow for proper air sealing techniques and materials to be applied.
6. Recommendations are made to correct any wiring deficiencies, such as exposed wires, open junction boxes, wire splices, etc. and replace all non-insulation contact air tight (ICAT) ceiling/attic light fixtures with ICAT LEDs, due to potential heat/moisture/fire concerns. This process will require a thorough investigation of the attic and since the existing insulation will be in the way, the insulation will need to be removed anyway. Often, it may be recommended that Air Sealing and Attic insulation is not installed over old insulation.
7. Recommendations will be made to fix, repair, and/or replace all water leaks and moisture accumulation problems in attic as needed. Insulate all exposed hot/cold water lines to a minimum of R4 code requirements with the proper water pipe insulation wrap. This is to prevent future condensation issues on your newly installed insulation.
8. Recommendations will be made to install any missing kitchen/bath exhaust mechanical ventilation, venting it properly to outside and per ASHRAE 62.2-2016 and minimum code requirements.
9. I then ensure that all exhaust vents (kitchen, bath, etc.) are sealed, vented to the outside, and insulated according to local code requirements. During the inspection the auditor will test and measure the air flow of these exhaust fans to make sure they are meeting or exceeding the minimum manufacturer requirements.
10. Installation of insulation baffles in attics in locations such as soffit/eave vents, and around combustion appliance vents (fireplace, DWH, furnace, etc.) will be made as needed. The intent is to protect against fire safety issues that are common when insulation is installed, and to ensure it is providing the minimum code requirements for air flow and clearance from flammable materials.
11. If air leaks are discovered hidden above dropped ceilings, or in cabinet soffits, wall chases, shafts, open stud walls, or plumbing walls, a recommendation will be made to air seal them so that insulation can be installed properly.
12. Depending upon the condition and location of insulation, recommendations may be made to install proper dams to maintain insulation levels at an attic access, combustion appliances, edge walls, knee walls, skylights, light fixtures, etc.
    

    air sealing

13. Additional Air Sealing and Attic insulation recommendations may include sealing all accessible top/bottom plates, gypsum board seams, sub-floor seams, rim joist perimeters, electrical wire holes, gas/plumbing line holes, duct boots, etc. to decrease air leakage and to prevent heat loss and heat gain.Installing insulation attic rulers every 6-8 feet apart, per manufacturer requirements, provide a quick visual reference of how much insulation is located in an attic.
14. Insulation recommendations to apply spray foam, loose fill cellulose, or fiberglass insulation in the attic, with proper air density and height will be made according to specifics regulated by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) where a home is located.
15. When a contracted work scope is finished, a contractor may leave a certificate of completion in the attic with the manufacturer’s specifications, warranties, MSDS sheets, so that any technician that enters the area in the future knows what they are looking at and working with.

Ready to make your home more comfortable and efficient?

Sometimes hiring a professional to do Air Sealing and Attic insulation as well as updating your homes energy envelope is recommended. To find out more call 678-528-7115 or aladdininsulation.com

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