Energy costs are rising across the US, and homeowners in Grand Rapids, Holland, Grand Haven, and Kalamazoo are feeling the strain on their wallets more than ever. You might be wondering how, despite staying in the same home, your energy bills are climbing! The answer is a combination of external factors that drive up the price of fuel and electricity, as well as slowly decreasing efficiency in an aging home.
Luckily, the experts at WMGB Home Improvement are here to help with five of our favorite tips about improving your insulation to help you save money, energy, and improve the comfort of your home year-round. As an added bonus, you’ll be able to enjoy healthier indoor air quality thanks to your home efficiency upgrades!
- Find Out If You Need New or More Insulation
According to ​​the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA), as much as 90% of US single-family homes are underinsulated to the point of sacrificing valuable energy and money. For this reason, it’s a very good bet that your home is lacking in insulation!
When you call in a contractor like WMGB Home Improvement, we’ll be able to tell you exactly where you’d benefit from added insulation thanks to diagnostic testing and professional guidance. With this in mind, you get to decide where you’d like to begin in boosting the efficiency of your home, and make the best choice for your family and your budget.
- Remove Damaged or Old Insulation
When choosing to upgrade or supplement your home’s insulation, it’s critical to first remove damaged or old insulation that’s no longer serving you. If you add new insulation on top of moldy or wet existing insulation (commonly seen in basement or crawl space insulation), your new insulation will be ruined and just as ineffective as what you had before, resulting in a huge waste of money.
When you’re managing insulation removal, it’s smart to use a professional team to get the work done for you. We completely understand the temptation of DIY insulation, but with the help of a professional team of insulation installers, you’ll avoid any number of costly missteps or even injuries.
- Determine What Kind of Insulation You Need
Not all insulation works in every environment! For example, some varieties are more susceptible to mold, meaning that they should not be placed in wet environments. When researching the many varieties of insulation, it can become overwhelming to determine where certain materials should be installed in your home for the best results!
This is where you’ll benefit from the help of a professional home performance technician, who has been trained to know which types of insulation should go where, including blown in fiberglass insulation, spray foam insulation, and more.
- Decide Where to Add To or Replace Your Insulation
Deciding where to insulate your home isn’t always easy or intuitive! By signing up for a home energy audit from WMGB, our technicians can review every detail of your home to assess where you’re losing out on home performance. WMGB technicians will also ask you about your experience living in your home, as you know it better than anyone.
You might be surprised by the results! Cold floors, for example, could indicate that you’re a great candidate for basement insulation or crawl space encapsulation. If you battle ice dams annually, attic insulation could solve the problem for good.
- Schedule a FREE Quote to Boost Your Home Performance
When it comes to searching for a top contractor in the home performance industry, look no further than WMGB! We’ve been working in homes throughout the Wyoming, MI area for over 40 years, and are proud to help our clients and neighbors save on their home’s energy costs.
We offer a FREE quote for all of our projects so you can start your home improvement project with peace of mind.
