Tips on Better Insulating Your Home

Sponsored Content

Every Canadian understands what it’s like to be cold. When energy prices become unpredictable, you want to do everything possible to make sure that your home is properly insulated so that you can spend as little as possible on energy bills. If you have a particularly large house, there are unfortunately many ways that heat can seep out and cold air in. It will do you good to familiarize yourself with the latest insulation methods to make sure your home is in the best shape it can be with regard to insulation and related heat-saving measures.

You’ll probably be surprised at some of the ways you can conserve heat. It’s always good to do your own research and see if anything else comes up that you hadn’t thought about before. Here are some things to consider.

Buy good quality windows

For really solid windows, you’ll want to look for those that have triple panes. Triple-pane windows provide much better protection than double- or single-pane windows. In looking for windows replacement, check out different companies’ ratings with regard to their “R” and “U” factors. These are measurements that are used in calculating insulating quality. The lower the number, the better the quality. You should be able to find the best rated triple pane windows in your area by looking at local review sites.

Install thermal curtains

Once you’ve got your windows in place, it would also be a good idea to find thermal curtains. Both these types of curtains, as well as high-quality triple-pane windows can be effective in insulating your house both in the summer and winter. Summer can bring about different types of insulation problems, particularly excessive humidity. Therefore, the more measures you take to keep your house at a neutral temperature all year-round, the more you’ll save on heating bills in the winter, as well as air conditioning in the summer.

Provide extra sealing for doors and windows

Even if you have the best quality windows, it could be that oddly shaped frames still have cracks in them. The same goes for doors. It would be to your benefit to seal up all these areas with either weatherstripping material, or a caulk gun. A caulk gun can be particularly effective in targeting hard-to-reach areas and covering them inconspicuously.

Insulate your attic

We all know the creepy picture of going up into an attic and suddenly being bombarded by a sea of pink insulation foam. This is because the attic is the last layer of protection that your house has to outside air.

There are different ways that you can insulate your attic. You can either use insulation rolls to the ceiling to cover the majority of the roof area. For corners or other difficult parts to reach, you can also use spray foam to ensure that no cracks are left uncovered.

Insulate your pipes

This is something that many people don’t think of, but of course pipes can become cold, too. If you insulate your pipes with standard water pipe insulation, it can reduce the amount of time that it takes water to heat and thereby save you money on your water bills. It will also save you time waiting for the shower to heat up!

Insulate your HVAC ducts

HVAC ducts are created to act as a channel, of course, so just as cooled air from a window unit can come into your home through them, so too can cold air in the wintertime. If you have ducts that are potentially exposed to the outside air, it would be a good idea to insulate them during the wintertime so that cold air doesn’t seep in accidentally.

Insulate patio doors

Patio doors are much thinner than front doors, so they are a potential conduit for cold air. There are types of foam board you can find that are especially made for patio doors and will serve to insulate them thoroughly during the colder months. Alternatively, you can install a storm door in place of your patio screen door to act as a second layer.

Keep reviewing trends online

As mentioned above, these are just a few of the things that you can do to keep your house insulated and protected from both winter cold, as well as summer heat. There are many small ways that your home can lose insulation quality, and the bigger your house, the more of these there are likely to be.

For this reason, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for new ideas and products that will help you keep your home insulated. You’ll find that your energy savings adds up with each additional measure that you take. Beyond that, you’ll find that you’re more comfortable year-round.