One of the most crucial components of your home is insulation. It’s critical that you take care of it as soon as possible when it’s no longer functional and needs to be replaced.
It can be challenging to determine when the insulation has to be changed and cannot be simply repaired. There are certain telltale symptoms that aren’t always related to ineffective insulation. In this post, we’ll discuss some of the most telling indications that your insulation needs to be replaced.
1. Poor Cooling and Heating Efficiency
Your home may seem warmer in some sections while being draftier in others due to inadequate insulation. This would result in your home using more energy to maintain its own temperature, which would decrease your overall comfort levels.
2. Water Leaks / Water Damage
Brown or dark splotches on your ceiling and wet floors are typical indications of a leak. Mold could be present where there is a leak. As was already discussed, having mold in your house can be dangerous for your family.
In spite of the concerns stated above, insulation is crucial. Insulation can be damaged by water, but insufficient insulation can also contribute to water damage. Without adequate insulation, a water pipe may freeze and burst in the winter, posing a serious threat to your house, family, and potentially even your money. It is best to ensure that your property is well insulated in all places in order to avoid such a catastrophe.
3. Pest Problem
Rodents and insects can occasionally nest under old insulation and feed on it, as nasty as that sounds. Even though fiberglass insulation is widely used, efficient, and reasonably priced, rodents can easily tear it apart and devour it. These pests find it simpler to enter a poorly air-sealed home. And tragically, it doesn’t take much work for them to enlarge existing breaches in some types of insulation.
Thankfully, spray foam insulation can completely stop these pests from entering. Additionally, animals and insects cannot digest spray foam insulation.
4. Frozen Pipes
Insulation’s role is to shield the house’s systems from icy cold temperatures. Your home’s water supply won’t operate properly if your pipes are frozen. Worse, it can result in a burst pipe and expensive repairs. Before the winter months, we advise getting your insulation examined at least once a year.
5. Lingering Unpleasant Odors
Even after you’ve done a thorough cleaning, does your house (or certain areas of it) have a strong foul odor? Is the smell a little bit moldy, specifically? Perhaps the source is not coming from a populated region.
Unfortunately, some types of insulation are not waterproof, unlike spray foam insulation. For instance, fiberglass insulation does absorb moisture. If there is a leak in your roof, the moisture may damage your insulation.
Extreme humidity and ground moisture, like melted snow, can also affect the insulation in your crawl space or basement. Mold can develop on wet insulation, producing unpleasant odors. The air that you and your family breathe is more seriously contaminated by mold.
Check your insulation to see if it needs to be replaced if you smell something musty but can’t locate the source. Call a professional if your insulation is moldy or if you are unable to inspect it.
6. Worsening Allergy Symptoms
Are any members of your family dealing with chronic allergy symptoms that don’t appear to improve when inside the house? It might just be your insulation; you might not need stronger allergy medication.
Allergy symptoms can occasionally get worse if mold is growing on your insulation. Certain insulation materials also have a tendency to accumulate dust, which has a negative impact on the air quality in your home.
It would be a good idea to completely improve your insulation and air-seal your home with spray foam insulation if members of your family experience horrible allergies in general. Air sealing stops the escape of conditioned air as well as the entry of outside air. This significantly raises the temperature in your house, keeping the air quality at its peak, and keeping allergens at bay.
7. An Unanticipated Rise in Bills
It goes without saying that bills will be greater in the winter and summer than they are the rest of the year. However, the cost increase need not be significant. In actuality, the rise can be stopped, especially with improved insulation like spray foam, which has the added benefit of air sealing.
Your insulation may be losing its efficacy if you discover your summer and/or winter energy expenses are significantly higher than they were in prior years. If you don’t repair it, your insulation can eventually stop working altogether or, worse yet, get worse for your health.
Book a Free In-Home Evaluation with Non-Stop Air Florida
It’s possible that you’ve decided that your house needs fresh insulation. Or perhaps you are unsure. In either case, a home energy evaluation is an excellent method to learn how much insulation your house actually requires.
If you replace your insulation, you might be amazed at how much additional money you can save over time. Additionally, changing your insulation, for instance, to spray foam, might raise the value of your house.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to pay for an energy evaluation of your property. Homeowners are not required to pay for a service; in fact, some reputable insulation firms give free quotes.
