There is already plenty on the fall to-do lists of many homeowners here in Frankfort and Chicagoland, like picking up final back-to-school supplies, managing multiple calendars and after-school activities, and keeping up with fall home prep for a healthy, happy home! So why is it that you should add a fall energy assessment for your home?
Here are 5 reasons why scheduling a home assessment now will save you headaches and cash down the line.
1. Prevent Ice Dams
Ice dams are an unfortunate symptom of the climate here in the Midwest. When temperatures drop and the snow starts to accumulate on your roof, the insulation in your attic becomes especially important. As you heat up your home using your furnace or boiler, that heat will gravitate toward the attic because it is the coolest part of your home.
Insufficient or damaged insulation allows that heat to escape your living space, and warm up the underside of the roof. This then melts the snow, which drains down to cooler parts of the roof and refreezes. This ice then accumulates and prevents future moisture from draining, and can cause serious damage to your home.
With an energy assessment from Assured Insulation, we can assess your insulation, remove the deteriorated or ruined insulation, and replace it so that your home is safe from the damage ice dams can cause.
2. Reduce Dependence on Your Heating & Cooling System
An energy assessment is aimed at uncovering as many inefficiencies as possible while providing you a blueprint for how to fix them. Once these inefficiencies are gone, your home will stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter without having to ramp up your heating and cooling system. This results in reduced energy costs, less wear and tear in your system, and a much lower risk of an untimely HVAC breakdown.
3. Fewer Indoor Drafts
Insulation isn’t the only way heat can escape your living space — there are also tiny holes and gaps hidden throughout the structure of any home that allow indoor air to freely move in between rooms, and even back outside. With an energy audit, Assured Insulation can locate all of these tiny holes using thermal imaging technology, and seal them up using an expanding foam material.
With a properly sealed and insulated home, you will enjoy fewer indoor drafts and more stable temperatures.
4. Avoid Pests and Bacteria
Not only will damaged insulation reduce your overall home comfort, but it can also be a trap for bacteria, mold growth, and pests. This is especially true when your insulation has been exposed to water.
An energy assessment gives your attic and basement insulation a thorough inspection, so you’ll know you aren’t about to hibernate the winter away with a nest of mice and cockroaches, or an unhealthy mold problem.
5. Warm Cold Morning Floors
Homeowners tend to spend very little time in their attic and basement. However, these two areas can have a drastic effect on the comfort of the rest of your home.
When a basement or crawl space is underinsulated, the outside temperatures will have much more influence on the temperature in the area beneath your feet. As a basement gets colder overnight, the heat will leave your flooring in search of the colder temperatures underneath. This is why many homeowners complain of cold kitchen or bathroom floors when they first wake up!