Is your energy bill suspiciously high and getting higher? Are the rooms in your home different temperatures? Is your home more than 20 years old—yes 20, even homes built in the 1990s could be compromised—? You might have a home insulation issue.
If you think your home insulation isn’t working, the best thing you can do is have your home audited by an expert. We can tell you how well your current insulation is performing and if there are any major issues compromising the interior temperature of your home and causing your energy bills to skyrocket.
Here are a few things you can do to determine if your home insulation isn’t up to par.
1. Ask an Expert about your Home Insulation
The easiest and most reliable way to test the insulation in your home is to have an expert look at it. And we happen to know three guys that have more than 30 years of insulation expertise between them. Get an energy audit from the spray foam experts themselves: the team at Reeves Insulation.
A Reeves Insulation home energy audit includes the following:
- A blower door test. It sounds simple, and it is. We attach a tarp with a special fan to your main entrance and measure your whole house for air leakage at once.
- Six CFL light bulbs. These energy efficient light bulbs will make all the difference for your interior lighting.
- And an electric smart strip. What’s a smart strip? It’s an energy efficient power strip. It saves energy by not draining power to unused appliances that are plugged in. No need to remember to unplug your cell phone charger. A smart strip will electronically do it for you. It might seem like a small adjustment, but the results will add up.
Call us at (870) 793-2623 or visit our website here to schedule or learn more about our energy audits.
Aside from hiring an expert to come look at your home. Here are a few ways you can check out your own home insulation.
You need to know what areas in your home are insulated and which parts aren’t, and maybe should be. If you know the builder, they can give you this information. If your home is older, than it’s especially important to check the insulation quality. Get your best flashlight and do some inspecting yourself.
2. Check the Home Insulation in the Attic.
Your attic is the best defense you have against losing the temperature battle between the interior of your home and outside. According to the Department of Energy, the insulation in the attic of a wooden Arkansas building needs to be rated from R-30 to R-60.
Use a measuring tape against the joists in your attic to see how thick your insulation is. In attics, moisture and airflow can be a real problem for good insulation. Does the insulation look worn down? Is it discolored? Check for leaks.
3. Test the outlets.
That’s right. The outlets. They are your secret door to seeing what is behind the sheetrock or paneling of your home.
First, find the electrical panel in your home and make sure the power where the outlet is located is turned off. You don’t want any electricity running through the outlet while you do your inspection.
Unscrew the cover and use your flashlight to see the insulation behind the outlet. You can even reach in—if the power is off—and take out a sample of the insulation to determine what kind of material was used.
To be thorough, you need to check outlets on every floor of the house. Especially if the temperature in your home is uneven.
4. Read your electricity bill.
Compare your electric bill to last year. Are prices rising? Year over year comparisons can tell you if your home insulation has made itself the culprit behind your expensive energy bill. If your insulation is deteriorating, it will be more evident over a long period of time.
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If your home does need to be re-insulated, give us a call at (870) 793-2623. Reeves insulation estimates are free.
