How Insulation Keeps Your Home Cool and Warm
There are some misunderstandings about home insulation that we often encounter in our work. One of the most common is that the purpose of insulation is to keep a house warm. That is one of insulation’s purposes, but not the only one. Because people often associate insulation to keeping protected against the cold, they don’t often realize that insulation will also keep them cool. This is why, even in a desert climate like that in Glendale, AZ, insulation is vital for your home. Without proper insulation, your AC would struggle every moment it was on during the hot season, and you would pay a small fortune in energy bills.
To make sure you have effective insulation, talk to our comfort experts at Goettl Good Guys Air Conditioning. We offer a full range of insulation services in Glendale, AZ.
What Insulation Does
Insulation is a thermal barrier: it blocks the movement of heat. Heat travels in three ways: conduction (the movement of heat through contact, such as when you touch a metal pan that’s been in an oven), convection (the movement of heat through air, such as feeling warmth in the air blown from a furnace vent), and radiation (the movement of heat in electromagnetic waves off a heated object, such as feeling heat coming from sunbaked asphalt). Insulation, most of which is composed of fluffy material, stops the movement of heat through convection and conduction, although not through radiation.
During cold weather, the insulation in your home traps the heat coming from your heating system and prevents it from escaping outside. This is especially important in the attic, because heat rises and the attic is the main place it will leak out. Insulating the attic works the same way as wearing a woolen cap on your head on a cold day.
During hot weather, insulation prevents outside heat from entering your home, and thus makes it easier for your air conditioner to overcome the temperature.
You might at this point wonder what can be done with heat moving through radiation, since insulation doesn’t stop that. But there’s a solution to that as well: radiant barriers. This reflective spray put on the undersides of roofs deflects radiant heat from direct sunlight so it cannot enter a house through the attic. A single coat can block out 80% of the sun’s heat energy, which is extremely helpful in sunny Arizona.
Make Sure Your Home Has the Best Insulation
If your bills for heating and cooling seem abnormally high, you may need to have new insulation put in, or perhaps a radiant barrier added. We offer a variety of energy-efficient services. For installation and repairs on insulation in Glendale, AZ, contact us today and schedule your next service appointment!
