After a long, cold winter, spring is the perfect time to enjoy a stroll in the park and get your attic insulated. You guessed it right, spring is the perfect time to have your attic insulated. Insulating your attic will protect you from heat loss and gain throughout the year, but especially in peak seasons. You need to upgrade your insulation if it was not installed properly or in sufficient quantities from the beginning, if the older insulation is no longer effective, if the insulation has been destroyed or damaged by pests, water or other damage. It is better to update or …
You are looking for ways to improve your indoor air quality. We are insulation contractors and can answer many homeowners' questions about indoor air quality. Let's get into the details. Why it's smart to improve your indoor air quality According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are many health consequences associated with poor indoor air quality. Eye, nose, and throat irritation Headaches, fatigue, and dizziness Heart disease, respiratory diseases, and even cancer are all possible However, humans spend up to 90% of their time indoors. Indoor …
If your home is becoming more expensive to cool or heat, or some of the rooms are becoming uncomfortable, air leaks are almost always to blame. Air leakage happens throughout your home as conditioned air escapes through cracks and gaps. These processes make your HVAC system work much harder, causing your home to become excessively hot in the summer and excessively chilly in the winter. There are fractures and openings in every attic that allow air to escape. This is caused to defects in the home's construction, as well as HVAC and electrical repairs, and normal wear and tear. …
Have you noticed that the winters have been becoming colder lately? Are you living in an older home with an attic? If this is the case, you should consider adding sufficient insulation to your home. The energy efficiency of a home can significantly reduce costs. Water heating, for example, consumes almost 90% of the energy required to run a washer. Without the use of hot water, modern washing machines can clean your garments. Your home's insulation heat loss may result in a greater expense than if you reduce it. So, how can you keep your house warm during the cold months …
If you live in an area that experiences high temperatures in the summer - or all year round - you know how crucial it is to keep your home cool, especially if you have pets or children. In the height of summer, you also know how expensive it can be to keep your house at livable temperatures. A home's energy bill can often be more than half consumed by cooling it. In addition to keeping your home cool, good insulation can also help reduce those costs. How to find summer issues with your home's insulation. Check Problem Areas If you are unsure where your home might have an insulation …
While we frequently discuss the impressive insulative properties our cellular shade options offer, we also thought it wise to present information about some other parts of your house that can realize greater energy efficiency in terms of heating and cooling expenses. Many of these are spots that are overlooked by homeowners, but if they are effectively addressed, the financial savings tend to be truly impressive. Remember that heat rises, and as such, a smart method of keeping your home toasty during the winter months is to increase the insulation level in the attic space. The …
When it comes to taking care of your home, the roof ventilation may be one of those things that you haven't taken into consideration for a while, but in fact, plays a crucial role in your home. Your roof system's lifespan depends on how much attic ventilation you have in place, and at the same time, helps you save from the unnecessary and future roof and other related repairs to your heating and cooling system. Attic Ventilation: How It Works The intake vents need to go all the way down through the soffits, while the exhaust vents are placed at the roof ridge - this is a good …
Ice dams on your roof can present a huge headache in mid-winter. It's difficult to add to the frustration o an ice dam. There's just nothing quite like that steady drip from the ceiling and nothing to stop it immediately. If you've never had to deal with such a drip, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, you're likely using your favorite search engine to find out "How to remove an ice dam from your roof". There's no better time than now to find out how you can prevent an ice dam. In fact, learn from your mistakes and know that your insulation in your attic is quite possibly to …
Per the federal Department of Energy, the average home uses anywhere from half to two-thirds of its overall energy use just for heating and cooling alone. Substandard insulation is something that can result in serious air leakage. This makes your home far less comfortable. It also means you are wasting money on a monthly basis. Proper insulation means that you and your family can enjoy comfortable and healthy living in an energy-efficient way that helps the environment as much as your wallet and bank account. What Advantages Do Quality Insulation Mean For Your Home? If your …
Living in Minnesota means that you must have a properly insulated home if you would like to be comfortable throughout the year. Many people think of insulation as that cotton candy like material that is found throughout the house. Fact of the matter is, many people are unaware of how essential insulation is to their homes. Mild Weather The season in which you decide to add new insulation to your Minnesota home is going to play an essential aspect in the installation cost as well as how comfortable your home is. In Minnesota, the fall season tends to be the best time to insulate due …
Do you know if the insulation in your home is the correct R-value? Are you using the correct type for the right rooms? It is important to ensure that you are using the correct insulation in your home. If you have recently used drywall in your garage or you are finishing your basement, it becomes important to not only know the type of insulation that is required to fill this space, but also the thermal resistance that is needed. This is determined by the R-value of the insulation. Here is more information on the right insulation type that you should be using, what R-value means, …
Thanks to the sheer volume of information available on the topic -- some accurate, some not, and some outdated -- it's all too easy to develop misconceptions about spray foam insulation. This is a building material that's experienced vast technological improvements in the recent past. Information on foam insulation that was accurate 20 years ago may be entirely incorrect today. There's also a wide enough range of different foam products that you can't trust too many blanket statements to accurately fit all foams. Common Foam Insulation Misconception False: Closed Cell …
If you are living in the Twin Cities, you should expect cold winds, frosty mornings and heavy rain during the winter season. Yes, it’s exciting to wear the warm jackets, gloves, boots and scarves. However, it could be very frustrating if your home is not warm enough after a long cold day outside. Many families in Minnesota are struggling to keep their homes warm and comfortable during the winter season. They always end up using the heater and keep it on until the house becomes warm. However, if your home never seems to warm up there is a problem. If your home feels drafty and …
Roof ice dams can be a brutal fact of life in cold, snowy regions. For homeowners living in such places, making ice dam prevention is a crucial factor to consider when roofing your house. The significance of this issue is even greater since ice dam prevention materials are what roofing companies provide during cold climates. Therefore, it’s prudent and natural to be wary of add-ons provided by companies soliciting your particular business. So, what is ice dam prevention and do you need it? Impact of Ice Dams The ice dams’ effect is often not noticed until much later. Maybe in a …
Homeowners have one enemy in common, which is moisture. It has far-reaching implications from health consequences to structural damage. If the moisture level is too high, it can damage your home’s foundation. It accumulates on various surfaces thus causing the rotting of wood structures, the peeling of paint, and the short circuiting of electrical wirings. Pests such as termites, cockroaches, and other bugs also thrive in damp areas of the home. Dry, wet spots also promote the growth of mold thus leading to health problems, which include coughing, nasal stuffiness, throat …
The attic is one of the essential parts of your roof and the house in general. When kept in the best condition possible and properly-insulated, the attic will help repel anything from rodent infestations, strange smells, and even leaks into the house. In addition to this, sealing the attic helps create an envelope of warm air inside the house which translates to a more energy-efficient home in the long run. Proper attic insulation is essential for it helps seal cracks and crevices that moisture, animals, and heat might enter your attic. Here are some of the reasons and advantages of …
At MGT Insulation, we have insulation services for any application in your home or business. We start with a state-of-the-art infrared testing and blower door to identify any insulation problems that you may have. We then work with you to create a solution that works for you Some of the insulation applications available are: Attic Insulation, Sidewalls, Rim Joists, Crawl Spaces, Tuck Under Garages. The Insulation Products that we use are: Closed-Cell Spray Foam Insulation, Cellulose Insulation, Fiberglass Insulation, Foam Board Insulation. See our website for more …
Ice dams (and icicles) form when the snow melts, runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge. This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees F, warm enough to melt the snow, while the roof edge remains below freezing. This is often the result of a warm attic. In most homes, heat escapes through ceilings into the attic and warms the wood and shingles directly above it. Although the outdoor temperature is below freezing, the snow melts over the warmed section of roof. When the melted water runs down the roof, it hits the cold edge not warmed by the attic. There …
You’re probably aware that most attics and roofs are vented. Maybe you’ve seen a fan in the side of your attic under the eaves, or maybe you’re aware of the ridge cap at the peak of your roof. What you may not know, however, is that most homes don’t have enough attic ventilation, and that this lack of adequate ventilation can be raising your energy bills and doing damage to your home. Proper attic ventilation is an important part of overall roof maintenance. Attic ventilation is important to keep the air flowing through your attic, rather than simply letting it sit. Ventilation …
When it comes to insulating your home, there are two commonly used materials to do the job, fiberglass and cellulose. Both materials improve the energy efficiency of your home but do so in different ways. R-Value R-values refer to how well an insulation performs at blocking thermal transfer. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation performs. Fiberglass and cellulose have similar R-values, with ranges depending on how and where they are installed. Because fiberglass comes in batts or blown-in insulation and both materials can be loosely or densely installed, this can change …