As much of the country reels from a massive winter storm and impending record-low temperatures, many homeowners are looking for ways to keep their homes warm without incurring costly energy bills, according to reporting from The Indianapolis Star.
Electricity costs are rising, and while lawmakers are looking at ways to alleviate energy prices, there’s no guarantee any legislative fixes will pass. Homeowners should take proactive steps now to assess their home’s building envelope and ensure their conditioned warm air is staying inside where it belongs.
In addition to getting an energy audit for your home, the article calls on homeowners to air seal their home, as “sealing the cracks and openings in a home is like closing a pipe of hot air that funnels all that warmth outside.” Air can leak from anywhere, including the roof, meaning that homeowners may be paying for heating costs that escape the home.
One critical way to help offset the rising costs of utilities and make homes safe and comfortable year-round is to examine your home’s building envelope and ensure the conditioned air used to heat or cool your home is being utilized as efficiently and effectively as possible. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, air leaks can waste up to 40% of the energy used to heat and cool a typical home. When conditioned air escapes, it may as well be hard-earned money going out the window.
Ensuring your home is properly insulated is an often overlooked but critical component to strengthen a home’s building envelope. Among the various types of insulation, spray foam stands out as the premium, all-in-one insulation material on the market. It not only insulates but air seals your home, saving homeowners up to 15% on heating and cooling costs alone. It’s no wonder why experts say that optimizing insulation in a home is the “best way” to “drop your energy bills,” and that the energy savings realized by upgrading to spray foam insulation can pay for itself in as little as 5 to 10 years.
As winter weather continues to sweep across the U.S., homeowners should look to spray foam insulation as a common-sense solution to keep their home warm and save money while doing so.