Keeping It Green – Wasting Money, Literally Because You have a Poor Seal and are Low on Insulation

Insulation – it’s something you rarely see or think about. But it could be costing you hundreds of dollars a year in utility bills. The hot air is sucked out into the cold during the winter and the hot air from outside will come in during the summer. Did you know that before 1980 most building codes didn’t require insulation in exterior walls? And many older homes have no insulation at all!

Before we talk about the different types of insulation and the pros and cons, let’s first address what the purpose of insulation even is. Insulation is meant to stop the transfer of air from one location to another. If it is colder outside your house than inside, the purpose is to keep the hot air in and the cold air out. The air around us is always trying to be exactly equal. That’s why if you take a hot coffee in an open mug outside, the hot air will rise out of the mug and cold air will take it’s place. The air transfer will stop once the contents of the mug reach the exact same temperature as the air outside the mug.

This is exactly what is happening in your home. If it is 75 degrees in your home and 50 degrees outside, the natural tendency of hot air would be to leave your home, allowing cold air to come in, until your house reaches 50 degrees. Insulation is a barrier to stop the movement of that air. The exact opposite happens in the summer. The cooler inside air will want to switch places with the hot air outside. The purpose of all insulation is to stop that transfer, although some do it better than others.