Your Complete Guide to Blown in Attic Insulation: Is It Worth It?
Blown in attic insulation is a great solution for helping your home become more heat resistant and energy efficient, as it prevents heat from entering your home and cool air from escaping in the summer, and vice versa in the winter. Blown in attic insulation can be a great way to permanently cut your heating and cooling bills by over 20%, but most people aren’t exactly sure what blown in attic insulation is. This guide will teach you the basics and answer the most common questions surrounding blown insulation.
What is Blown in Attic Insulation?
Traditional insulation usually comes in faced batts (the foam-like boards) or as unfaced rolls, but if your insulation needs an update or you are adding it to an older attic, blown insulation is often a much better solution. Blown insulation (also known as loose-fill insulation) is most often comprised of mineral fibers, though people also use Styrofoam pellets or a cellulose material. Our blown insulation [link: https://www.healthyhome365.com/services/blown-inslation/] is made from a non-toxic fiberglass mineral wool. Fiberglass is the most common insulation on the market, and it is used in approximately 90% of new homes.
How is Blown in Attic Insulation Installed?
This insulation is named after its application; it involves filling stud or joist cavities, or covering an attic floor, with your chosen loose material. A small team comes to your home and one team member will use a blower hose to spray the fluffy insulation material across the floor and into cavities while another feeds the fiberglass mineral wool into a unit below the attic or outside the home. They’ll continue to spread the fiberglass wool until the cavities are filled or there is an even coating of the wool across the attic floor to a certain thickness (depending on the R-Value needed).
Why Install Blown Insulation?
Blown insulation is flexible in that it can be installed into any attic space and it can insulate the living space below, regardless of how the roof has been constructed (provided it’s watertight). It can effectively be installed in tight and oddly shaped spaces, provided it is well separated from the home’s living space. Often, blown in attic insulation proves to be far more cost effective than faced batts, fiberglass is non-combustible, and is resistant to pests. Unlike traditional forms of insulation, fiberglass does not make a great home for rodents, birds, and insects, and is resistant to moisture and mold.
It also provides some noise-canceling effects, which may be beneficial to you if you live near a busy highway, airport, neighbors who like to have regular family gatherings, or if you experience a lot of storms. This will also work in reverse; if you have musicians in the family, noisy dogs, or enjoy watching action films late into the night, you can do as you please knowing your neighbors won’t be disturbed, and may even help reduce room-to-room noise within your own home.
How Much Money Can Blow Insulation Save Me?
Blown insulation is more airtight than batts and rolls because it can get into the tiny nooks and crevices in your attic, where heat and cool air typically escape – this is what makes it so much more energy efficient than other solutions. While it is impossible to tell you how much your installation will cost here, most people see the cost of the installation return to them in money saved on energy bills over the next 2 to 4 years, because of this energy efficiency.
Can I Install Blown Insulation Myself?
In almost all cases, no, you can’t. This is because it requires a team to man the blower and feed in the materials, expensive equipment, and expertise to ensure an even covering of the wool. It often only takes a day for an experienced team to install your blown insulation and it will be completed with minimal mess.
How Long Does Blown in Attic Insulation Take to Install?
In most cases, blown in attic insulation will take just one day to install. Traditional insulation like faced batting and rolling will take the same team far longer than it does to blow in the insulation. Keep in mind, if your old insulation requires removal (due to pest droppings or toxic insulation) the installation process may take a couple of days to complete.
Is Blown in Attic Insulation Dangerous?
Any loose spores and fibers, natural or artificial, can be dangerous if wafted into the air and breathed in for a long period of time. Once your insulation is installed you should avoid disturbing the insulation and ensure children don’t have access to the attic if it is loose on the floor. Modern attic insulation does not contain asbestos. Most of the concern around insulation stems from the energy crisis in the 70s where urea-formaldehyde-foam insulation elevated levels of formaldehyde in some homes. This affected the health of some residents, which caused that form of insulation to be banned from the market. Most insulation nowadays is made from non-toxic or organic materials. Key ways of preventing airborne particles is to ensure you have proper ventilation and or covering your blown insulation with our multi layered aluminum blanket.
How Long Does Blown in Attic Insulation Last?
Regardless of what kind of insulation you choose, blown insulation is a permanent solution. Cellulose insulation lasts 20-30 years because it is made from recycled natural materials, whereas fiberglass materials will last much longer because it does not degrade.
Can Blown Insulation Increase the Life of My Air Conditioning?
Yes, blown insulation can help you increase the life of your HVAC. The temperature in your home will be kept much more stable, there will be less cool air escaping through the attic (and less heat finding its way in), and therefore your air conditioning will have to make much less effort to keep your home cool and comfortable in the summer. This decreased workload will increase the life of your HVAC.
So, Is Blown in Attic Insulation Worth it?
Unless your home is relatively new, you will almost certainly benefit from installing blown insulation in your attic. It will make your home a more comfortable place to be in summer and winter, decrease the cost of your energy bills, and increase the value of your home. If you are interested in having blown in attic insulation and live in Texas or the surrounding states, contact us for your free estimate [link: https://www.healthyhome365.com/contact/] today so your new insulation will be ready for the next time the weather changes.
