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31 January 2012
This winter may not have had a lot of snow so far, but the house still gets cold. A great way to increase your homes heating (can cooling) efficiency is to increase your home’s insulation. Adding additional insulation, especially in the attic, can make a huge difference in the temperature of your home all year round.
At the same time that you are checking your attic insulation, you should be sure that there is proper insulation around your pipes as well.
Typically, a home loses heat in the following areas: ceilings, walls, floors, windows and doors, and “infiltration (air loss).” Even though your home loses heat from all these areas, they don’t all lose the same amount of heat.
Here is how each area stacks up in terms of percent heat loss in a home:
Contact Custom Insulation for your insulation needs.
23 January 2012
What features in a new house will affect its resale value? The curb appeal and the new kitchen surely will. But, as the cost of heating and cooling continues to rise, your home’s insulation and the quality of that installation could be a compelling factor.
Insulation slows the passage of heat through your walls and roof and so reducing the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling. In winter the insulation helps to keep the heat from seeping out; in summer it keeps the heat out.
Blown-in cellulose insulation has a high recycled content, and relatively little energy is used in its manufacture. Blown in insulation is the top choice of many builders for standard wood-frame home construction.
Fiberglass batt insulation is more widely used than cellulose to insulate walls, but it must be installed correctly. When it is not, the insulation is seriously compromised. The problem lies in the fact that fiberglass batts must be carefully cut to fit tightly around plumbing pipes, wiring, boxes for outlets and light switches, and any other irregularity in the outside wall. When there are gaps, heat passes easily through the wall. This is why it is best to have batt insulation installed by insulation professionals.
There is also a less common type of fiberglass called spray foam insulation because it completely fills the space between the wood studs, leaving no gaps. It contains about 25% recycled material and costs less than batt insulation.
Your home has more winter heat loss through your roof than through your walls, and you’ll need more insulation in your attic area under the roof than in the exterior walls below. The extra insulation will also cover summer heat gain, it is not uncommon to have summer temperatures in an attic exceed 140 to 150 degrees F. Because it’s faster to install blown-in type insulation into an attic cavity, most home builders use it.
For information on what type of insulation will be best to increase the value of your home, contact Custom Insulation.
Original Article - Washington Post
17 January 2012
Making your home perfectly energy efficient can be challenging unless you’re building a custom home right now. Your best bet to energy efficiency now is tightening up the building’s envelope: caulking and weather stripping, more insulation, and better windows and doors.
Plugging air leaks and topping up insulation can save over $400 a year, according to energy provider Direct Energy. Upgrading insulation in a 1,200-square-foot attic saves enough money in energy savings to make up for the cost of the project.
For insulation, anything less than R12 in the walls and basement, R20 for exposed floors and cathedral ceilings and R40 in the attic should be upgraded. Going from R10 to R20 gives you the biggest boost: it’s the first few inches that are most important.
Adding rigid Styrofoam to the outside walls can bridge thermal gaps, which are heat leaks where the fiberglass insulation stops at the studs, although you may need to remove the exterior siding to do so.
For free quote for replacing insulation in your home, contact Custom Insulation.
10 January 2012
Biomass, a renewable energy option, allows us to reduce our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. People usually think of wood when they think of renewable energy. Biofuel is not new, but we have started thinking more about it as we watch our energy bills rise and hear more about carbon footprints.
Different biomass fuels burn differently, but generally they generate the same heat. The variation comes from the various biomass appliances: pellet stoves, fireplaces and inserts. Pellet Stoves, inserts and fireplaces have variables that affect the way the pellets burn, which is what changes the heat output.
So how can we use biomass? Although burning logs saves in energy costs and is a form of renewable energy, the answer for many is pellets. Pellets burn much more efficiently, are easier to transport, and dispensing or feeding the fuel into the appliance is easier and efficient.
For more information on pellet stoves and pellet inserts, contact Custom Insulation.
3 January 2012
Is your house cold? Maybe you just think that is a fact of living in Worcester, MA. Well it is true, it is cold here, but it is possible to keep your home warmer. Add or replace your attic insulation.
You can finally feel it, it took a while to get here, but it’s cold. Replacing your attic insulation can create a significant cost savings for you. Have a reputable insulation professional come out to your home to check the filling in your attic to see if it meets the current recommendations.
If your insulation is not in line with the current guidelines, then it’s time to consider replacement insulation or perhaps just filler to get it up to par.
The next step in replacing the attic insulation is choosing the type of insulation that you want and that is appropriate. Going with what is already installed is usually the best idea for most homes, but if your home is older, you might want to change the type of insulation that you have. Your choices of insulation are spray foam, blown cellulose and batting.
Homes in Worcester and the surrounds need thicker density insulation because they are subjected to more extreme weather conditions. Contact Custom Insulation for a quote.
28 December 2011
Wood burning fireplace inserts are a great way to heat your home. They give you the beauty of a wood fire, with the added advantages of a wood burning insert for better efficiency. With all of the choices today in wood burning fireplace insert styles, a new wood burning fireplace insert is the perfect choice to heat your home during cold Worcester winters.
If you have been thinking about buying a wood burning fireplace insert, now is the time. Oil and gas prices are skyrocketing and winter has only just begun.
Wood makes a beautiful fire. Wood burning fireplace inserts can heat your whole home all winter, so no more heating bills. Or, wood fireplace insert scan help supplement your home heating so you use less oil or gas heat throughout the winter, giving you smaller, more manageable heating bills all winter long.
The wood burning fireplace inserts manufactured today have much higher standards too, with higher EPA ratings than in the past.
Wood burning fireplace inserts will keep you warmer this winter, reduce your heating bills, add atmosphere to your home and increase your home’s value. What have you got to lose?
Click “fireplace inserts” to contact Custom Insulation about which wood burning fireplace insert would be best for your home.
20 December 2011
Interest in pellet stoves and pellet fireplaces is skyrocketing. Pellet stoves and fireplaces are green, efficient, economical, and beautiful. There are a couple of things to think about when considering buying a pellet stove or pellet stove insert for your home.
Do you want the new pellet stove or fireplace to heat your entire home, or just help heat a room or two? In order to purchase the right pellet stove or fireplace for your needs, you need to know how much space you want to heat. So how big is your house, or how big is the room(s) you want to heat? This will help you determine how many BTU’s you need. The pellet burning stoves and fireplace at Custom Insulation come in many sizes with all different heating capacities.
The Winslow Pellet Stove is a great value. With this pellet stove, you can heat anywhere from 900 to 2000 square feet of living space. With great efficiency, this is an incredibly economical way to heat your home this winter.
Pellets stoves and fireplaces meet the demand for an affordable way to heat your home, without sacrificing important quality features. Our attractive pellet stoves and fireplaces are easy to use with automatic controls for thermostat operation.
Sit in your living room and enjoy an evening by firelight. But best of all, with all the various styles; as well as a pedestal base or legs, your new pellet stove can fit in nicely with your décor.
If you are interested in a better home heating solution, contact Custom Insulation today.
13 December 2011
Wood and pellet burning fireplace inserts help you cut down on your home heating costs. They also make your fireplace more efficient and more attractive.
If you have a fireplace in your home, then you are a prime candidate for a wood burning or pellet burning insert. They are a much more efficient source of heat than an open fireplace. And, for the remainder of the month, they also qualify for a home energy tax credit.
Essentially, a wood burning fireplace insert is a wood stove that is installed inside an open fireplace. They allow you to maximize heating efficiency and really benefit from the full potential of your fireplace.
You’ve probably heard plenty about making your home more energy efficient. Well now is the time to act. Our Winslow Pellet stove insert can heat a home as large as 2000 square feet. Our wood burning fireplace inserts can heat anywhere from 1000-1800 square feet of space.
So if you are looking to increase the value of your home, increase your comfort this winter, and decrease your costs, contact Custom Insulation about wood and pellet fireplace inserts.
7 December 2011
There are ways to spend money in order to save money and pellet stoves are a perfect example.
There are many advantages to heating your home with a pellet stove, other than the economy of pellets, the efficient heat and the decrease in your home heating bills, there is also ease of installation. You can put a pellet stove in any room with an outside wall, even if that room has no chimney. Any home or room can be compatible with a pellet stove.
Zone heating the areas of your home where you spend the most time can reduce your home heating bill by 20 to 40%. Installing an energy-efficient pellet stove is a great, appealing way to zone heat the rooms you use the most.
What's more, pellet heat is "greener." Spending money on a new pellet stove when it will add warmth and appeal to a room and save you money on heating bills.
Check out our pellet stoves at Custom Insulation, and save on your home heating bills this winter!
1 December 2011
Ice dams are a result of too much heat loss from your home. Did you or someone you know struggle with ice dams last winter? Don’t go through this winter what you went through last year; there is an easy fix, to prevent ice dams, really.
Proper insulation and roof ventilation can stop ice dams from forming, prevent damage and lower energy bills. Ice dams form when melted snow refreezes at the roof edges. They look pretty on the neighbor’s house, but how do you stop them?
Three things are constant in ice dam formation: snow, heat to melt the snow and cold which refreezes the melted snow into ice. Ice dams can form with any amount of snowfall, even just 1 or 2 inches, if the roof is poorly insulated, and the snow is followed by days of freezing temperatures. It is true that deeper snow and cold temperatures increase the likelihood and size of ice dams. As snow on the upper part of the roof melts the water runs down the roof under the snow and refreezes into ice at the roof’s edge creating an ice dam. Additional melted snow pools against the dam and eventually leaks into your house through the roof or trim.
The snow melts along the top of the roof, and not at the bottom of the roof because of heat loss from your living space. The top of the roof is right above where you live. Poorly insulated homes lose heat out of the top of the roof, thus causing the snow to melt.
The solution: insulate your home to prevent heat loss. Insulation stops the flow of heat from the house to the roof keeping your roof cold. Houses in Massachusetts should have ceiling insulation of at least R-38, about 12 inches of blanket insulation or cellulose insulation. Contact Custom Insulation Specialties for information on how to more properly insulate your existing home.
16 Jacques Street - Rear
Worcester, MA 01603
Phone: 508-755-2315
Fax: 508-756-1941
E-mail: info@custominsulation.com
