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Phoenix Fall Home Preparation

Fall has arrived in the Valley of the Sun and overnight temperatures are starting to get into the 50’s. Daytime highs are still plenty comfortable, but nights are starting to get colder. This is the best time of year to get your home ready for the colder season. The holidays are already a busy time and November is a great time to get all of your home fall home preparation done in Phoenix.

Exterior Fall Home Preparation

The outside of your home needs some attention and inspection to be ready for the cold weather.

Take Care Of Trees – One of the biggest dangers to your home can be trees that are growing too close. They either hang over the roof or are right up against the wall. You don’t want the wind causing the branches to scrape against the house. There is also a danger of strong winds and a bad branch to break off and cause damage to your roof. Get your trees trimmed away from the house, and power lines. Many times the city will take care of the trees near your power lines for free, just call and let them know you think there might be a problem.

Check Your Roof – You can do a basic inspection of your roof from the ground. Look for areas where roofing material looks loose, or is missing. Keep an eye on your flashings too, they butt up against the chimney, walls, surround exhaust pipes and lay in valleys. They are a critical part of keeping you roofing in good condition.

Get The Chimney Swept – If you have a wood burning fireplace that you like to use during the winter, now is a good time to get it cleaned. While burning wood there are flammable materials and gases that go up through your chimney. Over time they collect on the chimney walls and have a potential for ignition. This can be a very dangerous situation if you have a chimney fire. Animals can also decide to create homes in your chimney so having it cleaned out protects you from having problems.

Clean Your Gutters – Leaves, twigs, and all sorts of blown debris can end up in your gutters and cause water to seep into your roof. Make sure you get a ladder or hire someone to clean out your gutters to prevent damage to your attic or insulation. Water left standing also poses a mold issue so take it serious when you are caring for your gutters and attic.

Interior Fall Home Preparation

Taking care of the outside of your home is important, but don’t miss these steps to shore up the interior of your home and help you stay safe and warm.

Look For Drafts – Drafts are energy killers and will cost you both in summer and winter. We pay plenty to the power and gas companies as it is. You will stay warmer and save on your bills if you take the time to find areas where the air is getting out of your house. Drafts are usually coming in at cracks and gaps. Common places to look for them are plumbing vents, wiring holes, recessed lighting, attic hatches, and knee walls. This is a great time of year to caulk or seal up there gaps and help your home be more airtight.

Insulate To Save – Insulation is a big part of keeping your home comfortable in summer and winter. During the winter the heat from your home will attempt to flow through walls and into the adjacent unheated rooms. This includes the attic, basements, garages, and even simply out the walls of your home. Not having proper insulation makes your air conditioner work harder in summer, and your heater in winter. Thermal performance inspections by local insulation contractors help ensure that insulation is up to the task.

Home Safety Check – Fall is a great time to take a look at the safety device in your home. You should replace the batteries in your carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, and heat sensors. With fall and winter being the time of year where there will be chestnuts roasting over the fire, you want to be sure you and your family are safe.

Phoenix Insulation Contractors

If you are worried about your energy bills and think it is your insulation that is at fault the experts at Barrier Insulation can come and help you with an inspection. They can help you prepare for the colder weather that is on it’s way and help you install insulation that will help lower your energy bills every month of the year. Call today to stay more comfortable and have lower energy bills.

Basement Insulation Phoenix

The Roof is usually the focus of home insulation projects. But with more and more Arizona residents finishing their basements and using them as part of the livable space, it is necessary and cost effective to insulate our basements. They need to be dry and air conditioned to be comfortable and clean spaces. Dry basements and crawlspaces are less likely to end up with termites or other pests. Even if the basement is being used solely for storage it needs to be kept dry to avoid dust mites and mold.

Insulating Basement Walls

The walls of your basement need to be insulated with insulation that isn’t sensitive to water. The insulation needs to create a barrier between the interior air and the cold basement walls. If the warmer air inside our basements is allowed to come into contact with the cooler concrete it will create condensation. Condensation can lead to mold developing, and some molds carry with them dangerous airborne spores that can cause respiratory conditions. The concrete elements that are below the ground are always in contact with the soil around your home. This makes them cold all year long, especially if there isn’t any insulation around the foundation of your home.

Spray Foam insulation is the best choice for basement insulation. The type of spray form that is used should be somewhat vapor permeable. The higher the value of vapor permeability the lower risk you will have excessive moisture in your basement walls.

Different types of insulation have different levels of vapor permeability. For example 10 inches of open cell spray foam will allow as much drying as 2 inches of unfaced extruded polystyrene. 4 inches of unfaced expanded polystyrene allows the same vapor permeability as 3 inches of closed call spray foam insulation. Depending on your budget and needs find out exactly how much you will need to ensure the basement walls will be insulated but will still dry properly.

Insulating Basement Ceiling

We all know that heat rises, but we often forget that it also expands to cooler areas through conduction and radiation. If the basement isn’t used or conditioned not having insulation in the basement ceiling could be costing you on your energy bills. This is from the heated or cooled air in the living space getting through the floor of the home into the unused basement.

If the basement is used or indirectly heated by a water heater, heating system, or other heat producing appliance it needs to be properly insulated at the walls. Insulating the ceiling of basements that are dedicated living space is unnecessary and counterproductive as the basement temperature should be close to the temperature of the upper floors of the house.

Insulating Basement Floors

If you are designing your own home you can choose to have the basement floor insulated by having insulation under the foundation itself. Rigid insulation underneath the basement floor slab is the best way to insulation the basement floor. While the savings isn’t as significant as insulating basement walls, it is enough to keep the basement drier, and significantly more comfortable. A polyethylene sheet acts as a vapor barrier and should be located over the rigid insulation and in direct contact with the bottom of the concrete slab.

If you are just finishing your basement or improving the comfort and insulation you can install insulation over the concrete slab. First you need to check to make sure you have any water or moisture damage. Installing insulation or an improved floor with water or moisture problems will do nothing but encourage mold growth. After you have ensured there are no water issues you can install a subfloor. This step makes room to install the insulation. Popular insulation flooring options include foam board, fiberglass, and modular flooring systems.

Crawlspace Insulation

Crawlspaces are like tiny basements under sections of some homes. They allow room for repair people like plumbers to perform repairs without having to tear up the floor. Crawlspaces are generally vented to the outside which means that you will have to fight the cold and the heat from getting into your home with insulation. It is best to insulate the crawlspace from below the floor, inside the crawlspace. Any pipes or vents in this area should also be insulated and sealed up.

Basement Insulation Installation

Barrier insulation is a whole home insulation company serving the entire Phoenix valley. If you are building a new home and want to start it out with the best insulation available, or if you have a home that just needs new, upgraded insulation to save on those energy bills, give us a call today!

9 Ways to Increase Energy Efficiency Part 4

Back again with the conclusion of our 4 part series on ways that you can increase your home’s energy efficiency with tips seven through nine. If you haven’t read parts one –three, please do so in order to complete the picture of energy efficiency that we’re trying to paint. With that said, here we go.

Advanced Lighting Technology: Equipping your home with energy efficient LED and fluorescent bulbs throughout will go a long way in saving you money on you energy bill and because of the fact that you won’t need to replace light bulbs for years because of the longevity of the advanced bulbs. You can find one of these bulbs to fit any light fixture in your home.
Upgrading Appliances: Using modern versions of household appliances will have a major effect, especially when combined with the other tips in this series. New appliances will not only use less electricity to function, they use less water (applicable appliances only), dryers have sensors to tell them when to stop a dry cycle, and new power strips will put the icing on your energy efficiency cake.
Equip Your Home To Be Able to Produce Renewable Energy: Adding solor panels or a wind turbine to your property will increase the overall value of your home and property, it will save you money each month and may even MAKE you money! Some city and town governments offer incentives to those who choose to modify their home with renewable energy producing additions and some will even purchase excess electricity you contribute to the power grid.

This concludes our series on raising your home’s energy efficiency without interrupting your everyday lifestyle. Read parts one-three and watch your energy bill plummet as you install these changes into your home!

The Pros of Foam Insulation

One of the areas that need to be considered when building or renovating a home is the type of insulation that is going to be used in order to keep exterior air and noise pollution from entering your home. There are many forms of insulation available on the market today and they bring differing benefits along with their own level of insulation efficiency. This blog entry is going to cover foam insulation and what it brings to the table. Foam insulation is easily installed and performs its task very efficiently.

Efficiency

Foam insulation is extremely efficient and comes out on top when compared to fiberglass insulation. Keeping the air temperature in your house consistent is easily done when a home is equipped with foam insulation; it’s great at keeping the temperature controlled air inside your home. The reason that foam insulation is so efficient is because it is blown into the open spaces between walls etc and expands which allows it to fill every nook and opening.

Easy Installation

The application of foam insulation is very conducive to quick and easy installation. This is especially true in already existing homes. With most forms of insulation you have to have a lot more access to the spaces that require insulation in order to upgrade. Foam insulation is blown into the open spaces, which means it only requires minimal access in order to fully insulate your home or facility.

Save Money Over the Long Haul

The upfront cost of foam insulation is going to be higher than most forms of insulation, however you will save money over the long haul as your reduced energy bills accumulate. The ease of installation will also help you save on labor costs. If you are going to re-insulated, it is much easier to remove foam insulation as well.