Go Pink – Save Green!

As most of my faithful readers know, I spend a lot of time in people’s attics, and one of the most common problems I encounter is an insufficient amount of attic insulation. Let me see if I can get your attention. If you properly insulate your attic, you can reduce the amount of electricity your air conditioner uses by a minimum of twenty percent. Let’s do a little math, if your FPL (Florida Power and Light) bill is $300 per month that means that around $200 of that bill per month is being spent to operate the heating and cooling system. So, in this scenario you would be looking at around a $40 per month savings or about $500 per year. In most cases, the typical attic insulation job will pay for itself in six to seven years.

There are many different types of attic insulation that can be installed ranging from a cellulose type of recycled newspaper to foam sealing. Today’s focus is going to be a personal favorite — the Owens Corning Pro Cat System. This type of insulation has many benefits and tends to be middle of the road when it comes to the installation expense. The Pro Pink brand of attic insulation is not only fire and mold proof; but offers a lifetime warranty form Owens Corning. The other benefit of using this product is that it does not settle or breakdown over time as a recycled newspaper insulation will do. Insulating your attic with the Owens Corning system is a project that will only need to be done once, barring losing your roof to a hurricane or some other unfortunate catastrophic disaster.

There are a couple other absolute musts when doing an attic insulation job. They include ensuring that recessed lighting in the attic has a tent over it to allow future access to the light as well as providing the ability to safely blow insulation over and around them, along with installing soffit protectors. Soffit protectors prevent the insulation from being blown around in the attic in the event of high winds. In case you’re not familiar with the term soffit, go outside and look up at the eve of your home. See those screens running along the eve every few feet? Those are soffit vents, which allow the attic to ventilate properly. The final item you need to be aware of when insulating an attic is that the ductwork must be properly hung above the insulation and not touching it. If the home’s ductwork is in contact with the insulation in the attic condensation issues can occur down the road.

Ok folks, as always you know how to find us if you would like to have your attic inspected. Let us show you how going pink can really save you some green! Until next week, keep the sunny side up and the shady side down.

House Whisperer out!