18 JULY 12, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
AT HOME
Don't suff er high energy bills any longer
Do you cringe each month when
your utility bills arrive?
The annual energy cost for
a typical single family home in the
U.S. is more than $2,000, according to
the U.S. Department of Energy. If you
can think of a thousand things you'd
rather spend your hard-earned money
on than electricity and natural gas, the
solution to saving on energy costs is
easier than you think.
While you might assume the numerous
electronic gadgets you own
drive your high utility bills, the real
cost culprits are your furnace and air
conditioner. Space heating and cooling
account for 42 percent of home energy
costs - double what the typical home
spends running its electronics and
small appliances.
What's truly unfortunate is much
of the money spent on heating and
cooling homes is wasted, as heat leaks
out of your home in winter and comes
in during the summer. The reason?
About 90 percent of U.S. homes are under
insulated, according to the North
American Insulation Manufacturers
Association.
Ending your suff ering from high
energy bills can be as easy as tackling
a few, simple, do-it-yourself insulation
projects. Key areas to insulate are
your home's attic, basement, crawl
space and garage. Read on for tips on
insulating these spaces to improve
your home's energy effi ciency and
comfort, while putting money back in
your pocket.
1. ATTIC
As heat rises and many attics are
un-insulated or poorly insulated, the
attic is a good place to start for making
your home more cozy and cost-eff ective.
Insulating your attic is "a DIY
project you can tackle in a weekend,
and the savings you'll get add up
every year," said Tom Silva, general
contractor for the popular "This Old
House" TV show.
Many contractors and homeowners
use loose-fi ll insulation or fi berglass
batts in attics. Although these materials
are easy to work with, it is diffi -
cult to ensure they do not leave gaps
through which heat can escape. And,
since they are designed to fi t between
the joists in the attic fl oor, they leave
the joists un-insulated, which provides
many places for heat to transfer from
the home into the attic.
An alternative that is also easy
to work with, and that provides
continuous insulation, is rigid foam
panels. Among the rigid foams, expanded
polystyrene (EPS) provides
the highest insulating power per dollar.
EPS panels are simple to cut to size,
without creating mess, are recyclable
and can be installed throughout your
home. One of the EPS brands available
at home improvement stores is Insulfoam
R-Tech insulation.
2. BASEMENT AND CRAWL
SPACE
In addition to insulating your
attic, it's important to make sure
the bottom part of your home is
energy-effi cient. For most of the U.S.
other than the hot Gulf Coast region,
"it's cost-eff ective and wise to install
basement wall insulation," wrote
Martin Holladay on his "Musings of
an Energy Nerd" blog. As in the attic,
rigid foam insulation boards can
readily be cut to size and installed
on basement walls. While insulation
can be applied to the inside or outside
of a basement wall, for existing
homes it is typically much easier
to install it on the inside wall. This
avoids having to move dirt away
from the foundation and back-fi ll
once the insulation is in place.
While you're insulating your
basement, be sure to also insulate any
crawlspaces, including both the walls
and ceiling of these areas.
3. GARAGE DOOR
"Garage doors notoriously are un-insulated,"
said David Stassi, fi eld technical
support manager at Insulfoam. "Fortunately,
readily available DIY insulation
kits allow homeowners to insulate their
garage door in less than an hour, for less
than $100." Even a beginning DIYer can do
the job, as you simply cut the insulation
panels to size with a knife and straightedge,
and flex the panels into place
between the garage door's horizontal
rails. The panels remain fi rmly in place
without messy glues or awkward tape.
For step-by-step instructions on
installing garage door insulation or
EPS insulation in basements, crawl
spaces and attics, visit the Insulfoam
YouTube channel.
With a few simple DIY insulation
projects, you can save hundreds of
dollars every year. Instead of spending
too much on heating and cooling, you'll
have extra money for fun things like
eating dinner out or taking a well-deserved
vacation.
Courtesy BPT