NORTH BROWARD & BOCA Blog

Is My House Haunted or Do I Just Need Insulation? North Broward & Boca

 Don’t let the spooky season get you worried about drafts and cold spots throughout your home. Instead, call your local insulation experts to take a closer look at your home’s air sealing condition.

Drafts and cold spots throughout your home can certainly give your home a spooky aspect. Is it ghosts following you from room to room? Before you call your local paranormal hunters, though, there could be a reasonable explanation - your insulation and air sealing are out of commission.

Instead of a spooky guest helping you get in the Halloween spirit, the drafts you are feeling are most likely coming from gaps and cracks in your building envelope. This means outside air has found its way into your home, which could be carrying dirt, pollen, and other outdoor pollutants. While you don’t need to worry about calling an exorcist, it is crucial to find your local insulation experts sooner rather than later.

Cold Spots and Drafts

When your house is underinsulated or has poor air sealing, you will experience uncomfortable drafts and cold spots throughout your house. This is because of openings in your building envelope, like your windowsills, door jams, and other outdoor connecting areas. If you are a first-time homeowner or you have recently purchased an older home, checking these areas should be the first step on your home walkthrough. Consulting an industry expert can reveal even more areas in hard-to-reach places throughout your attic, the ceiling, and in crawl spaces.

 It is important to make sure you are tackling these problems before they start to increase health hazards in your home. The outdoor air can not only decrease your indoor air quality, but it can also bring in irritants like allergens and pollutants. One of the first ways you can tell the indoor air quality of your home has decreased is right when you wake up - your sinuses may be irritated, leading to a stuffy nose, sore throat, or other allergy-like symptoms. If these go away after an hour or two, or after a quick shower, it could be your indoor air quality.

How Insulation Reduces Your Chills

The primary function of insulation is to reduce the rate of heat transfer, which is the rate at which heat enters and exits your building. This helps temperature regulation, keeping your home the desired temperature, you set on the thermostat. Air sealing contributes to temperature regulation by reducing air leaks, keeping in conditioned air and heat, and reducing the movement of outdoor air through the house.

Feeling a Chill Run Through You

While you may see an increase in drafts and cold areas throughout the home during cooler months, it is important not to write this off as a simple change of the seasons. Ignoring the signs in the fall and winter can contribute to increased problems when spring rolls around. With deteriorated insulation and air sealing quality, it is crucial to tackle the job sooner rather than later.

Many insulation materials are made to potentially last up to 15 years. However, damage, weathering, and even things like pest infestation can rapidly increase the rate of deterioration. When damage like moisture is left to fester for too many months, the insulation can even increase health hazards. If you are feeling an increase in drafty rooms and chilly areas throughout the house, calling an expert for an evaluation is a great first step to solving the issue.

Passing Through Walls

One of the most important places insulation needs to be properly installed is within your home's walls. Temperature changes from room to room can be contributed to inadequate installation or low-quality insulation within your walls. When the inside of the building does not have proper material coverage, it could allow heat to move easier through each room, which can lead to cold spots throughout the house.

At Koala Insulation, we use a thermal imaging test in some homes to better understand the current condition of the insulation that’s more difficult to see. With the results, our team can determine if you are in need of a more thorough insulation update. Not only does the insulation within your walls help with things like temperature changes, but it can also assist with noise reduction and irregular room temperatures.

Creaking Under Floorboards

Regardless of whether you live in a multi-story home, have a basement, or just a small crawl space somewhere beneath your floorboards, this is another place where insulation should be installed and regularly inspected. It may surprise some homeowners that there could be additional material under their feet, but this is an important area for homes even in Florida. Not only does it work against noise pollution, but also moisture and pest reduction.

For multi-story homes, insulation in your floor helps rising heat from escaping lower floors. However, it is just as important within single-story homes or homes that have small crawl spaces below their home. This can reduce airflow and provide additional protection against the cold outdoors, especially for slab floors built directly on the ground. For more information on where your building should have insulation, check out the Department of Energy’s Energy Saver article on insulating a home.

Finding Your Industry Ghost Hunters

When it feels like you are passing through hidden ghosts at every turn of your home, it’s important to check through your options before hunting for floating guests. Drafts and cold spots can bring about more than just a creepy feeling. They could mean outdoor air is infiltrating your home, polluting your indoor air quality, and carrying allergens. It is important to call the right specialists to take a look at your home’s insulation and air sealing quality.

At Koala Insulation of North Broward and Boca, our team is equipped to help fight uncomfortable temperature changes and increase the safety of your environment. However, it is additionally important to us that your household is not breaking the budget with excessive materials and inaccurate installations. With our free evaluations, we have a thorough checklist that helps us break down pain points and target areas that provide a detailed understanding of your home’s current condition. Contact our team today to learn more about combating drafts and cold spots with insulation and air sealing!