Insulation is critical in maintaining comfortable temperatures within your home and reducing energy costs due to  heating and cooling. Whether during a sweltering summer or a frigid winter, the right insulation in the right places is critical. Here are the three most important parts of your home to insulate and why.

1. Why Insulating the Attic Is Important

Your attic poses two different problems that can affect your heating and cooling costs. Not only does air escape from the attic, but outside air also seeps into the attic. You may feel warm and cozy downstairs in the winter, but heat rises and can easily leak out of the attic without proper insulation. Quality loose fill or batt fiberglass insulation prevents comfortable air from escaping, stops uncomfortable air from coming in and reduces energy costs whether blown in or installed in large rolls.

Related Read: Why We Batten Down the (Attic) Hatches

2. Your Walls Need Insulation, Here’s Why

Exterior walls need insulation for the simple reason that they are the barrier between the inside and outside of your home. In winter, heat seeps out through the walls and during the summer heat seeps back into the walls. Proper insulation in the walls helps prevent this cycle of heat loss and heat gain. Options include batted fiberglass and blow-in options, both effective if installed properly leaving no gaps.

Related Read: Don’t Forget to Insulate the Most Neglected Room of Your Home

3. Why Insulating Floors Matters

Uninsulated floors in unheated spaces, such as garages or crawl spaces, are an easy place for cool air to sneak in. Draped foundation or spray foam insulation added to these areas prevents air from rising up through the floor and reduces the likelihood of moisture and possible issues with mold. If there is a chilly basement under the main floor of your home, insulation prevents the cool air from rising and makes the basement temperature more comfortable for use.

Don’t let leaks and gaps come between you and a comfortable temperature in your home. Contact us online or call us at (913) 281-2250 and learn how our insulation experts can make your home more energy efficient.

The leaves are changing. Pumpkin flavored coffee, cookies, and pies are available, and Halloween candy and decorations fill the stores. Fall is upon us. As the leaves begin to change color, and the temperature begins to cool, you should think about more than holiday decorations. Ask yourself, is your house prepared for the coming winter cold?

If not, don’t wait until you’re sitting at home, bundled in a blanket, while sipping hot coffee just to keep warm to do something about it. Too many people wait until the problem reaches its peak to fix it. This is unwise when it comes to insulation. If you think, or know, that your house simply isn’t prepared for the coming cold, you should seriously consider adding insulation before the cold weather strikes. When you consider the benefits, you’ll see that fall is the best time to insulate your home.  

You Won’t Freeze

If you wait until you start to notice that icy cold wind blowing against your skin inside of your home, you’ve waited too long. If you wait until the winter months, instead of installing insulation in the fall, you’ll freeze inside of your own home, a place you should feel comfortable. Don’t turn yourself into a human popsicle by waiting until the problem grows before you fix it. Get ahead of it, and save yourself some shivering, bundling, and far too much caffeine intake, by insulating your home during the fall season.

Related Read: Don’t Forget to Insulate the Most Neglected Room in Your Home

You’ll Save Money

Insulation will likely cost the same in the winter as it does it the fall, however, you’ll save quite a bit on electricity bills by insulating earlier. Since insulation makes your home more energy efficient, which will lower the cost of your electric bills, insulating early on, when the weather is just starting to cool down, is the smart choice.

If you insulate your home during the fall, your house will start saving you money the moment you turn on the heater when the winter winds start to blow. Don’t waste electricity, waiting for the cold to arrive before you address the issue. Get the insulation during the fall so that, when you do have to turn on the heater, your home is already prepped to keep the heat in and the cold out.

Related Read: These 5 Attic Mistakes Could Be Costing You Hundreds

When it comes to caring for your home, waiting until a problem grows isn’t sound advice. You want to get ahead of the issue, and save yourself some time and money in the process. Insulation is no different. Installing it when the weather is pleasant will ensure that you’re comfortable in your home during the insulation process, and it will save you money during the winter months when the furnace is active. Wouldn’t you rather save up for the holidays instead of having to splurge on high utility bills and new insulation in December?

Don’t put off until later what you can do today. It’s great advice for life, and it’s great advice for maintaining your home. For A+ Insulation and quality service, please contact us online or call us at (913) 281-2250 today.

Families tend to do different things at different times. The kids in the next room want to watch a movie, but mom or dad has work to do, so they need quiet. Sometimes these conflicting wants lead to arguments, and nobody ends up happy. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could all have what you want? You can, and that’s why A+ Insulation offers soundproofing insulation to Kansas City families.

Which Rooms Need Soundproofing Insulation?

Soundproofing insulation will improve your quality of life by helping to reduce noise pollution inside. No matter what your home is like, you can benefit from the decrease in noise and increase in peace. Soundproofing insulation works wonders in:

• Home Movie Theaters – Let’s face it, putting money into a fantastic speaker system is great, but if you can’t turn it up, it just goes to waste. Soundproofing your home theater will allow the kids to watch their fill throughout the day, while mom and dad enjoy an evening film in solitude without waking the young ones.
• Children’s Rooms and Baby Nurseries – Soundproofing a child’s room while they’re young helps ensure that once they get to sleep, they stay asleep. As they get older, it will help deaden the sound of their loud music eliminating the potential for many arguments.
• Home Offices – Working from home is excellent; people are doing it more and more as time goes on. Unfortunately, nothing says “unprofessional” like ambient sounds (think barking dogs, doorbells, and the washing machine down the hall) that come through their end of the line.
• Playrooms – Kids are loud, and some of their toys are even louder. Things are beeping and kabooming all over the place while mom and dad are trying to focus. Soundproofing the playroom will reduce the headache-inducing drone of some of the worst electronic toys.

Soundproofing insulation is also great for properties trying to keep sound out. Do you live near a train, busy road, construction, or simply have noisy neighbors? Your home should be peaceful and relaxing so that you can get the rest you need to thrive. No more sleepless nights due to loud and obnoxious sounds from the street!

How Does Installation of Soundproofing Insulation Work?

In new construction and additions, we have the ability to consult with you and determine the best possible insulation for your home from the beginning. Don’t worry though, we also apply soundproofing as a retrofit in existing residences. We drill small holes in the wall and blow in a high density insulation. This high density insulation traps sound creating a soundproofing effect. We discreetly repair the walls leaving the room looking as good as new.

If you have multiple insulation needs, we offer a few options that do double duty. For maximum soundproofing effect, consider spray foam insulation. This material provides both excellent thermal and acoustical insulation

Related Read: How A+ Puts the Pro in Process

Whether you’re looking to soundproof a single room in your house or want to reduce external noise entering the entire building, A+ Insulation has you covered. Our attention to detail and customer satisfaction is second to none.

If you’d like more information regarding soundproofing your home, please call A+ Insulation at (913) 281-2250 or (816) 268-7511 or contact us online. We’d love to hear from you!

Do you ever feel like your new heating and cooling system is just as inefficient as the old
one it replaced? With temperatures in Kansas City exceeding 100 degrees in the summer and dropping below 10 degrees in the winter, it is important to have fully functioning systems. Newer furnaces and air conditioners have an HVAC efficiency of up to 90 percent, but you aren’t getting the full benefit with an improperly designed duct system. The team at A+ Insulation helps break down the problems with old ductwork.

How could these hi-tech heating and cooling systems be as inefficient as a 1980s-era system? The loss of energy efficiency caused by leaky or collapsed ducts, stuck dampers, and non-functioning or dirty air intakes is costing you. Your ducts require more energy to maintain the desired thermostat temperature. This could be why your energy bills have been hundreds of extra dollars already this year!

Don’t Make Your Systems Work Too Hard

Optimal performance of the heating and cooling system can only be obtained through a well-designed and properly sealed duct system. A well-designed duct system will have an efficiency of over 80% leading to reduced cooling and heating costs and a more comfortable indoor environment.

Ducts are sealed with materials, such as caulk and tape, that eventually dry out. Once the seals dry out and lose their integrity, the airflow is impeded. This results in thermal loss due to cooled or heated air escaping through these leaks.

Your system could be losing 30 percent of the air that moves through your ducts due to leaks, holes, or improper sizing and connections. This forces the heating or cooling system to work significantly harder to maintain the desired temperature. Protect the longevity of your systems by making sure they don’t have to work excessively due to leaky ducts.

Breathe Easy with Upgraded Ducts

A healthier and more comfortable environment is possible with properly functioning ducts. Balancing pressure throughout rooms decreases temperature variance. Rooms stay closer to your desired temperature. Another benefit of properly designed and sealed ductwork is significantly improved air quality.

With upgraded duct work, your systems don’t have to work harder to compensate for the loss of heated or cooled air that escapes. Your home’s temperature won’t drastically vary room to room. You won’t have to worry about your system pulling in moldy and unhealthy air from attics and basements through the return ducts.

Save Yourself Some Money

When it comes to energy bills, where does your money go? During the hottest and coldest times of the year, significant extra energy is required to support the heating and cooling systems that are operating on a near-24/7 basis. As a result, there is a significant energy cost adjustment factor for energy drawn during this period.

Don’t sweat or shiver needlessly any longer. Get your ducts in a row by calling the professionals from A+ Insulation at (913) 281-2250 or (816) 268-7511 or contact us online.

Insulation exists in the main living space of most homes from the get-go, but only the minimum required by law. NAIMA (North American Insulation Manufacturers Association) reports that 90% of homes in the U.S. are under-insulated. That’s why so many homeowners find great energy savings by adding additional insulation.

However, one of the most neglected spaces in most homes is the garage. Failing to properly insulate the garage allows air seepage and heat to flow in and out throughout the year, cooling your home in winter and heating it in summer.

Homeowners Don’t Consider the Garage a Room

One of the reasons the garage is so neglected is because many homeowners don’t consider the garage a room. People think about insulating their attics, their walls, and even their basements, but the lowly garage many times goes unnoticed. This is usually because homeowners see this area as just a place to park the cars and store the trash cans and lawn mower.  

Insulate the Wall the Garage Shares with the House First

One of the most important places to insulate in your garage will be the wall it shares with your home. This is the point where most of the heat transfer occurs between the garage and interior of your home. Heat transfers into your home during warmer months and out during the colder ones. Insulating this wall can start saving you money right away by reducing the amount of time you need to run your furnace or air conditioner.

Related Read: Surprise! There Are No Big Surprises During Our Insulation Installation.

Garage Doors Don’t Provide Much of a Temperature Barrier

The second place you’ll want to take care of is the garage door. Most garage doors are thin, and the many joints create spaces where air can freely flow. More often than not, air that moves through the thin garage door is what heats/cools the garage, and eventually ends up heating/cooling your home. That being said, insulating the garage door is a must!

Garage Insulation Options

When it comes to garage insulation, you have a few different options:

• Fiberglass – If you’ve ever seen that pink, cotton candy-like insulation in a home, then you’re already familiar with fiberglass insulation. It’s relatively cheap and widely used, though the installation is tough to do yourself. To be effective, fiberglass insulation requires walling-in.

• Blown-In Insulation – For those who already have drywall installed around their garage, but don’t have any insulation, then blown-in is what you need. To install it, we will come in and open up a hole in the wall, pump in insulation, and then patch up the hole. Blown-in insulation is quick and easy, and we can often complete the job within a few hours.

• Spray Foam Insulation – Spray foam insulation must be installed by professionals with specific equipment. Spray foam goes on wet and both seals and insulates for better airflow reduction and a higher R-value overall.

Insulating the garage is not an easy job; there are several building and safety codes that exist regarding installation and removal that must complied with. At A+ Insulation, we have a OSHA certified supervisor on the team who ensures the work we do is safe and complies with all regulations. We’ll give you all of your options and let you know which ones make the most sense for your home and your budget.

If you want the job done right by experienced professionals, then give A+ Insulation a call at (913) 281-2250 or (816) 268-7511. You can also contact us online. 

Most homeowners overlook their largest energy thief – attic insulation. While the insulation isn’t actually stealing the energy, lack of proper installation definitely is. Installation defects occur regularly and cost homeowners a lot of money. Insulation makes up for 70% of your home’s heat gain and loss.

By having your insulation inspected and installed by a professional, you can turn this energy thief into an energy saver.

• Blown-In Insulation: Two issues regularly occur with blown-in insulation: An inadequate amount of insulation is blown and rooms are completely missed with no insulation at all. Inspectors routinely find attics with less than half of the insulation required for recommended energy efficiency.

• Fiberglass Batt Insulation: Gaps due to misaligned batts are common. If batts are not snug to each other and the sheet rock below, an airtight barrier is not possible. Another installation error with batts occurs when ceilings are different heights and there isn’t a smooth transition. If the batts are laid over wires, pipes or other protrusions instead of against drywall, they could eventually collapse and create breached areas.

• Gaps and Air Leaks: Plumbing pipes, recessed light fixtures, HVAC vents, etc. all have gaps around them where conditioned or heated air can escape. Not sealing these gaps before installing insulation will make your insulation less effective.

Related Read: Insulation Installation – The Devil Is in the Details

• Architecture: Knee walls, dropped soffits, open chases and skylight wells are all examples of difficult construction details to insulate. Uncommon eve or soffit vents also cause energy loss due to lightweight blown insulation scattering from the wind.

• Attic Walkways and Hatches: Many attics have paths to access both ends of the room. There often is a gap between the pathway and sheet rock because the installer didn’t properly insulate beneath it. Another commonly forgotten area is the attic access door. Usually plywood or drywall, it is often missed in the installation. A properly insulated attic access door should have insulation attached directly to it.

Related Read: Why We Batten Down the (Attic) Hatches

• Disturbed Insulation: Whenever a technician enters your attic, the chances of your insulation being disrupted multiplies. They might move insulation to reach wires or pipes and don’t always take the time to replace it.

NAIMA (North American Insulation Manufacturers Association) reports that 90% of home in the U.S. are under insulated. If you think you it might be time for a proper inspection or better insulation, contact the professionals at A+ Insulation. As certified master insulators with over ten years of experience, we’ll get the job done right. Call us at (913) 281-2250 or (816) 268-7511.