You can tell if a house has good insulation by looking in the attic for insulation and checking for signs such as cold walls, cold floors and cold ceilings as well as drafts, uneven temperatures, condensation and high energy bills.
You can also use a thermal imaging camera to check if insulation is sagging in the walls or if you have insulation at all.
If you don't have insulation in the walls you can have insulation blown into the walls through holes drilled outside the walls between the studs.
You can install too much insulation in your walls, floors and attic which can cause moisture buildup and other problems.
Having too much insulation in your walls, floor or attic can lead to moisture buildup, mold growth and even damage to the homes roof and framing.
Having excessive insulation can block the airflow in the attic and prevent the moisture from escaping which can lead to mold growth and condensation.
Excessive insulation can also place pressure on your ceiling joints and potentially cause them to warp or sag and lead to cracks in the walls and ceilings and even damage to the roof structures integrity.
And too much insulation in your attic can cause your attic to become too hot in summer and make it uncomfortable for people that are in the attic and even damaged stored items in the attic.
You can put 2 layers of insulation in the attic which can help keep the home warmer and prevent more heat loss through the attic.
It is worth it to remove old attic insulation if the attic insulation is damaged, infested or contaminated.
However if the insulation in the attic is not contaminated, infested or damaged then you can simply add additional insulation over the old insulation to improve the insulation of the attic.
The percentage of heat that is lost through the attic is 25 percent or sometimes more.
Warm air rises and a poorly insulated attic allows that warm hair to escape through your attic and roof and causes the home to feel cooler in some cases and causes higher heating bills.
Heat and warm air rises because the warm air or heated air becomes less buoyant and dense and causes then to rise up above cooler, denser air.
To stop heat loss through the attic you should insulate the attic by laying insulation down between the boards in the ceiling to keep the heat from escaping from the home and into the attic.
To stop heat loss through walls the walls should be properly insulated and you should seal any gaps and drafts with some weatherstripping and or caulk.
If your walls don't contain insulation it can cause a lot of heat loss out of the walls and if the walls are not properly insulated it can also lead to heat loss through the walls.
Insulation is key to keeping heat in and preventing the heat being lost through the walls and ceilings.
Insulate any walls, floors, lofts and ceilings if possible to create a good thermal barrier and keep heat in where it should be.
You can also use external solid wall insulation options to minimize the amount of heat that escapes out through the walls.
If your wall has no insulation you can also drill holes in the exterior of the wall and use a machine to pump the insulation into the walls between the studs.
Windows lose more heat than walls.
Windows and especially single pane windows are poor insulators when compared to walls which are properly insulated.
A significant portion of heat in the home or building is lost through the windows.
With a properly insulated home you'll lose more heat through windows instead of your walls.
However if your walls are not properly insulated or not insulated at all then you can also lose lots of heat through the walls as well.
In older homes they sometimes don't have any insulation in the walls, especially if the house was built 100 years ago.
You can drill holes on the exterior of the walls between the studs and force insulation through the hole into the walls with a machine.
Double pane windows or other insulated windows lose less heat than single pane windows.
Upgrading your windows can help to keep your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer and help lower your energy bills as well.
Single pane or single glazed windows lose around 10 to 20 times as much heat as the same area of a wall that is properly insulated.
Storm windows or double glazed sealed windows will reduce the heat loss by almost half.