Insulation
Using insulation in the ceiling and walls of your home,
and in some cases under the floor, will provide a number of benefits.
Correctly installed insulation will make your home warmer in winter and cooler
in summer.
This will make your home more comfortable to live in.
Insulation can save money on your heating and cooling bills.
When compared to an uninsulated home, an insulated home will require less energy
for heating and cooling, to maintain the same comfort conditions inside.
Insulating your home helps the environment. By reducing the amount of energy
required to heat and cool your home, you will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide
and other pollutants which are released into the atmosphere.
Beware of the 'Hot Box' Syndrome
Care needs to be taken when insulating a home that is too hot in summer.
The radiant heat from the sun which shines on east and west facing windows in summer
can be as high as 1,000 watts per square metre, equivalent to the heat output of a
small bar radiator.
If a house has a lot of unshaded east and west facing glass,
and unshaded north facing glass, there can be a lot of heat coming into the home
through the windows.
If this is the case, the best thing to do in summer is to provide adequate shading
for these windows first.
If insulation is installed but there is no shading, heat will build up inside the
home until inside temperatures are higher than outside temperatures.
In this case, the insulation will help to keep the heat inside,
creating an oven effect.
Heat Transfer
Heat always moves from a hotter region to a colder region. The greater the
temperature difference, the faster will be the rate of heat flow. In winter,
it is warmer inside than it is outside, and so heat flows through the building
structure to the outside air. In summer, it is generally hotter outside than it
is inside, and so the heat flows into the home.
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