What are the benefits of floor insulation?
The benefits of floor insulation are that it reduces the amount of house heating and cooling required to meet a set point temperature. It is estimated that a properly installed polystyrene board will typically save between 10-25% off your annual heating and cooling costs.
Insulation has many benefits including saving money on energy costs, maintaining building comfort, boosting home value, and eliminating condensation problems within the structure. These benefits influence both residential homeowners and commercial property owners who care about utility expenses, building performance or their structures' appearance. Some buyers may even require certain levels of insulation depending on the local climate's severity in order to keep up with local ordinances or just maintain best practices for sufficiently performing structures. Efficient floor insulation can mean significant savings in the long term. According to a 2002 study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, energy used for floor insulation accounts for 12 to 17 percent of a home's total energy usage. Insulating floors saves money directly because it prevents heat from transferring outside and wasting resources or indirectly because it requires less use of other heating devices throughout a structure.
In terms of floor insulation's benefits, the most obvious advantage is that floor insulation provides thermal protection for living spaces beneath flooring materials such as wood, tile or concrete. In turn, this means that insulated flooring preserves the warmth within rooms during winter months when it is coldest outside and keeps rooms cooler during summertime when external temperatures are at their highest. Insulation's thermal barrier properties also help flooring to resist damage due to outside conditions like water or fire. Floor insulation can protect flooring from moisture which, when absorbed by floorings without an adequate floor insulation resistance, encourages mildew, mold and rot in the material. By keeping flooring drier for longer periods of time before problems develop, floor insulation can reduce the need for costly repairs over time.
Floor insulation also helps flooring materials retain their structural integrity which is especially important for floorings with joints that lock together such as tiles or parquet because these sorts of floors are more likely to warp if they do not have appropriate floor insulation installed between them.
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How does floor insulation work?
The insulation is usually made up of two separate layers. One layer has a high R value to maintain the temperature inside your home, and the other layer expands or contracts depending on the outdoors temperature. When it is cold outside, this second layer will actually shrink in size. This helps keep heat from entering your home!
Floors are one of the best places to insulate because they are not always moving air like walls or windows that fluctuate between warm and cold energies--their temp stays relatively constant. Layering floor insulation for even more protection against drafts too! With floor insulation under floor is another great way to increase the energy efficiency of your flooring. Some floor heating systems are very temperamental and floor insulation can help maintain a more even floor temperature with less fluctuations or break downs. A smooth, consistent floor temp is an important factor in making sure that you don't lose too much heat--if your floor fluctuates between being warm and being cold it will be hard for people to walk around without socks on, which means you have wasted all this money trying to avoid drafts!
If you already have floor insulation installed there are several ways to maximize its potential. Adding more eco-friendly insulation on top of what has already been installed makes for one of the most environmentally friendly choices when insulating your floor. This is floor insulation under floor, and below floor heating systems are the best example. The floor emits radiant heat which can be absorbed by loose fill insulation much more readily than it can be by closed cell foam--in other words the open ceilings would be much easier to keep heated than a floor with an embedded heating system. Layering the insulation like this will ensure that your floors stay warm even when turning down your baseboard or wall heater for periods of time throughout this winter.
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