When you walk around your house, does the floor feel unusually hot in the summer or extra cold in the winter? If you have a crawl space under your home, it could very well be caused by a drafty, poorly ventilated area underneath your home. A poorly insulated crawl space means increased energy bills. It could also be a haven for unwanted moisture, causing a need for mold removal or other remediation down the road.
Don’t make your HVAC struggle more than necessary! Ensuring that your crawl space is appropriately insulated is the best thing you can do for your budget and health.
What do I Need to Know About Moisture in My Crawl Space?
You may not know it, but even a tiny crawl space can release anywhere from ten to twelve gallons of moisture every day. If your crawl space isn’t properly vented or insulated, this moisture has nowhere to go, leading to mold and mildew. Often these problems find their way into your HVAC system, growing in your ducts or finding a home behind walls or under carpets.
Nobody wants to go down the mold removal route in the future, so it’s best to think of prevention first. If left alone, mold and mildew can have severe and long-lasting health problems, including breathing and asthma-related conditions, lung damage, and even aggressive allergies. Plus, the excess damp air makes it harder to heat or cool your home, requiring more energy.
The key to the problem of excess moisture is controlling the airflow through the crawl space. Lining the floor and walls with an appropriate vapor barrier and sealing gaps and cracks prevents unwanted moisture from entering your crawl space, reducing the moisture transfer to your subfloors and foundations. Once the temperature in your crawl space is stabilized, humidity can be controlled.
Attic Projects technicians are experts in sealing and insulating your crawl space. If needed, we can also assist with mold removal, sanitation, and then design a crawl space insulation approach to help keep your home mold and mildew free.
How About Energy Costs? Does Insulating my Crawl Space Really Make That Much of a Difference?
Put most simply, yes! Proper insulation in your crawl space will result in significant energy savings, but it will also prolong the life of your HVAC system, which won’t have to work so hard to keep your home comfortable.
Without appropriate insulation, heat, and cold air easily escape. Crawl spaces are one of the most overlooked parts of the house when it comes to energy efficiency. Encapsulating, sealing off, crawl space, and making sure there is appropriate insulation has been shown to save you up to 20% on your cooling and heating bills. This is money that might be flying out the window!
Even if you have had your crawl space insulated, if it has been a while, you’ll want to get it checked out. Fiberglass insulation between floor joists has been known to fall out, and excess moisture in the crawl space can cause your insulation to deteriorate more rapidly.
What is the best way to approach insulating my crawl space?
Another easy answer – give us a call! Our licensed and certified technicians are absolute experts when it comes to crawl spaces. We’ll go in, conduct an assessment, and show you precisely what needs to be done to make your home safe, secure, and energy-efficient.
The longer you wait to take care of your crawl space, the more money you could be wasting!
