Removing old, improperly installed insulation and replacing it can help keep your Arizona home more comfortable and more affordable to heat and cool. 9 out of 10 homes in the United States are underinsulated, making insulation upgrades not only a no brainer for home comfort, but also a great way to take advantage of energy savings and reduce your heating and cooling bills.
If you think you might be able to benefit from new insulation, you might be wondering what the best type of insulation is for your Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, or Chandler home. Here’s what the leading insulation contractor in the metro Phoenix area, Ideal Energy, has to say.
Is There Such a Thing as Year-Round Insulation?
When many people think of insulation, they are primarily thinking of keeping their home warm when it’s cold outside. But insulation’s primary purpose is to slow heat transfer between the building materials that separate the inside of your home from the outside, and it works in both directions! That means that insulation is just as useful in the summer to keep heat out of your home as it is in the winter. In our hot Phoenix climate, properly installed installation can be the difference between high AC bills and affordable, year round whole home comfort.
What are the Best Types of Insulation for Phoenix Area Houses?
Houses in the Phoenix area come in all shapes and sizes, and at Ideal Energy, we offer a few different insulation types (as well as installation methods) so that we’ll be able to find a customized solution for your particular home.
Cellulose Insulation
- Environmentally friendly, made out of recycled newspapers
- Locally produced in Arizona!
- Higher R-value per inch than fiberglass insulation (which means you can install less of it and achieve the same results!)
- When installed, the insulation installer must be knowledgeable enough to account for settling (meaning you’ll need a few more inches installed initially so it can settle to the appropriate R-value over time)
Fiberglass Insulation
- Easy to install with little dust or mess
- Slightly more expensive than cellulose insulation
- Blown fiberglass does not settle over time like blown cellulose does
- More coverage per insulation bag
Oftentimes, insulation contractors like to promote the installation of blown fiberglass versus cellulose, claiming that blown fiberglass is a superior product. However, this isn’t necessarily true. Both cellulose and fiberglass have their place and as long as they’re installed to proper depth, with proper air sealing. R-value is R-value as long as the product is installed correctly!
Fiberglass and cellulose can be installed in two ways: blown in or dense packed. Blown in insulation, also called loose fill insulation, can be used to cover attic floors, for example, for superior thermal protection that will help keep the Phoenix heat out of the living spaces in your house.
Dense packed insulation can be installed in floors, attics, and exterior walls as a tight layer of protection for your home. Dense packed insulation is a great way to upgrade the insulation in your existing walls as it can be installed easily through small drilled holes—you don’t have to gut your home or create a big mess to upgrade your house.
Learn More about Your Home’s Insulation Levels with Ideal Energy
From air conditioning and heating services to duct systems, indoor air quality, and insulation upgrades, our team of certified HVAC and home performance experts understand how the systems in your home work together—for example, an expensive new AC unit won’t deliver the comfort you’re looking for in a home with poor insulation, and we won’t try to sell you on a service we know won’t deliver the energy efficiency or comfort levels you’re looking for. Talk to a representative from Ideal Energy today and find out if your family could benefit from insulation removal and replacement.