Winter is coming! With cooler days on the horizon, now is the time to prepare your home for the months ahead. Here in Georgia, strong winds, freezing temperatures, ice dams, and even the occasional snow we receive, can take a harsh toll on your property, your wallet, and the safety and comfort of your home.
As you take steps to protect your house for the cold season, we recommend upgrading to spray foam insulation. Here are 5 reasons to choose this superior insulation option just in time for winter.
1. Improve Your Home’s Overall Energy Efficiency
Maintaining an optimal HVAC system is crucial to your home’s overall energy efficiency. It only takes one surprise sky-high heating bill to cement a homeowner’s desire to have their home run as efficiently as possible!
Spray foam insulation not only helps keep your home warm and cozy in the winter, but it also seals up air leaks to reduce drafts and prevent heat loss. With its high R-value and durability, it reduces the winter workload on your HVAC system.
- An average of 56% of a home’s energy use goes to heating and cooling.
- Approximately 40% of a home’s energy is lost due to air infiltration.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that upgrading to spray foam insulation can save homeowners an average of 20% on their monthly energy bills.
- With spray foam insulation, HVAC sizing can be reduced by as much as 35% without an impact on efficiency and comfort.
2. Prevent Moisture Accumulation
Moisture accumulation can be a major problem for homeowners. It can lead to leaks, rot, rust, mold formation, and other dangerous and costly issues. Spray foam insulation can help prevent moisture accumulation in your home by sealing out the air and elements, keeping the roof, siding, attic, subfloor, crawl space, basement, and walls of your home clean and leak-free.
Closed-cell spray foam insulation does a particularly good job of sealing out water and resisting the mold, mildew, pollen, and other toxins that develop in damp areas. Furthermore, spray foam does not rot, rust, or deteriorate, keeping it from becoming a hospitable environment for a mold colony.
Poor insulation in a home can allow for the formation of ice dams or icicles on the roof. When heat is allowed to escape up through the roof, snow can melt and refreeze at the bottom. This can lead to several dangerous problems, such as falling ice, and extensive water damage inside and outside the home.
Insulating your home with Greenguard Gold Certified spray foam insulation can go a long way in preventing water accumulation and the problems that come with it, and helping you keep a clean and healthy home.
3. Protect Your Plumbing System
Who can forget the record-low freezing temperatures we experienced during Christmas of 2022 in Georgia? These kinds of extreme temperature drops are not only an inconvenience, but they can also cause serious damage to a home’s plumbing system. When pipe water temperatures drop below freezing, the liquid inside the pipe expands by as much as 10%, and sometimes causes the pipes to burst and flood the home.
Frozen pipes are the number one casualty of freezing weather, as pipe bursts can result in thousands of dollars in flood damage.Installing water-resistant spray foam insulation in your home’s walls, attic, crawlspace, and basement seals up your house and protects your pipes from the coldest of temperatures.
4. Enhance Your Home’s Structural Integrity
Spray foam insulation solidifies immediately after application. Due to its rigidness and density, it increases the structural integrity of a home, while also creating a strong air and moisture barrier. It also adds extra reinforcement and stability to exterior walls and roof deck cavities by assisting in the resistance to compression from structural load.
According to research conducted by the National Association of Home Builders, walls insulated with spray foam have a 300% increase in racking strength! This added fortitude makes the roof more resistant to the strong winds from extreme winter storms.
5. Keep Property-Damaging Pests Out
When the weather gets cold, rodents and other unwelcome visitors seek refuge from predators and shelter from the elements. They love nesting in the warmth of old blown in fiberglass insulation and creating tunnels and passageways among your boxes of Christmas decorations! But these intruders also bring expensive property damage, a host of health concerns, and a lot of unnecessary stress.
Thankfully, spray foam insulation can help keep these rodents, as well as expenses and safety risks that come along with them, out of your house for good. When spray foam is installed, it seals up any existing penetrations that rodents and pests have created, closing off even the smallest openings where they could sneak in. Spray foam provides a much tighter seal and more durability than fiberglass insulation. When rodents and other pests are faced with a spray foam barrier, they will take the path of least resistance, deterring them from infiltrating your residence during the winter season and all year long.
An Investment Worth Making For Winter and Beyond
Whether your property is brand new or 100 years old, spray foam insulation is an excellent choice for your home. It enhances the overall cleanliness and comfort of your space, and it doesn’t require frequent updating and ongoing maintenance. It’s made to last throughout the lifespan of your structure or approximately 80-100 years.
Furthermore, spray foam insulation won’t lose its shape or ability to resist air and moisture over time, as many common insulation materials do, saving you time, money, and frustration for years to come. When you combine all these benefits with the new 2023 insulation tax credit, the decision just makes sense!
Trust Epic Spray Foam With All Your Home’s Insulation Needs
As a leading insulation contractor in Georgia, Epic Spray Foam is committed to excellent quality, service, and safety. We stand behind our work and will do everything possible to ensure our customers are fully satisfied with their products and services.
Call us to schedule a free estimate for your property today.
