| The inspection of home insulation is critical for owners of houses, townhouses, and condos in both warm and cold regions around the world. Home heating and air conditioning costs are expensive and as a result, a poorly insulated home can literally make your cash vanish into thin air! Don’t just assume that your home is energy efficient because builders and contractors sometimes only install a minimal amount of insulation during house and condo construction. They do this to lower their construction costs and maximize their profits but the homeowner ends up paying a fortune with higher utility bills. This is especially important in older homes since the amount of insulation is almost always inefficient with minimal insulating properties. Nemmar’s real estate inspection books and DVDs cover the important topic of home insulation and energy efficiency. Attics, walls, floors, windows, doors, crawl spaces, and basements are the most common areas that need proper insulation. High energy-efficient levels of insulation will prevent heat loss in the winter and cool air loss in the summer. Inefficient operating systems, such as, a poorly maintained boiler or furnace, old air conditioner, uninsulated air ducts, etc. will increase your home utility bills and make your house less comfortable. Where to insulate in your home or condo? | Figure 1: Air Leak Locations |  | | 1. Dropped ceiling | 2. Recessed light | | 3. Attic entrance | 4. Electric wires and box | | 5. Plumbing utilities and penetration | 6. Water and furnace flues | | 7. All ducts | 8. Door sashes and frames | | 9. Chimney penetration | 10. Warm air register | | 11. Window sashes and frames | 12. Baseboards, coves, and interior trim | | 13. Plumbing access panel | 14. Electrical outlets and switches | | 15. Light fixtures | 16. Sill plates |
There are many sources of air leaks in homes and condominiums that lead to heat loss in the winter and cool air loss in the summer. Air leak locations in your home or condo. | Where To Insulate |  | | 1. Attic | 2. Walls | | 3. Floors | 4. Crawl Space | | 5. Basement | |
The heating system fuel and age are important home inspection considerations when you own or buy a home and condominium in colder climates. Electrical heating can be extremely expensive. If the house or condo’s heating system, water heater, or high usage appliances like an oven or clothes dryer, are electrically powered, then you better get a mortgage with a low monthly payment because your utility bills are going to be very expensive! A condo or house with natural gas or oil heating will be less expensive. Geothermal heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to heat and cool a home and provide hot water. More and more homeowners are discovering the benefits of geothermal heat pump GHP systems, which tap the relatively constant temperature of the Earth a few feet underground, for both new homes and retrofits in existing houses. Inspecting Home Insulation To help you get the most for your insulation dollar, here are answers to some basic questions about home insulation. What's the first thing I should look for when buying insulation? Look for the "R-value." "R" means resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulation power. The R-value must be disclosed for most insulation products. (Pipe and duct insulation are the exceptions, although duct wrap is covered.) For instance, if you buy loose-fill insulation with an R-value of 38 from Company A, it will have the same insulating power as loose-fill insulation with an R-value of 38 from Company B. You also can compare the R-value of one type of insulation to another, such as loose-fill to blanket. How does condo and home insulation work for you? Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter, this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated attics, garages, and basements, or to the outdoors; or indirectly through interior ceilings, walls, and floors--wherever there is a difference in temperature. During the cooling season, heat flows from outdoors to the house interior. To maintain comfort, the heat lost in winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in summer must be removed by your air-conditioner. Insulating ceilings, walls, and floors decreases this heat flow by providing an effective resistance to the flow of heat. Insulation is rated in terms of thermal resistance, called R-value, which indicates the resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness and resistance to heat flow. Typically, higher R-values are recommended for ceilings than for walls and floors. Although your local building codes should specify R-values for homes, these building codes often represent a minimum level of insulation necessary for comfort, rather than a level recommended for optimal energy efficiency. To find the optimum levels recommended for your general location, check the Energy Savers R-Value map. The R-value of thermal insulation depends on the type of material, its thickness, and density. In calculating the R-value of a multi-layered installation, the R-values of the individual layers are added. Installing more insulation in your home increases R-value and the resistance to heat flow. What is a Thermographic Infrared inspection? Energy auditors may also use thermography-infrared scanning to detect thermal defects and air leakage in building envelopes. Thermography measures surface temperatures by using infrared video and still cameras. These tools see light that is in the heat spectrum. Images on the video or film record the temperature variations of the building's skin, ranging from white for warm regions to black for cooler areas. The resulting images help the auditor determine whether insulation is needed. They also serve as a quality control tool, to ensure that insulation has been installed correctly. Asbestos insulation and vermiculite insulation are health hazards that you need to be aware of. Some of the health problems caused by these types of hazardous materials include: > Asbestosis - a lung disease first found in naval shipyard workers. As asbestos fibers are inhaled, they may become trapped in the lung tissue. The body tries to dissolve the fibers by producing an acid. This acid, due to the chemical resistance of the fiber, does little to damage the fiber, but may scar the surrounding tissue. Eventually, this scarring may become so severe that the lungs cannot function. The latency period (meaning the time it takes for the disease to become developed) is often 25-40 years. > Mesothelioma - a cancer of the pleura (the outer lining of the lung and chest cavity) and/or the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal wall). This form of cancer is peculiar because the only known cause is from asbestos exposure. The latency period for mesothelioma is often 15-30 years. > Lung Cancer - caused by asbestos. The effects of lung cancer are often greatly increased by cigarette smoking (by about 50%)! Cancer of the gastrointestinal tract can also be caused by asbestos. The latency period for cancer is often 15-30 years. This is just a few aspects of home inspection that you must know if you’re seriously considering buying a house or condo. Repairing or improving home insulation problems is important for your wallet and your comfort. Read Nemmar’s excellent real estate books and see the DVD videos. |
