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 3 areas to insulate that will save you money on energy bills Ending your suffering from high energy bills can be as easy as tackling a few, simple, do-it-yourself insulation projects. Key areas to insulate are your home’s attic, basement, crawl space and garage. Read on for tips on insulating these spaces to improve your home’s energy efficiency and comfort, while putting money back in your pocket.3 areas to insulate that will save you money on energy bills (BPT) - Do you cringe each month when your utility bills arrive? The annual energy cost for a typical single family home in the U.S. is more than $2,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. If you can think of a thousand things you’d rather spend your hard-earned money on than electricity and natural gas, the solution to saving on energy costs is easier than you think. While you might assume the numerous electronic gadgets you own drive your high utility bills, the real cost culprits are your furnace and air conditioner. Space heating and cooling account for 42 percent of home energy costs — double what the typical home spends running its electronics and small appliances. What’s truly unfortunate is much of the money spent on heating and cooling homes is wasted, as heat leaks out of your home in winter and comes in during the summer. The reason? About 90 percent of U.S. homes are under-insulated, according to the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association. Ending your suffering from high energy bills can be as easy as tackling a few, simple, do-it-yourself insulation projects. Key areas to insulate are your home’s attic, basement, crawl space and garage. Read on for tips on insulating these spaces to improve your home’s energy efficiency and comfort, while putting money back in your pocket. 1. Attic As heat rises and many attics are un-insulated or poorly insulated, the attic is a good place to start for making your home more cozy and cost-effective. Insulating your attic is “a DIY project you can tackle in a weekend, and the savings you'll get add up every year," said Tom Silva, general contractor for the popular “This Old House” TV show. Many contractors and homeowners use loose-fill insulation or fiberglass batts in attics. Although these materials are easy to work with, it is difficult to ensure they do not leave gaps through which heat can escape. And, since they are designed to fit between the joists in the attic floor, they leave the joists un-insulated, which provides many places for heat to transfer from the home into the attic. An alternative that is also easy to work with, and that provides continuous insulation, is rigid foam panels. Among the rigid foams, expanded polystyrene (EPS) provides the highest insulating power per dollar. EPS panels are simple to cut to size, without creating mess, are recyclable and can be installed throughout your home. One of the EPS brands available at home improvement stores is Insulfoam R-Tech insulation. 2. Basement and crawl space In addition to insulating your attic, it’s important to make sure the bottom part of your home is energy-efficient. For most of the U.S. other than the hot Gulf Coast region, “it’s cost-effective and wise to install basement wall insulation,” wrote Martin Holladay on his “Musings of an Energy Nerd” blog. As in the attic, rigid foam insulation boards can readily be cut to size and installed on basement walls. While insulation can be applied to the inside or outside of a basement wall, for existing homes it is typically much easier to install it on the inside wall. This avoids having to move dirt away from the foundation and back-fill once the insulation is in place. While you’re insulating your basement, be sure to also insulate any crawlspaces, including both the walls and ceiling of these areas. 3. Garage door “Garage doors notoriously are un-insulated,” said David Stassi, field technical support manager at Insulfoam. “Fortunately, readily available DIY insulation kits allow homeowners to insulate their garage door in less than an hour, for less than $100.” Even a beginning DIYer can do the job, as you simply cut the insulation panels to size with a knife and straightedge, and flex the panels into place between the garage door’s horizontal rails. The panels remain firmly in place without messy glues or awkward tape. For step-by-step instructions on installing garage door insulation or EPS insulation in basements, crawl spaces and attics, visit the Insulfoam YouTube channel. With a few simple DIY insulation projects, you can save hundreds of dollars every year. Instead of spending too much on heating and cooling, you’ll have extra money for fun things like eating dinner out or taking a well-deserved vacation. KEYWORDS
 (BPT) - Open floor plans, mini-mansions, micro homes — some home design styles and elements shift with the currents of consumer tastes. However, others stand the test of time because they’re enduringly useful. Attics or lofts, for example, are a staple of American home design, remaining in demand even as the way we use them has evolved.
In bygone eras, attics served largely as storage space — but those were the days before the growth of the self-storage industry. Modern homeowners can stash their stuff outside their home, opening up a range of other possible uses for their attics, from master suites, extra bedrooms or home office to workout rooms and craft centers. Homeowners are as eager as ever to convert attics, and the trend isn’t limited to people buying older homes. Many builders are incorporating attics into new construction to please buyers who want the flexibility of finishing the space as they like later on. If you’re considering an attic conversion, here are a few pointers to keep in mind: Light from above Some attics are constructed with windows, others have none. Whether your attic has a small window or solid walls, skylights and roof windows are the go-to choice for bringing natural light and fresh air into an attic space. The direct access to the roof means it’s easy to add no-leak skylights like those made by Velux America. Energy Star-qualified, solar-powered, fresh-air skylights provide ample natural light, privacy (an advantage in bedrooms and bathrooms), and ventilation (also great for bathrooms and kitchens). Programmable remote controls make it simple to open and close fresh-air skylights, and to operate solar-powered blinds that allow you to decide just how much or how little light enters the room. Skylights are a great aesthetic fit for attics too, and can help large or small attic spaces feel brighter and bigger. JoAnne Haynes, project designer for the O’More College of Design Alumni Show House, utilized skylights for the attic conversion on that project and says that it was an amazing transformation. “It went from a dark, black, unusable space to a wonderful, well-lit multi-purpose room.” Adding skylights to your attic conversion is a cost effective way to upgrade both the appearance and functionality of the space. The latest solar-powered models, which close automatically in case of rain, along with solar-powered blinds, are eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit on the products and installation costs. To learn more, visit www.whyskylights.com. Bedrooms and bathrooms are things of beauty With more families housing multiple generations under the same roof, additional bedrooms and bathrooms are popular objectives of attic conversions. Homeowners with very large attics can convert the space into a dream master suite, complete with a spacious bedroom and full bathroom. If your home already has a great master, or if your attic space is more modest, you can still convert even a small attic into an extra bedroom or a half bath. According to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report, a master suite addition recoups more than 64 percent of its cost when you resell the home. A bathroom addition returns more than 56 percent of your investment. Homeowners are getting inspired about attics While extra bedrooms and bathrooms are a great way to use attic space, they’re by no means the only ones! If you have all the bedrooms and baths you need, you can still benefit from an attic conversion to increase your home’s functional living space. Whether you’re adding a family room, workout space, home theater or craft room, that unused space in your attic is the perfect way to create a specialty space without giving up any other room in the house. Your decorating options are as unlimited as your imagination, too. Some homeowners choose to take advantage of an attic’s naturally rustic look, and leave ceiling beams exposed. Others work within the limitations of a low-ceiling attic to create cozy, right-sized playrooms or bedrooms for kids. Still others put a creative twist on the attic’s original function — storage — to move their wardrobes out of their master suites, allowing them to reclaim walk-in closet space for other uses. Americans have been finding value in attics for generations. If your attic is currently serving as storage space, it may be time to clean it out — and start envisioning the many ways you can brighten and freshen up the space to work better for your family and lifestyle. |
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