Insulating your attic brings many benefits to your home. It brings temperature control, keeping your home cool in summer and toasty in winter. Attic insulation also prevents pests from invading your home through your roof and ensures that anything you store in the attic is safe and secure. However, did you know that there is a way to enhance your attic insulation? These enhancements are called radiant barriers. Let’s take a look at what radiant barriers are, how effective they are, and if you should invest in them.
What Are Radiant Barriers?
To start, you first need to understand what exactly radiant barriers are. They are a reflective material that is added to insulation that reflects instead of absorbing heat, as radiant barriers are most effective during the summer and in warm or hot climates. If you live in a cooler climate, this technology will need to be supplemented with thermal insulation. That’s because cool areas don’t usually need radiant barriers to assist in keeping heat out of one’s home.
Benefits Of Radiant Barriers
Now that you know what radiant barriers are, it’s time to dive into some specific benefits of radiant barriers. Today, you will learn about the following three benefits of radiant barriers.
Keeps Ductwork And Insulation Cool
If you’re concerned about your ductwork getting overheated in the summer, you can add radiant barriers to keep it cool. If you currently have an insulated attic, you can boost the capabilities of the insulation by installing radiant barriers. With the support of radiant barriers, you can keep your attic space and the rest of your home nice and cool during those hot summer days.
Lower Cooling Costs And Increased Efficiency
These radiant barriers can reduce your cooling costs by five to ten percent of the usual amount. With the additional cooling support, your AC doesn’t need to overwork itself to keep your home cool. As a result, radiant barriers also increase the efficiency of your home’s cooling system.
Roof-Friendly
Seeing as radiant barriers pair well with attic insulation, you’re probably curious as to whether or not they will adversely affect your roof. The good news is that radiant barriers will likely only heat up your roof shingles by two or seven degrees. Otherwise, there’s no need to worry about the reflected heat being absorbed by and built up in your roof.
Installing Radiant Barriers
After reading about the benefits of radiant barriers for your attic insulation, you might be curious about the installation process. If you plan to install radiant barriers to enhance your attic insulation and cooling system, follow these steps:
1. Determine If You Need Radiant Barriers
Before you start shopping around for radiant barriers, take some time to consider if you actually need radiant barriers and if they will make a difference to your home cooling system. To make this determination, ask yourself these questions: Do you live in an area with a warm or hot climate most of the year? Does your home get hotter than usual during the summer despite your air conditioning system’s best efforts? If you find yourself saying “yes” to either question, then radiant barriers are a worthwhile investment for your home.
2. Create A Budget
As soon as you’re certain about getting radiant barriers, sit down and assemble a budget. You can either set aside a certain amount of money you want to spend on this installation or estimate how much the project will cost and start saving money for it. For this budget, you’ll need to account for how much it will cost to purchase the materials and how much you’ll need to hire someone to install it.
3. Find The Best Radiant Barriers For Your Attic
Once you know your budget parameters, you can start searching for radiant barriers. When finding them, consider what will work best with your current attic insulation and what will be most effective and long-lasting. After finding and purchasing them, it’ll be time to hire someone to perform the installation. Luckily, that’s what our Fresh Air Duct Cleaning technicians are here to do. Contact us today and enhance your home cooling system!