Is Attic Insulation Important in Florida?
“Should I insulate my attic in Florida?” The short answer is yes. Adding insulation to your Palm Beach home’s attic is one of the most effective ways to save money on utility bills and make it as energy-efficient as possible.
While Palm Beach doesn’t have freezing winters, it does have hot summers. Adding attic insulation is a terrific way to keep your home comfortable all year.
Reasons You Need Attic Insulation in Florida
When thinking of Florida, most people rightfully picture palm trees and sunshine, but building codes in the state require insulation for framed walls, raised floors, and ceilings. Wall and floor insulation must have an R-value of at least 13, and ceilings require an R-value of at least 30.
Why is attic insulation in your Palm Beach-area home so critical? Because more heat per square foot travels through the ceiling than any other place in the house.
Clear benefits of adding new or additional attic insulation include:
- Controlling conduction, one of three heat flow paths through a home
- More insulating ability and reduced costs to operate a home’s heating and cooling systems
- Significant return on investment in terms of utility costs and home value
Potential benefits include decreased energy demand and occupant comfort as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
How Insulation Works To Keep Your Home Comfortable
Heat naturally flows from warm areas to cool areas. In Florida, this usually means heat is flowing from the warm outdoors into an air-conditioned house.
During winter, heat flows from the warm interior to a cooler exterior. Insulation helps reduce the amount of heat flow no matter which way it’s flowing, thus reducing both cooling and heating costs.
Heat moves in three ways:
- Conduction is the transfer of heat by contact with solid objects like walls, floors, and ceilings.
- Convection transfers heat by movement through liquids or gases like water and air.
- Radiation is the transfer of heat across empty spaces.
Controlling heat in one way does not necessarily affect the other two. Insulation slows all three types, but its greatest impact is on conduction.
Insulation performance is rated in terms of “thermal resistance” or R-value, which measures the resistance to heat flowing through insulation over time.
The higher the R-value, the lower the amount of heat that enters your Palm Beach home during warm months and leaves it in the cool months. Slower heat flow translates into reduced heating and cooling costs.
Call Hopkins Air Conditioning for West Palm Beach Insulation Services
Most experts agree spray foam is the best type of insulation for a hot and humid Florida climate, as it helps keep moisture, mildew, and mold out of your attic. The key to effective attic insulation is having a professional HVAC company properly install quality insulation products.
The team at Hopkins Air Conditioning is knowledgeable about all types of insulation and can guide you in choosing the best solution for your Palm Beach-area home.
Contact us today to learn more.
