Make insulation your first energy-efficiency upgrade
By FortisBC PowerSense
The key to your home’s energy efficiency begins with insulation.
“If you upgrade your furnace, it will only perform well if the heat stays in the house,” says Gilles Lesage, Natural Resource Canada-Certified Energy Assessor. “That’s why insulation is one of the most important aspects of a home’s energy-efficiency upgrades.”
Choosing insulation
Before adding more insulation to your home, ensure you’ve sealed all areas where heat could escape through the attic, such as around plumbing pipes, electrical wires, pot light areas and so on. A proper air/vapor barrier is also needed to help the insulation do its job and to avoid warm air from inside the house passing through a cold spot in the attic.
“Complete coverage is key,” says Lesage.
“It may be difficult to provide a good air barrier in some areas of the home during a retrofit project, and that’s where different types of insulation and sealing materials may be worth exploring.”
For instance, if you’re looking to upgrade the exterior walls of your home, exterior insulation is a great option.
“Exterior insulation is can be a very effective way to add R7 to R10 to your existing exterior walls,” says Lesage. The R-value is a measure of how well insulation seals in air—the higher the R-value, the better it seals.
“Another part of the house that’s often overlooked is the basement foundation walls,” adds Lesage. “Concrete foundation walls are a large heat loss area during the winter. On bare foundation walls, an insulation upgrade should also be considered a priority.”
When installing insulation, ensure you always follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions and wear the proper protective gear, such as gloves, safety glasses and a respirator.
Gilles Lesage is a Natural Resource Canada-Certified Energy Assessor and operations manager at Kelowna-based home inspection company Total Home Solutions.
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