After doing some research on insulation and homes, I believe unless you have an energy certified home, your Orangeville home doesn’t have enough insulation!  It wouldn’t be a surprise in a century home that there may not be any let alone enough insulation but you may be very surprised to find out some of the newer homes may be a little light on the insulation factor as well.  Think about it, a builder is just going to put the minimum required by code unless you are having a custom home and insist on more.  So how do you know if you have enough?  Here are 9 signs that your Orangeville home doesn’t have enough insulation.

1. Touch Test

Put your hand on your walls, ceilings and floors and they should feel warm and dry.  If you feel damp and cold, this could be a sign of a problem that needs to be investigated further.

2. Fluctuating Temperatures

If your home is like a menopausal woman and has extreme fluctuations in warm and cold, guess what? You don’t have proper Insulation!

3. High Energy Bills

If you are having to black market organs just to pay your energy bills….you have insufficient insulation!

4. Cold Rooms

If the only way you can go into a room in your home is with a parka…no insulation!

5. Chilly Drafts

Do you feel cold air coming from somewhere in the house and you are quite sure it’s not ghosts, most likely lack of proper insulation.

6. Mice or Bugs in Your Home

If the little rodents can get in, then there is some type of opening that heat can escape and cold can creep in.  Answer …more insulation!

7. Water Marks In the Attic

Water marks in the attic doesn’t necessarily mean the roof is leaking.  If you have insufficient insulation or lack of ventilation, then condensation can form and cause mold and/or discoloration.

8. Ice Dams On Your Roof

Mike and I argue about this all the time, but the fact is heat is escaping through the roof and causing melting that comes down and freezes at the cold part of the gutter and causes ice build-up and icicles.  This can also lead to damage to the roof but is a sign of improper insulation in the attic.

9. Frozen Pipes

Walls are meant to have sufficient insulation in them as to protect your pipes from freezing on extreme cold days.  If you have to keep you cupboard door open or put a small heater in the laundry room to keep the pipes from freezing, maybe the problem is not enough insulation.

These are some signs that can be very obvious.  We had an old farmhouse in Amaranth and when we had the contractor in to change windows, he dropped a screwdriver down the window opening on the second floor and it popped out on the basement floor! That was a definite sign we did not have enough of insulation in the walls.  At that time, we had an insulation company come in and drill holes all around the exterior of the house and blow in cellulose insulation.  Our daughter just recently changed the siding on her house down east and had them put insulation board all around the exterior and reside.  What a huge difference in the comfort in her home.

You can look to reduce heat loss in smaller ways too.  Look for ways air can escape to your attic of your Orangeville home like around vents, fans, chimneys, plumbing vents or wires.  Using caulk or expanding foam can make a huge difference.  Something as simple as a piece of weather-stripping on the attic hatch can help make your home more energy efficient.

In this blog I have only talked about 9 signs your Orangeville home doesn’t have enough insulation; in my next blog I will look at the different types of insulation that are available and what all the R-value stuff is.   Stay tuned for my next installment Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Insulation!