Why insulate your home?
During winter the heat in your home rises to the top of the house and into your ceiling space and through windows and gaps to outdoors. Home insulation decreases heat loss and keeps a home warm and cosy.
25/05/2018
There's no doubt that insulating a home offers numerous benefits that include maintaining a level of comfort during winter and summer and conserving energy thereby reducing electricity consumption. Nowadays, there are various home insulation options available, and we take a look at the most popular home insulation products.
Aerolite (Think Pink)
Probably the most well known insulating product is Aerolite Think Pink. This ceiling insulation product can reduce heat loss by 20 to 35%. The product is readily available at Builders and larger hardware stores and is easy to install as a DIY solution. At a cost of around R40 per square metre, Think Pink is an affordable option for cooling a home during summer and retaining heat during winter.
When purchasing this product for DIY installation, it is important to bear in mind that there are different grades - to accommodate our very different climatic zones - so ensure that you buy the right product for your region for maximum efficacy.
IsoBoard
This extruded polystyrene insulation board can be installed not only to offer insulation, but also as a ceiling board. The benefit of using this product is that it can be easily fitted over an existing ceiling, giving you the opportunity to install a new ceiling while insulating your home. The thermal properties of IsoBoard help keep your home cool in summer and warm in winter. With two varieties - bevelled edge for modern ceiling or Isopine for timber look - you can choose the look that works best for your home.
Cellulose Fibre
A recent introduction for home insulation is cellulose fibre. This product traps air between the fibres when installed in ceilings. Unlike conventional insulation, cellulose fibre requires the use of specialised equipment that blows the product into spaces, filling up crevices, nooks and crannies. Four times as dense as glass fibre insulation (Think Pink), cellulose fibre offers excellent acoustic and thermal values.
Other ways to insulate
A residential geyser uses the majority of your monthly electricity bill to heat up water. By insulating your geyser with a geyser blanket you conserve energy by retaining heat for longer. Geyser blankets are inexpensive when you looking at the energy saving you achieve - by as much of 40% on water heating costs - and are available at Builders and larger hardware stores.
Windows contribute up to 60% percent of heat loss and heat gain. The installation of double glazing - a process where two panes of glass are installed with an insulating space between them - drastically reduces heat loss / gain and benefit your home and your wallet. Installing double glazing isn't a do-it-yourself project, but there are an increasing number of installers that can do it for you.
An alternative to double glazing, although not quite as effective, is to install blinds on interior windows. Honeycomb Blinds trap air and provide a small level of insulation to windows.
