Glaring Signs Your Home is Under-Insulated

Insulation is the key to a cozy and energy-efficient home, and while your residence is likely insulated already, it’s possible that it doesn’t have enough of it. This is a common issue, as many homes will only contain a minimum amount of insulation to meet code. We reveal eight signs your home is under-insulated.

Sign #1: You Feel Drafts

Here’s a test for you: walk around your home and touch all the ceilings, floors, and walls. If they don’t feel dry and warm, then cold drafts are likely present in your home. These drafts indicate that there are unsealed cracks around your doors and windows. Fall and winter will be here before you know it, so you may want to insulate your home sooner rather than later. Trust us—we’re sure you don’t want to feel chilly indoor drafts during the cooler months.

Sign #2: You Notice Extreme Temperature Changes

Your home’s temperatures should remain consistent as you travel from room to room. You know you have a major problem on your hands when each room has its own unique temperature, regardless of the time of year. We’re talking about when your living room is freezing cold, but your kitchen is significantly warmer.

To solve this unusual issue, insulating your home’s walls is the only guaranteed way to do it. After all, if you want your living space to feel more comfortable, then you need to combat these fluctuating temperatures with more insulation.

Sign #3: Your Allergies Are Driving You Insane

As you probably already know, old insulation just isn’t effective. In fact, it allows dirty air to circulate throughout your home! You don’t need to put up with annoying allergy symptoms when you can install new insulation within your living space. An abundance of new insulation seals off your home from dust, mold spores, pollen, and other allergens. Spray foam insulation works especially well for those who suffer from asthma attacks or have sensitive allergies.

Sign #4: Your Energy Bills Are High

If you notice that your energy bills have been higher than usual, you may not have enough insulation. This is because when your heating and cooling systems must work harder than necessary, your bills skyrocket. Even seemingly small temperature shifts can result in an upward spike in how much a HVAC company charges you. Don’t waste your money—when you properly insulate your home, you can cut your energy costs in half.

Sign #5: You See Insects or Pests

Without enough insulation, you let insects and rodents—in other words, very unwelcome guests—explore your home. Pests can easily climb into your attic if it’s not properly insulated. These critters can also enter your living space through tiny cracks or holes around your doors and windows. Unfortunately, these same openings let inside air escape your home and outside air flow into it. Additional insulation will not only prevent air leaks, but it’ll also stop future pest infestations.

Sign #6: There’s Moisture in Your Attic or Around Your Windows

Moisture can effortlessly make its way into your living space if it’s badly insulated. If you see water in your attic or around your windows, take immediate action. Water in these areas could mean your walls have a poor amount of insulation, and when you neglect these leaks, you could face unsightly water damage. Add more insulation to keep moisture out of your home for good.

Sign #7: You Can Hear Everything

Insulation creates a barrier to dampen sound, so poorly insulated floors, ceilings, and interior and exterior walls will cause you to hear everything from your neighbors’ conversations to cars racing down the road. Additionally, insulation adds a layer of privacy to your home, which, of course, is a perk everybody wants. If you want to successfully soundproof your living environment, think about purchasing cellulose or fiberglass insulation.

Sign #8: You Have to Worry About Frozen Pipes or Ice Dams

While we’re aware that winter won’t be here for a while, hear us out—you don’t want to encounter frozen pipes or ice dams once the seasons change. Once the outdoor temperatures reach freezing levels, the pipes in your uninsulated walls are at risk to burst. Once a frozen pipe bursts, it can cause severe (and costly) damage. Insulation will keep the pipes in your attic, basement, and other areas of your home shielded from freezing temperatures. Ice dams happen when snow melts and gradually seeps from your roof to your attic. In turn, this moisture can soak into your home’s ceilings and transform into mildew and mold.

This water can also drip from your roof to your gutters, which then freezes and blocks them. Like frozen pipes, the damage from ice dams is expensive to repair. Furthermore, you may notice chunks of ice along the perimeter of your roof, and you may even see massive icicles, which are safety hazards for people walking past your property. To prevent roof damage from ice dams in the form of loose gutters and torn shingles, it’s important that you insulate the roof.

If any of these signs seem evident in your home, then it’s time to add more insulation. We suggest contacting your local professionals, and if you live in the Chicagoland area, Paragon has your back.

For over a decade, we’ve been the chosen insulation contractor for several cities in Illinois’ northwest suburbs which includes, but is not limited to, Barrington, Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods, and Lake Zurich. Our technicians install cellulose, compact, fiberglass, and spray foam insulation. No matter the type of insulation you choose, you will have total peace of mind that you’ll no longer have to deal with the signs we mentioned above. Our company leads in the industry because of our excellent service. We put our customers before ourselves and continually strive to arrive early, complete our work in a timely manner, and thoroughly clean up after we finish. On the same hand, we offer our insulation products at a reasonable price and promise to stand by our work for five years. Book our Crystal Lake insulation installation company, today.