What to Know



Keeping your money in your home
By lowering your energy cost.



Blown insulation




INSULATING YOUR ATTIC

can significantly reduce your utility bill. Without insulation, you can lose up to 45% of your air conditioner’s energy through the roof during the summer. Imagine what that does to your electric bill! Keeping your home at a comfortable temperature is not the only benefit to come out of having good attic insulation. Moisture and condensation can be a nuisance at best and downright unhealthy at worst. When there’s too much moisture and condensation in your home, dampness and mold are soon to follow. Insulation protects from outside noise as well. That’s just a little added bonus.


HOW DOES IT WORK?

During summer, the air outside the home is heated up, while the air inside the home is cooled by air conditioning. Without proper attic insulation, the hot air from outside the home gets inside, thus raising the temperature and putting an extra load on the air conditioning system. Insulation works by trapping air inside of it. This prevents hot air from coming into contact with the air inside the home. The same principle applies in cold regions, where insulation prevents cold air from entering the home.


LOOSE_FILL INSULATION

​Loose-fill insulation is generally made out of small bits of fiberglass, cellulose, and mineral wool. These small particles can conform to any space without disturbing the structure or fixtures. It must be applied using an insulation blowing machine. This type of insulation is best used in attics with irregular joist spacing, attics that have a lot of obstructions that you have to get around, and attics that have existing insulation which needs to be topped off. It is also great for low clearance attics in which you do not have a lot of room to maneuver. Open blow applications are typically used for attic spaces. Closed cavity applications are used for inside walls or covering attic floors. There is generally a settling that occurs with loose-fill insulation. Loose-fill fiberglass insulation is molten glass spun or blown into fibers. Most manufacturers use 20-30% recycled glass content. Cellulose is made of recycled paper products, primarily newsprint. The paper is first reduced to small pieces then fiberized. Many manufacturers add mineral borate to ensure fire and insect resistance. Cellulose packs tightly in building cavities and inhibits airflow. It usually requires no moisture barrier and won’t settle in the building cavities when installed at proper densities. The R-value for cellulose is about 3.6 to 3.8.




Blown-in insulation can help:
Reduce your utility bills and maximize the energy efficiency of your home more comfortable year round Reduce noises from outside and also from inside your home between different rooms and levelsImprove the performance of your air conditioner and furnaceProtect against air and moisture infiltration (and help eliminate mold growth)Contribute to a healthier environment From new home construction to residential attic insulation, the ARCTIC BLAST Insulation and Products team installs blown-in insulation for all types of projects.



By today’s standards, most homes built more than 10 years ago can be considered under-insulated. The Department of Energy publishes current recommendations for the total R-value of residential insulation according to the location of the home on the DOE climate zone map. In temperate coastal areas such as Zone 3, attic insulation of at least R30 up to a maximum of R60 is recommended. For loose-fill cellulose, this translates to a total depth ranging from 8 inches up to 16 inches. Fortunately, attic insulation can be upgraded simply by adding more to achieve the recommended total depth in inches, without removing existing insulation.