Time To Install An Attic Radiant Barrier
Time to Install an Attic Radiant Barrier
What is an attic radiant barrier and how can this home improvement project help you with your energy bills? The obvious answer is that's a radiant barrier which is installed in the attic, but let's go a bit further and explain why this is something you should consider for your home. Adding the radiant barrier to your attic can prevent heat loss during the winter months and will help keep your home cooler in the warmer months. This step will also help lower your energy bills, because your furnace or air conditioning unit will not have to work as hard or kick on as often.
An attic radiant barrier can include a thin sheet of substrate, such as a plastic film or a piece of plywood sheathing, and a barrier is also used to prevent air from flowing into the attic. Another option is to paint with a material which is highly reflective, such as aluminum, so that heat is reflected away from the attic instead of entering it. An radiant barrier attic can be used in any type of building with an attic; however, it is especially becoming a very popular home improvement and energy conservation project for homeowners. But regardless of the setting, the savings can be quite significant.
Installing an radiant barrier in the attic can be a great way to save on your energy costs, and this can be done one of two ways. You can undertake this as a home improvement project and do the installation work yourself or you can hire a contractor to do the job for you. The method you choose for installing the radiant barrier will determine the final project costs. If you use a contractor, then you will pay a higher price, but you will also normally get professional results. If you choose to install without using a contractor then you will see significant savings on the installation costs, but you may need to do a little research if you do not have experience in this type of project. A radiant barrier can be applied over any existing insulation for added benefits, and both of these materials do the same thing, they just go about it in a different way. A side benefit: The radiant barrier can also work as a crawl space vapor barrier.
The whole point of installing an radiant barrier in your attic is to prevent heat from entering or leaving your home or other type of building, so that you use less energy to keep the temperature of the building right where you want it. It also provides better attic ventilation.
Installing a radiant barrier in your attic can be fairly simple, and with the help of all the available online resources which can be consulted you can make this a successful do it yourself home improvement project. Installation will involve materials which are very reflective on either one or both sides. This reflectiveness helps reflect heat in the desired direction. In the hot months, this barrier reflects the heat outwards and keeps the temperature down in the building. The opposite is true when it is cold out, and the radiant barrier will keep the heat in your home so you stay warm using less energy.
The savings you will see because of an attic radiant barrier will vary widely, but you can be sure that it will be enough that you'll notice. Once you see your first utility, you'll appreciate having installed your new energy-saving feature.
