These days, we’re all more aware of our carbon footprint, our energy consumption, and the need to be more cautious about the resources we use. Even if you’re not actively trying to “live green” you almost certainly know that using more energy hurts your wallet!
Whatever your reasons for energy conservation, if you’ve done any research at all, you probably know that better insulation is a huge factor in household energy consumption, but did you know that better insulation can also help your hay fever this allergy season?
Insulation and Air Flow
The reason why insulation is important for energy conservation is that proper insulation helps to make your home air tight, and prevents the flow of air (and heating and cooling) from inside your home to the outside world.
Because you’re containing the air in your home to within the walls, your heating and cooling systems aren’t working as hard to control the temperature of new air all the time, and that can result in big savings in your utility bills.
Ask any electrician in South Florida, and they will confirm that no matter how great your HVAC equipment is, if your home is poorly insulated, you’re going to spend a lot more heating and cooling it!
Insulation and Hay Fever
It’s obvious that ensuring that there is as little air flow between the inside and the outside of your home is important for energy conservation, but how does it help to prevent hay fever? Much the same way actually.
When your home is poorly insulated, there is a constant flow of air from the outside to the inside and vice versa, and just as that allows heat to travel between the inside and outside, it also allows pollen laden air to travel through cracks around windows and doors, or through poorly insulated walls, soffits and ceilings.
Even if you have a HEPA filtration system installed in your home, it might not be able to cope with all those extra allergens, and they may well cause you to have more allergic reactions this allergy season.
Not only does poor insulation allow pollen into your home though. It may even be responsible for some of the trouble!
Over the years, people have used some strange things to insulate their homes, from newspaper to straw, and if you live in an older home, there could be all sorts of allergens in your walls and ceiling! Not to mention when those materials start to mold, and the fungal spores cause trouble all on their own!
Get to the Bottom of the Problem
If you’ve noticed that your utility bills are up, and your HVAC equipment is working harder than it should be, then it’s important for your wallet and your allergies that you figure out the problem! A site visit by an electrician can confirm that there aren’t any electrical problems, and if there aren’t you may want to consider investigating your insulation a little more closely! Even small changes might make all the difference.
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