With Winter Around the Corner, start Winterizing Homes Now by upgrading to Spray Foam Insulation

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - Summer is officially over and with temperatures dropping, home insulation experts say now is the time to start winterizing your house.

Northern Energy Solutions offered tips on winterizing your home. (WLUC Photo)

"Getting prepared for winter is really not that different from getting prepared for summer nowadays because it's really a 365-day-a-year efficiency that you can count on if you're using the right products in your home for insulation,” said Northern Energy Solutions General Manager, Paul Schloegel.

A good place to start winterizing is in the attic. Schloegel says that for above-grade walls and attics, the “R-value,” which is the measure of the insulation’s effectiveness, should be at least 21.

"If you're looking in your own house and you're trying to figure out if you've got enough insulation right now, you've got to have at least a foot of insulation up in your attic space. If you've got 2-by-4 constructed walls, you know, it's really time to think about if that needs to be reinvented,” Schloegel said.

He adds that insulation in basements is just as important as what is in the attic for maximum energy efficiency.

Schloegel says there are different types of insulation such as cellulose insulation and spray foam insulation.

"With basements, that does vary a little bit depending on what you're looking to do down there, but there's always options for us to enhance the R-values down there with high-quality spray foams,” he said.

If cost is a factor for you, other things can be done to maximize energy savings such as putting plastic wrap over windows.

Even these small changes, Schloegel says, are important to saving money and energy.

"Don't wait until October to start looking at these types of projects. It's a year-round project and the minute you start to make that investment into the home, you're going to get paid back 365 days out of the year,” he said.

As seen on Upper Michigan Source