A lot of people only think about winter heating loss when they’re insulating their new home. But with Chicago’s humid summers, it’s equally important that your insulation is designed to prevent heat gain.
Most of the time, adding just enough insulation to meet building codes isn’t enough to reduce HVAC loads, improve comfort, and lower electricity costs in the summer. Here’s why you need high-performance insulation, why basic insulation won’t cut it, and how you can get started today with a contractor who provides services specifically tailored to the local climate
How Does Insulation Help With Cooling in Chicagoland Homes?
During the summer, outdoor heat tries to enter your home. The sun beats down on your roof, heat seeps into the attic, and eventually enters your living spaces. Because of this, homes with poor insulation tend to have hot and humid upper floors.
High-performance attic insulation prevents this from happening by creating a thermal barrier that slows heat transfer. As a result, cool air in your home stays cold for longer. Adding insulation for cooling helps:
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- Improve Comfort: Your home will feel consistently cool across all rooms and floors.
- Reduce HVAC Loads: Your air conditioning system won’t have to work as hard to keep up with constant heat intrusion. You’ll have less wear on key components, which extends the system’s lifespan.
- Minimize Electricity Bills: The less your HVAC system runs, the less electricity you have to pay for. High-performance insulation can cut cooling costs.
- Prevent Mold Growth: When warm air enters your cold home, it condenses and releases moisture, which is a building block for mold. Insulation mitigates this condensation.
Air Sealing’s Role
Air sealing goes hand-in-hand with high-performance insulation. You can have the best insulation in the world, but if there are air leaks in the home, hot summer air will still find its way in. Air sealing is essential for eliminating drafts and reducing the amount of warm air that’s sucked into your home from the stack effect.
Overall, spray foam is the best insulation to keep a house cool because it can be simultaneously used for air sealing. It’s a high R-value material that’s very effective as a thermal barrier, and the foam can fill any gaps in the building structure.
Why Building Code Insulation Requirements Aren’t Enough
Most contractors in Greater Naperville will only insulate your house with enough coverage to satisfy building codes. On paper, this level of insulation should be enough, but unfortunately, many families find out otherwise once they move into their new home.
It’s crucial that you hire an insulation contractor who doesn’t stop at building code minimums. Insulation companies that follow building-science principles will thoroughly test your home’s performance after insulating and sealing, guaranteeing that the building envelope and HVAC system can properly handle summer heat and humidity.
ARC Insulation Has the Local Expertise You Need
ARC Insulation has been providing air sealing and high-performance spray foam insulation in Chicagoland since 1993. Our local, family-owned company is deeply familiar with the comfort challenges homeowners face from hot and humid summers, and we have a team of tenured experts with decades of experience.
Our BPI-certified installers take a performance-based approach with all installations. We conduct testing after every job to ensure that your new insulation maximizes the comfort and energy efficiency of your home, not just to check off the boxes required by codes. Through this dedication, we help Chicagoland homeowners stay cool all summer long.
