February 2, 2022
Insulation can become damaged as it ages, leading to comfort and energy efficiency problems throughout your entire home. If you have old insulation in your home, or if your insulation wasn’t installed correctly, you may need to have it replaced. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting a lot of energy, which means high energy bills and low comfort.
It isn’t always easy to tell when it’s time to replace old insulation. The best way to find out is to schedule an energy audit with Vermont Foam Insulation. We’ll use special diagnostic tools to evaluate your home’s insulation and pinpoint where it’s lacking. If you want to get a head start, look out for these five signs of bad insulation:
1. Your energy bills are higher than usual
It’s normal for your energy bills to be a little higher during the dead of winter when you’re blasting the heat, but if your heating costs have increased dramatically, it could be a sign that your insulation is losing its effectiveness.
Insulation works by slowing down the transfer of heat. When your insulation is bad, heat transfer speeds up. So, in the winter, heat from inside of your home rushes out, and in the summer outside heat seeps in. With so much heat escaping or coming in, your HVAC system has to work harder to keep your home comfortable, driving up your energy bills.
2. There are mice or other pests in your insulation
Pests like mice, squirrels, bats, and cockroaches often nest inside insulation and sometimes even eat it. Pests tear apart your insulation, rendering it useless, and a pest infestation can also hurt your indoor air quality.
If there are insects or rodents in your insulation, it needs to be replaced. Installing spray foam insulation will help prevent future infestations by sealing up openings that pests use to enter your home.
3. Your insulation is moldy
When you’re up in your attic or down in your basement, do you see mold on your insulation? Visible mold is a sign that your insulation needs to be replaced immediately. Not only is mold terrible for your indoor air quality, but it’s also a sign that your insulation is wet. Wet insulation does not work effectively and wet insulation materials cannot be salvaged. When replacing wet or moldy insulation, it’s important to figure out where the water is coming from so that you can stop the leak and keep your new insulation dry.
At Vermont Foam Insulation, we install spray foam insulation products from Huntsman, one of the world’s leading spray foam insulation manufacturers. This insulation material acts as a moisture and air barrier as well as an insulator, helping to prevent moisture intrusion and mold growth.
4. There’s a musty smell in your home
A lot of your insulation is hidden away inside wall cavities, your crawl space, and other hard-to-access areas of your home. Since you can’t always see your insulation, you may not be able to visually inspect it for mold. But you will definitely be able to smell it. A damp, musty smell almost always means mold, and if you think this smell is coming from your insulation, it may be time for a replacement.
5. Your rooms are too hot or too cold
One of the top signs it’s time to replace wall insulation, attic insulation, or basement insulation is rooms that are too cold or too hot. If your home is always uncomfortable, you have drafty rooms, or there are certain rooms in your home that are never the right temperature, it’s time to call a professional insulation company, like Vermont Foam Insulation. The right insulation will trap heat inside your home during the winter and keep it out during the summer so that you can stay more comfortable all year long.
Save Money on New Insulation Installation With ENERGY STAR® Rebates
Once your old insulation has been removed, you’re going to need new insulation to replace it. Efficiency Vermont's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® (HPwES) offers insulation rebates to Vermont homeowners, and you may qualify for rebates worth up to $3,000! Vermont Foam Insulation can help you apply. We’re an Efficiency Excellence Network contractor with Efficiency Vermont and a partner with the HPwES program.
Vermont Foam Insulation is the premier insulation company in VT and NH. Since 2006, we’ve been the insulation company NH and VT homeowners have trusted with their insulation needs, and we can help make your home as healthy, comfortable, and efficient as possible.