If you live in areas where winter can be bitingly cold, it is important that you have ready-to-use hot water 24/7. A typical residential water tank can hold up to 60 gallons of hot water every day but when the tank does not have enough insulation, the heat from the tank could easily dissipate. That is why it is important that when you’re doing house insulation, you must not forget to check the temperature of your water tank too. If it feels too warm when you touch it, then that signifies that you need to work on improving your tank’s ability to store hot water.

Why do you need insulation around water heaters
Fuel is consumed when water is heated. If there is enough insulation, hot water remains hot even if the tank is no longer using fuel to make it hot. If left on its original casing, your water tank losses around 25%-45% heat. But with enough padding, you can save about 4-9% in water heating costs.

Insulating Water Heaters
Water heater insulation can be achieved in various ways. The easiest and fasted fix will be to wrap the tank with a fiberglass blanket. There are kits readily available that contain the fiberglass blanket, heavy plastic sheet and a heat-resistant tape to keep the blanket in place. There are also kits that include materials for insulating the water pipes.

But if you don’t have the time to perform the above-mentioned insulation process yourself, you can also pay for foam insulation. Foam or cellulose insulation is recommended for intricate piping systems because it easily fits through any space.

No matter which material you choose, there are a few things that you should remember about insulation around water heaters.

1. If you will use pre cut blankets, make sure that you measure your pipes and water tank first. Also, clean the area to make sure that the tapes will really stick to all the elements of your water heating system.
2. Go for pipe and water tank blankets and jackets with an R-value of 8.
3. Don’t forget to add a bottom board under the tank if you want to save more heating energy.
4. Make sure that insulate the pipe nearest your water tank. This is because the greatest heat loss is said to take place in the pipe closest to your tank. By making sure that that part is well-insulated, you are saving more energy than you would if you wrap everything up aside from that one pipe.
5. Set the thermostat between 120 and 130 degrees. Anything lower will cool your water down and anything higher will overheat the wires.

You may do the water heater insulation process on your own only if you have an electric water heater tank because the plumbing is more direct and uncomplicated. However, if you own a gas water heater tank, it would be best to hire some professionals who have been trained for the job. This insulation is highly combustible and if you do the job wrong, injury and the heater getting messed up are possibilities.

For professional insulators within Louisiana, call us at 504-383-3261 or visit: http://www.ecostarfoam.com/.

The issue on proper and sufficient house insulation is often put aside by most homeowners. This is because they lack the knowledge necessary to making a decision that could potentially reduce the energy wasted by up to 60%. Efforts to educate appear to be quite futile as homeowners still ask the same questions over and over again.

Do I really need insulation in my home?

Before you add insulation to your home, the first thing you need to do is to determine whether you need one. The least scenario you would want is to have a home that is too insulated because that’s going to make your home too stuffy. A professional should be able to determine the state of your house insulation; whether or not you need to add more, where you need more insulation and a few other problems.

But to get an idea of your insulation’s state, you can perform a quick test yourself. You simply need to turn off your home’s power before removing and outlet cover then using a flashlight, peep into the inside of the outlet. This should give you an idea of how thick your insulation is in that area. You would also need to pull out a small amount of the current insulation in order to determine what it is.

Depending on your type of house insulation as well as your current location, you need to have the right R-value in your home. Generally, loose fibers like fiberglass, rock wool and cellulose, you need an R-value that runs from 2.5 to 3.7 by depth. For light weight granules, you need an R-value of 2.7 by depth and for batts, an R-value of 3.2 per depth should be enough.

What are the common places where Insulation problems are noted?

Your attic, basement and walls and floors directly adjacent to any heated space should be regularly checked for insulation problems. The structures of these areas are usually exposed so you can easily check and measure the depth of your house insulation here.

If you need additional insulation on your walls, it would be best to schedule it with the addition of a new siding or if you intend to finish unfinished spaces like a basement or an extra room. This is because correcting the issue on lacking insulation along these areas would mean that you would have to open up your wall in order to get the job done.

What are the types of insulation that I can have installed at home?

The most common types of insulation that you can add yourself are fiberglass, plastic fibers, natural fibers, mineral wool, plastic films, and cardboards – just to name a few. But do know that these materials have limited life spans so they would need to be checked every other year and replaced if the need arises. So that means you would have to go through the same processes very often.

On the other hand, spray foam insulation is done only once for the life of your home. When properly maintained, areas that have spray foam insulation could last for 50 years. To switch to spray foam insulation, you would need to contact a certified local contractor.

The state of your house insulation determines the amount of money you save from you energy bills. By checking on the state of your insulation regularly and having the right choice of material, you begin to truly enjoy the convenience of having a healthier home.

For superior house insulation and home energy auditing services in New Orleans, one of the top companies to go to is New Orleans Spray Foam Insulation.  Talk to a professional from this firm now by calling 504-383-3261 or visiting EcoStarfoam.com.