Is your house like a bucket with holes in it?

Heat energy flows just like water.  Imagine purchasing a bucket with holes in it – makes a better sieve than a bucket! Well, your holes/gaps in ceiling insulation are just the same; energy will escape just like water. Air will flow in and out reducing the comfort, health and energy efficiency of the home.  Ultimately, the value of the money you spend on your insulation is reduced significantly.

New Zealand homeowners are well aware of the obvious benefits of installing insulation.  When properly installed, insulation will reduce the amount of heat (energy) lost in the winter and will assist in keeping your home cooler during summer. However, the effectiveness of insulation is quickly reduced when there are gaps, air leaks and particularly when there are un-rated recessed down-lights present.  All this results in unwanted heat loss and air infiltration into and out of the home.

We can sort this out for you upfront.

  1.  Older recessed lights are unrated because they can be unsafe – largely due to the heat produced.  As a result, insulation must be installed away from these devices, resulting in big gaps in your insulation – just like a sieve! Replace un-rated recessed lights with modern IC-rated LED’s.  By replacing these older unsafe lights with modern IC-rated lights means insulation can abut and in many instances cover the new lights – closing off those holes!  Help make the bucket work again dear Liza!
  2. Ask for insulation to be professionally installed.  Competent installers follow the requirements of our industry standard – NZS4246:2016 “Energy Efficiency – Installing bulk thermal insulation in residential buildings”.  This provides clear guidance on how to install following best practices and to ensure there are no gaps.
  3. Then to maximise the performance of your ceiling, avoid thermal bridges – and ask for a double layer system, not only removing those gaps, but also minimising leaking of energy through the timbers

So, don’t go and buy a leaky bucket.  Talk to our team, we don’t sell buckets, but we can help you, Henry and Liza avoid having holes in your bucket!

Keep warm!

Nick

(Who is Nick?  – Nick is one of our team, with over 10 years experience helping homeowners through NZ improve their castles. He knows one or two things to help make your home a better place.)