A lot of Southern Californians don’t think they need insulation in their homes, since our winters are so mild. Here in Orange, CA, we’re much more concerned with summer, when temperatures climb into the triple digits, than we are with the odd rainy day or chilly night. Accordingly, many or our homes are under-insulated, which can be a huge mistake. Insulation works during every month out of the year, and adding more to your home can make a difference in winter and summer alike. Here’s how insulation works in the summer too. (more…)
JC Mechanical Inc. Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Insulation’
Wait, Insulation Works in the Summer Too?
Monday, March 7th, 20163 Causes of Cold Spots in Your Home
Monday, January 25th, 2016Here in La Habra, CA, most households use forced-air furnaces to keep their homes warm in the winter. Furnaces rely on the same system of ducts that your air conditioner uses: blowing heated air through them and out of vents in the various rooms to gradually elevate the temperature.
But sometimes, that warmth isn’t applied evenly, or other factors step in to create cold spots in your home. The bad news is that they’re usually caused by specific problems in your home. The good news is that a trained technician from a professional service can usually get to the bottom of it. Here are 3 possible causes of cold spots in your home. (more…)
Insulation Makes Your Heater and Air Conditioner Work Better
Monday, December 21st, 2015We live in La Habra, CA, and as chilly as the weather here has been of late, it’s nothing compared to the cold weather that people in the Midwest and East Cost have to deal with. That can lead us to become complacent about ways to improve our heater’s function, which often come down to improving household efficiency. In particular, insulation can do wonders for your heater, but also your air conditioner, and few Southern California homes have sufficient amounts of insulation owing to our hot summers. If you want to help your heater—and your air conditioner—work better, you might consider adding more. (more…)
Improve Your Home’s Energy Efficiency
Monday, September 7th, 2015We usually think of energy efficiency as a winter affair, with homes in the La Habra area needing to retain heat when the weather drops. But in truth, energy efficiency can take place all year, and with our comparatively mild weather, most people don’t take full advantage of it. You’d be surprised how much you can save when you improve your home’s energy efficiency, and how comparatively simple it is to do with the right service at your side. Here are a few easy ways to do so, and help your monthly budget survive the energy crunch. (more…)
3 Ways to Help Your Air Conditioner This Summer
Monday, July 6th, 2015We’re in the middle of summer here in La Habra, CA, the time of the year when your air conditioner needs to perform at its best. With regular maintenance and judicious use, you can count on your system to perform like a trooper throughout the hottest months of the year, but that doesn’t mean you have to rely on air conditioning alone. A few added steps can help reduce the strain on your system, lowering your monthly bills and the risk of a breakdown all at the same time. Besides common-sense tactics like setting your thermostat a few degrees higher and wearing lightweight clothes in the house, here are 3 ways to help your air conditioner this summer. (more…)
What Is Blown-In Insulation?
Wednesday, March 11th, 2015Irvine is a planned city, and part of that planning was to place it in a location with warm weather around the year. However, the summers can still grow extremely hot here, and it’s important that your home has effective insulation in the walls and the attic to prevent excess heat from entering your home during the hottest periods of the year. If a house lacks a strong heat seal, it will mean higher temperatures indoors and energy wasted running the air conditioner for longer periods of time. (Insulation helps on the few cold days as well, keeping heat trapped indoors).
If you are looking for better insulation in Irvine, CA, call JC Mechanical Inc. We offer insulation services to seal up gaps and shore up the heat sealing on homes to make them more comfortable and energy efficient.
One type of insulation we often use on the job is blown-in insulation. People usually think of fiberglass batts in connection to the word insulation, the fluffy pink material found in attics. But blown-in insulation is very common and serves an important purpose in providing an effective heat seal for a home. Blown-in insulation consists of chunks of fiberglass or cellulose (which comes from recycled newspapers) churned inside a large machine that blows the pieces through a hose that the installer uses to place down a layer wherever it’s needed.
Blown-in insulation can create a seamless layer in an attic or other parts of the house, and putting it in is usually speedier than installing fiberglass batts. Blown-in insulation is also excellent at filling in corners and odd-shaped sections of attics and walls that batts would have a difficult time fitting. On the other hand, batts tend to have higher R-values (which means they are more effective at stopping the movement of heat) and in some situations are the superior choice.
You must have professionals on the job to provide the correct insulation. At JC Mechanical Inc., we use all types of insulation to do a job, mixing them in order to deliver the best results. Whether you need fiberglass batts or blown-in insulation for your home, you can trust to our team to see that you have the insulation in Irvine, CA that will do the job of keeping your house energy efficient. Give us a call today.
Why Insulation Is Important All Year Round
Wednesday, January 14th, 2015When you hear people talking about insulation, you may often associate it with protecting your home from the chill of winter. But in Southern California, the wintertime doesn’t last nearly as long as the warmer weather does. It may seem as though insulation is unnecessary for our climate, since you may not need a heater throughout much of the year. As it turns out, however, insulation is just as important for the summer months as it is in the winter.
To understand how insulation helps to keep you comfortable throughout the year, you must first understand a few things about the terms “hot” and “cold.” Scientifically, heat is a form of energy that can be measured, while “cold” is not. There is no cold energy out there—only a lack of heat. Heat moves naturally from a warmer to a cooler area, which is why it moves into your home in the summer and out of your home in the winter, causing the air to feel cold.
Insulation can be made of one of many materials, including natural fibers like wool and cotton, polystyrene, polyurethane, fiberglass, mineral wool, and cellulose. When enough insulation is installed in a home, it resists conductive and convective heat transfer to some degree. Therefore, it’s more difficult for heat to move into a home in the summertime and for heat to exit your home in the winter.
Insulation helps to keep you feeling more comfortable as the level of heat in your home is retained. And you may even be able to shut off your air conditioner or heating system entirely. It is also important for the efficiency and performance of your HVAC system. The less you use your air conditioner or heater, the less you’ll have to pay in energy costs, and you lower the risk of a sudden heating or AC breakdown.
It’s best to have a trained technicians help you to select your new insulation and find the insulating material with the best R-value, a measure of the insulation material’s effectiveness, for the space that requires it. Call JC Mechanical Inc. to speak with professionals about insulation in La Habra today.