How Attic Insulation Can Help You & Your Heating Bill this Winter

Not looking forward to winter’s chill? Help protect your home from the cold and your wallet from high heating bills with proper attic insulation from Lewis Insulation. How can attic insulation help you ask? As experts in attic insulation for St Paul and the surrounding areas, we’d like to tell you why.

For one, attic insulation is one of the very best home improvement projects you can make for a great return on investment. There are also some pretty great tax credits when it comes to attic insulation. No matter the weather, adding attic insulation makes your house a lot more livable, while you sit back, stay warm and save some money.

But first, there are a few different kinds of insulation to choose from. If your home is not properly insulated, you are likely paying much more than you should be for home energy. There are a few different options in attic insulation, all with different R-values. Understanding an insulation material’s R-value – a measure of how well it resists the flow of heat is important; the higher the number, the better the insulating power.

Closed cell spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is a premium insulation perfectly suited for the attic. With a high R-value, it acts as a barrier to keep the indoors from the outside climate, creating thermal, air and moisture isolation. It can expand and reach hard-to-till voids that other insulation types are not able to do. 

Fiberglass and Cellulose Attic Insulation are blown-in insulation have almost the same R-value, and they are both environmentally friendly. Cellulose is made out of recycled newspaper and fiberglass is made out of sand, both of which are renewable resources. These types of insulation are great for filling in gaps and ensuring your entire attic is evenly insulated.

And, it’s pretty easy to know if your home requires better attic insulation. If your home experiences any of the following symptoms, you may want to consider adding adequate levels of insulation to your home’s attic along with its interior walls, floors, and crawl spaces. Does your home have high heating or cooling costs? Uneven temperatures between rooms? Marked draftiness? Hot or cold ceilings? Ice dams in the winter? These are just a few of the signs your home could use attic insulation. Not sure about the state of your home’s attic insulation? Give us a call and we can send someone out to inspect the situation. The installation process is generally pretty quick, depending on the size of your attic.

With attic insulation you are provided with some pretty great benefits like saving energy for your home and maintaining a comfortable temperature for your home much more efficiently. Give us a call and we can advise you on which type of attic insulation will best suit your needs and keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Ready to learn more about attic insulation for your St Paul home? Call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or contact us for a Free Estimate.

The Company You Hire for Your Home Insulation Matters

If you’ve noticed some issues with your insulation this winter, then insulation installation will likely be at the top of your home improvement list this spring. And, the warm weather makes now a great time of year to make this type of home improvement. Spring is ideal because the weather is more pleasant and enjoyable, and not as extreme. Getting your home insulated during the spring assures that your home doesn’t overheat while the work is going on. And, Insulating your home during the spring before the summer heat allows you to reap the benefits all summer long. But, no matter the season, it is most definitely not a do-it-yourself project. All home insulation must be handled by the professionals. And, as experts in home insulation for Wayzata we have a few suggestions on what to look for when you hire insulation contractors:

1. A home is the biggest investment you may ever make. And its insulation is an important part of its safety, comfort and efficiency. Hiring professional home insulation contractors means that your home insulation will be properly installed. And that means you could save a lot of money on your home’s heating and cooling costs in the long run. Plus your home will stay comfortable all year round, and insulation helps reduce noise that comes in from the outside.
2. Don’t want to trust just anyone. You want to make sure that your home insulation contractors are reliable and qualified to do the work.
3. In today’s technological world, it is easy to find online reviews of a variety of services. Visiting a website like Angie’s List is a great way to learn about the experiences that other homeowners have had with those insulation contractors.
4. When hiring a home insulation contractor it is important to ensure they are licensed, bonded and insured like we are at Lewis Insulation.
5. They should also offer a variety of insulation choices. Lewis Insulation offers three types: fiberglass, spray foam and cellulose. Your home insulation contractors should be able to tell you which type of insulation is the most appropriate for your unique home.

Are you interested in getting some more information on home insulation for your Wayzata area home, call Lewis Insulation today at 763-477-2612 or contact us for a Free Estimate.

All About Attic Insulation: Types & Benefits

As experts in attic insulation for Rogers and the surrounding areas, we’d like to provide you with some benefits to insulation in general as well as a few facts about the different insulation types we offer. Are you already aware how important attic insulation is to the comfort and energy efficiency of your home? But do you know why and what kind is best for your unique home? We hope this post can help point you in the right direction.

Types

• First, there’s closed cell spray foam insulation. This type of insulation can expand to reach hard-to-fill voids, which is great for spaces like attics, which often have smaller and more out-of-the-way spots that need to be insulated. You should see some long-term savings on your heating and cooling bills with closed cell spray foam attic insulation.
  
• The two other types of attic insulation we install are fiberglass and cellulose attic insulation. These types of blown-in insulation have almost the same R-value, and they are both environmentally friendly. Cellulose is made out of recycled newspaper and fiberglass is made out of sand, both of which are renewable resources. Fiberglass and cellulose attic insulation are also very energy efficient, so you should see some savings on your heating and cooling bills in the long run with these types of insulation as well.

Benefits

• Proper attic insulation could help you save money on heating and cooling bills and increase the comfort level of your entire family. 
• About 25% of heat is lost through your attic. Heat escapes out of the roof of the attic thanks to poor insulation.
• By having your current insulation removed and new insulation installed as soon as possible, you can ensure the sound structure of your home.
• When having your attic insulation replaced, you can essentially ensure you are not letting money escape through the ceiling.
• Proper attic insulation can also allow for even temperature distribution within the home as well as provide moisture control, and contribute to a more environmentally-friendly footprint for your home.

Still not sure which type of attic insulation is best for your home? Give us a call. We can advise you on which type will best suit your needs and keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Are you interested in learning more about attic insulation in Rogers? Call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or contact us for a Free Estimate.

Why Hire a Professional for Your Commercial Insulation Project

We are a commercial insulation contractor for Minneapolis and pride ourselves in our decades of providing reliable, high quality service for Minneapolis and the surrounding areas. We are Lewis Insulation and although we specialize in residential insulation, we do offer some commercial services.

Over the years, we have received many questions from business owners about whether or not they really need to worry about properly insulating their commercial building. When it comes to your business, don’t you want to ensure it’s not only energy efficient but that it is also safe and comfortable?

At Lewis Insulation, a commercial insulation contractor, we know a thing or two about the types of benefits insulation can provide:

Energy Efficiency

If your building’s heating and air conditioning is leaking, you not only create a larger environmental impact, but a larger impact on your wallet as well. Many consumers now go out of their way to find companies who are sustainable and environmentally responsible. It is important your building is operating in an environmentally friendly manner and proper insulation is a key part of that.

Sound Insulation

A recent survey by Cambridge Sound Management revealed that 30% of office workers are distracted by coworkers’ conversations. These types of noises can even affect the productivity of workers. Hire a commercial insulation contractor and they can help your building absorb noises and provide something of a mute for loud noises coming from outside. All in all, an insulated building is a more peaceful, comfortable place for workers to operate in.

Metal Structure Insulation

These types of buildings are frequently found in the housing of livestock, the protection of equipment and other general industrial tasks. A commercial insulation contractor can install insulation to provide a wide array of benefits for metal buildings and its contents. However hot, cold, or humid it is outside; without insulation, your commercial building will reflect that temperature to an even more extreme degree.

These are just a few of the reasons to consider hiring a commercial insulation contractor for your businesses. For more information about our commercial insulation contractor in Minneapolis, call us at Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.

Commercial Insulation for Your Building

Your business is important to you. You want it to be successful, to have employees you can depend on, and a building where you can get work done effectively. Consequently, it is important that your Maple Grove building meet all regulations for proper working conditions. One way to do this is with reliable commercial building insulation. After all, in many states the type of insulation used must meet a specific code of energy standard known as continuous insulation (ci).

The CI grade of commercial insulation is added as part of the building process to help prevent the steel thermal shorts that can minimize the energy efficiency of a building. It can be used in any type of construction, commercial or residential, but is a must for commercial properties. However, there are various types of CI ranging from the rigid foam insulation to spray foam to three-in-one products and systems. Failing to have the proper amount or type of commercial insulation can result in thermal bridging (aka thermal shorts) – when heat flows through the path of least resistance such as the surface of steel and wood stud framing.

Thermal bridging can be significantly minimized through the use of continuous insulation because it moves the dew point from a wall cavity to outside the cavity thus effectively reducing the potential for condensation to form inside the wall, which will minimize – if not eliminate – the risk of mold or mildew forming within the walls.

If you find yourself needing to decide what type of CI your commercial property needs, there are several considerations to be made. Here are a few:

• Physical Properties – Some considerations include density or porosity, wear and tear resistance, abrasion, mechanical strength and how it performs at high temperatures.
• Thermal Performance – Check out aspects such as the temperature limit, melting or fusion temperature, heat capacity or storage, and the resistance to thermal shock.
• Chemical Considerations – If your facility will be using any type of chemicals, you need to know if there is any risk of reactions between the insulation chosen and those items.
• Cost – We know every business has a budget, and we understand needing to keep the bottom line in sight. However, don’t just choose commercial insulation based on the price for the CI, installation, maintenance and repair or replacement potential. Choose CI based on what will be best for your company’s needs.

When it comes to starting a business, there are many decisions to be made: from the type of carpet to the style of architecture, and the paint colors to the type of building insulation. The number of decisions to be made can be overwhelming. However, once they are made, you will be glad you took the time to consider each aspect and determine what was needed.

So, as you determine your building’s insulation needs, be sure to contact the pros at Lewis Insulation. Contact Us today for commercial building insulation in Maple Grove and surrounding areas.

Frequently Asked Questions about Fiberglass Insulation

Fiberglass insulation for Eden Prairie homes is an excellent choice, especially for those who need good insulation that is also cost-effective and budget friendly. You might be wondering about this type of insulation and you might have a few questions about it. Here is a brief rundown of some of the questions we hear the most about it and our usual responses.

Q: What is fiberglass insulation and what it is made out of?

A: Fiberglass insulation can be used in houses or commercial buildings, and it is made out of very thin strands of glass. It has a very high area-to-weight ratio, and it is a man-made material that is great for buildings of all shapes, types and sizes. In the old days, fiberglass insulation could irritate people’s skin if it made contact with it, but nowadays that’s not the case. Also, fiberglass insulation is more eco-friendly than it used to be – many manufacturers are using recycled glass to make it.

Q: Why is the R-value of a type of insulation so important?

A: R-value means “resistance value.” It is what measures insulation’s ability to resist heat flow. So the higher the R-value, the better insulator that material will be.

Q: What kinds of benefits does fiberglass insulation offer?

A: Fiberglass insulation will help make your home or commercial property feel warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. You will possibly see some savings on your heating and cooling bills, and it is also an effective way to help reduce noise pollution. Fiberglass insulation is non-combustible and non-absorbent.

Q: Where in my house or commercial property can I have fiberglass insulation installed?

A: You can have fiberglass insulation stalled just about anywhere other than in the basement. If you need insulation in your basement, we usually recommend closed cell spray foam insulation, which we also install.

Q: Why should I choose Lewis Insulation for fiberglass insulation installation instead of anyone else?

A: We are licensed, bonded and insured, but not only that – we also have decades of experience in the insulation industry. We offer free estimates so you know exactly how much to budget for. Plus, working with us is easy: we will never overcharge you for our services, there are no hidden fees or surprises and we will show up to do the work on time.

For more information on fiberglass insulation in Eden Prairie, call Lewis Insulation at at 763-477-2612, or you can contact us to set up a Free Estimate.

Foam Insulation: Common Misconceptions

Closed cell spray foam insulation is still a relatively new type of insulation, so there are some myths and misconceptions about it. Since we install this type of foam insulation in the Twin Cities area, we thought we would take the time to discuss some of these misconceptions and to set the record straight about a few things.

• Closed cell foam insulation should only be installed by professionals. This is not a do it yourself project. Because of the chemicals used and the way they have to be mixed and applied to the walls, it takes a skilled and knowledgeable hand to do this. You should make sure the company you hire to install foam insulation has plenty of experience installing it. Lewis Insulation has been installing closed cell spray foam insulation for years.
• Many people seem to think this type of insulation is too expensive to install in their homes, but this is also not necessarily true. It is affordable for most homeowners, and it works well in just about every type of home out there. It has a high R-value, which means it insulates very well. And that is great news for people who live in Minnesota!
• There is a big difference between open cell spray foam insulation and closed cell spray foam insulation. Open cell has a lower R-value, and the way it is installed in your home is different too. It is soft and almost pillow-like. Closed cell is harder to the touch and has a high R-value.
• Foam insulation does not hold in moisture. It will not lead to mold and mildew problems if your home is properly ventilated. We also offer attic ventilation services, so we can help with that too if you need it.
• Foam insulation will not settle either, like other types of insulation. This type of insulation should last you for many years, and you might not ever have to worry about having it redone again. Your home will have to undergo the insulation process only one time and that will be it.

These are only a few of the misconceptions we hear about foam insulation. If you have any other questions about it, please don’t hesitate to call us and ask!

 

Do you want to learn more about foam insulation in the Twin Cities? Call us at Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or you can contact us to get a Free Estimate.