Lewis Insulation Blog Posts

How to Choose the Best Insulation for Your Home

Posted by & filed under Residential Insulation.

When you need insulation for your home, figuring out where to start can be confusing. As home insulation experts in St Paul, we help homeowners like you every day. You know you need new home insulation and you know how important it is for keeping your heating and cooling costs down. But how do you know what type of home insulation is best? Lewis Insulation installs three kinds: fiberglass, closed cell spray foam and cellulose. Here is a rundown of what to think about when choosing home insulation.

R-Value

Home insulation R-values measure the insulation’s ability to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the better that section of insulation is at keeping heat from passing through it. You should take this number into consideration when choosing home insulation. Closed cell spray foam offers the highest R-value on the market, so this is the more budget-friendly option over the long term.

Current Home Insulation

Where do you need new insulation? Do you need it all over your house or just in the attic? How long ago was your insulation installed, and what is its R-value? How does that number compare to today’s industry standards? Keep in mind that your attic, basement, crawlspaces, garage, exterior walls and exterior floors should all be fully insulated. There are a lot of things to think about! But we can help here at Lewis Insulation! We can talk to you about the most up to date home insulation on the market today and which one will best suit your insulation needs.

Insulation Installation

While some might consider installing home insulation as a do it yourself project, we recommend hiring professionals like us for the job. Not only do we know exactly what we are doing, but we have all of the tools and safety equipment to ensure the job is done safely and properly.

Budget

Having a budget in mind is important. But remember the old adage that you get what you pay for. Spending a little bit of extra money now could pay off in the long run. The better the insulation, the better it is at helping your home be more energy efficient. And that could help you save money on your heating and cooling bills in the long run.

Are you interested in learning more about home insulation in St Paul? Call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or contact us and get a Free Estimate.

The Benefits of Closed Cell Spray Foam Insulation

Posted by & filed under Spray Foam Insulation.

Closed cell spray foam insulation can be a Minnetonka homeowner’s best friend. Not only does this type of insulation offer one of the highest R-values on the market today, but it is also a great way to possibly help save some money on your heating and cooling costs. Here are a few more reasons we love closed cell spray foam insulation.

Enjoy High R-Value and Cost Savings

As we mentioned already, closed cell spray foam insulation has a very high R-value. R-value measures a material’s resistance to heat flow. So the higher the R-value, the better the material is for insulation purposes. And if your house’s insulation has a high R-value, that could translate into savings for you. You could save money on your utility bills because your spray foam insulation is doing such a great job keeping your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Reduce Allergens and Noise

Because closed cell spray foam insulation will allow very little moisture into your home, this also means that dust and other allergens are less likely to enter your home too. This could lead to better health for you and your family, especially for those who have allergies. Closed cell spray foam insulation is also a great way to help reduce the amount of outside noise that enters your home. This is especially beneficial for those who live near a busy road or a similar area.

Reduce Mold Growth

Tying back into the previous paragraph, because moisture will not be allowed to enter your home through the closed cell spray foam insulation, mold and mildew will be less likely to grow. And that means these might not be as much of an issue for you and your house. A reduction in mold and mildew growth could also benefit any allergy sufferers in your home too!

Increase Structural Integrity

Closed cell spray foam insulation can help increase your home’s structural integrity, and it can also help keep birds, insects, squirrels and other pesky critters from nesting in your home. In the long run, this could help you avoid pests like termites, which could cause a great deal of damage and require expensive repairs.

As you can see, there are many different ways closed cell spray foam insulation can benefit you and your family!

Do you want more information about closed cell spray foam insulation in Minnetonka? Call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612, or you can contact us and request a Free Estimate.

The Importance of Attic Insulation

Posted by & filed under Attic Insulation.

Have you given your attic’s insulation any thought lately? As experts in attic insulation in St Paul, this is something we think about on a daily basis. Insulation is the best way to make sure your home stays toasty warm in the winter and comfortably cool in the summer. Here are a few other tidbits to keep front of mind about attic insulation.

  • If you use your attic for storage purposes only, it is not necessary to insulate the attic itself. Just make sure the attic floor is fully insulated so warm air stays where you want it the most – in the rooms of your home and not up in the attic. The same goes with cool air too.
  • About 25% of heat is lost through your attic. Heat escapes out of the roof of the attic thanks to poor insulation.
  • Take the time to find out when the last time you had attic insulation installed. New insulation should be put into your home every couple of years because insulation tends to compress. And that decreases its effectiveness.
  • When you have new attic insulation installed, make sure your attic is still properly ventilated. If you hire professional insulation installers like us, we will make sure your attic has the right amount of ventilation so it does not lose heat.
  • After you have new attic insulation installed, do not walk on it unless it is absolutely unavoidable. And do not store anything on it either, no matter how light the object may be. This will help the attic insulation work properly for as long as possible.
  • If you have a finished attic that is used for living space, it should be insulated like all of the other rooms in your home.
  • The proper attic insulation could help you save money on heating and cooling bills and increase the comfort level of your entire family.
  • In order to figure out the correct attic insulation for your home and in order to save as much on your heating and cooling bills as possible, you should consult insulation experts like the ones here at Lewis Insulation. We offer closed cell spray foam, cellulose and fiberglass insulation.

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

The Importance of Insulation

Posted by & filed under Insulation Info.

You probably don’t give too much thought to your home’s insulation until you need it serviced in some way. Maybe you need to re-insulate your home for some reason. Or maybe you just built a new garage and need to get it insulated. We are insulation contractors in Minneapolis, so we give plenty of thought to insulation every day! Here are a few of our favorite insulation facts.

  • About 50% to 70% of the energy used in the average American home is through heating and cooling.
  • Having insulation contractors come out to install insulation can result in heating and cooling savings of up to 20%.
  • Insulation can help save the planet by cutting our carbon footprint. Every year, it reduces the amount of carbon dioxide by 780 million tons.
  • If you combine the amount of energy saved by Energy Star appliances, Energy Star windows and compact fluorescent lights, that still does not equal the amount of energy saved by insulation that has been properly installed by insulation contractors.
  • At Lewis Insulation, we can install three different types of insulation: fiberglass, cellulose and closed cell spray foam. Each one has its benefits and advantages.
  • The measure of resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of a material is called the R-value. So the higher the R-value, the greater the resistance.
  • Insulation is also great at reducing the noise levels inside your home.
  • If you own an older home, hiring our insulation contractors to install new insulation in your home could help you save a bundle on your utility bills and make it easier for you to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

When you need trustworthy and reliable insulation contractors in Minneapolis, call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.

What is Cellulose Insulation?

Posted by & filed under Cellulose Insulation.

We install cellulose insulation in St Paul and Minneapolis, but there are a lot of people out there who don’t know what this type of insulation is and why it is such an environmentally-friendly and budget-friendly option.

Cellulose insulation is one of the oldest types of building insulation materials, but it has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Nowadays, cellulose insulation is made out of recycled newspaper that has an added fire retardant, like boric acid. It’s also known as blown-in insulation, and the most common type of cellulose insulation is called loose fill. It became popular in the United States in the 1970s.

Because it is made out of recycled newspaper, this is an eco-friendly way to keep your house warm in the winters and cool in the summers. It uses up to 85% recycled materials. When you have cellulose insulation installed, pellets of the cellulose are blown into your home’s walls or into its attic. It fills in cavities, and no pressure is placed on the insulation.

Its R-value is 3.5 per inch of thickness. And although it can soak up moisture, it does very well against insects and vermin like mice because of the fact it is treated with borates. Cellulose insulation is generally your only option when you are trying to insulate closed walls (because it is blown in, so it does not require you to put large holes or openings in your walls in order to insulate your home).

And it doesn’t just insulate your home from the outdoor temperatures. It’s also a great noise reducer, vapor barrier, mold and pest controller and fire retardant.

So when you are ready to learn more about how to get cellulose insulation for your St Paul or Minneapolis home, call Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612, or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.