If you want a way to protect your home from harsh weather conditions (especially humidity) while also reducing your energy costs, something that you should do is insulate your crawl space. If you’re not exactly sure what your crawl space is, it’s the small space under your roofing and your flooring that houses some of your home’s electrical wiring and plumbing.
Although most homes come with insulation in its crawl space area when it was built, over time, the insulation can wear thin and not be as effective. The good news is that when it comes to adding more insulation in those areas, you actually do not have to contact a professional. You can do it yourself.
If you’d like a few failsafe tips on how to properly insulate (and ventilate) your crawl space, here are five things to keep in mind.
Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee
- Billions of dollars in funding available
- Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
- This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
Seal your subfloor. Your subfloor is the foundation of your flooring and it’s definitely a space that needs to be insulated. The best type of insulation to use is foam insulation, which you can pick up at your local home improvement store. Something that you also might want to add to the underside of your flooring is fiberglass batting. You can read more about how to install it inside of your home by going to Family Handyman and putting "how to install fiberglass batts insulation" in the search field.
Insulate your pipes. Pipes that are not well insulated, especially during the winter season, can end up getting a lot of condensation on them. Not only that, but they can sometimes freeze up or even burst. Something that you can do to decrease the chances of this happening is to insulate your pipes – especially the ones in your basement and crawlspace. For the record, it’s best to insulate them with foam and fiberglass. You can get instructions on how to do so by visiting DIY Network and putting "insulate pipes" in the search field.
Insulate HVAC ducts. There are so many reasons why it’s a good idea to insulate your HVAC ducts. It increases comfort (temperature-wise) throughout your home; it helps to prevent condensation and mold; it reduces the amount of noise that is transmitted in the house and it also decreases energy costs. So yes, it is well worth your time to insulate your HVAC ducts too. You can get tips on how to do that by going to Real Estate and putting "guide to sealing and insulating ductwork" in the search field.
Get a dehumidifier. No matter how much insulating you do to your crawl space, you can still end up with temperature and moisture problems if you happen to live in a climate that is extremely humid. So, when it comes to your basement, consider investing in a dehumidifier. If you’re wondering which one is best, visit ConsumerReports.org, and put "dehumidifier reviews" in the search field.
Close vents during the wintertime. There are a lot of articles that explore the topic of whether or not it’s a good idea to ventilate crawl space. If you were to speak with someone who works for a company like Stay Dry Basements of Ct about what you should do, they might recommend doing both. By having working vents in your crawl space, you can bring air in from the outside which helps to reduce humidity during the summer months. Just make sure to close them during the winter season so that your pipes don’t freeze up. For additional instructions on opening and closing the vents in your crawlspace, visit This Old House and put "crawl space vents" along with "open or close" in the search field.
