If you’ve been looking into hiring a Miami insulation company to place insulation within your home or business, you’ve probably heard of the concept of a thermal envelope. You may be wondering how this concept applies to the everyday home or small business, and what you should do to make your thermal envelope as strong as possible. There are many different elements that contribute to the thermal envelope of a building and lots of ways to improve the efficiency of yours. Read on to learn more about how you can evaluate the energy efficiency of your home or business and how to improve it to create the best possible thermal envelope.
Why Is It Important to Understand What A Thermal Envelope Is?
The concept of a thermal envelope is key to building an energy efficient home or renovating your current building to be more efficient. Insulation in Miami plays a key role in the process of creating a thermal envelope.
What is a Thermal Envelope?
A thermal envelope is everything in the home that works to keep the home from the influence of outdoor elements. It can include many elements such as:
- Insulation
- Wall materials
- Roof surface
- Windows
- Caulking
The combination of protection that these elements create is what builds a solid thermal envelope within the home. Traditional wood framing materials that are used in the composition of a home can be an important first layer of defense against outdoor elements, like heavy winds and cold drafts. But they can only do so much. Insulation provides an important second layer of protection. The materials used to make insulation in Miami are much denser than wood, which helps the home keep a stable temperature.
How Does Insulation Installation in Miami Help Create a Thermal Envelope?
It isn’t just the type of insulation used that influences how effective the insulation is once it is put in your home. Proper insulation installation in Miami is key to making sure that the temperature within the home stays stable. If there are gaps in the insulation or If the wrong kind of insulation is placed in a part of the home, the insulation will not be as effective and still allow energy to leak. These holes in the insulation barrier will allow hot and cold air to come through into the home, creating drafty spaces on the interior. This can result in one room or part of the home being hotter or cooler than the rest, no matter how much you run your HVAC unit. This is why it is so important to hire an experienced installer that knows exactly how to place and install the insulation in your home.
How the Thermal Envelope is Influenced by Windows and Caulking
The placement of windows and the kind of window surface placed in the building are both important parts of the thermal envelope. When the home is designed, the windows should be placed in areas that allow natural light to come in without allowing too much heat to make its way into the home. This can mean placing more windows on certain sides of the home and less on sides that are exposed to more sunshine. If windows are facing the South, creating an overhang that provides shade is another way to reduce the effect of heat coming in and preserve the thermal envelope.
Even if they are ideally placed to reduce sun exposure, the windows will allow some heat to come through. Therefore, it is important to select energy efficient windows that minimize the amount of heat absorbed into the home. Proper caulking around the windows will seal the energy from coming in through the uninsulated space between the window and the wall. As the caulking naturally wears down, it’s important to replace it and stop those drafts of heat and air from coming in. Even small holes in the thermal envelope can cause a large effect on the temperature within the home.
Choosing windows with Energy Star ratings is a good way to ensure that the amount of energy coming into the home is greatly reduced. Windows with Energy Star ratings are much more efficient than older ones and keep twice as much light and heat from coming into the home’s atmosphere.
If you’re ready to start creating a better thermal envelope within your home, contact A Best Insulation today.
