In our increasingly energy-conscious world, attic insulation systems designed to lower your heating and cooling costs are becoming more and more popular. One such system called a “radiant barrier” uses sheets of highly reflective aluminum to keep heat from entering the interior of your home.
Is your home a good candidate for a radiant barrier system? “In a word, ‘yes,’” says Jeff Kramer of Reflect Green in Phoenix, Arizona. According to Kramer, when properly installed, a radiant barrier system could help you reduce your energy costs by up to 30%. “I have yet to meet a homeowner,” he says, “who wouldn’t experience a noticeable reduction in energy costs after installing a radiant barrier system.”
What Is a Radiant Barrier?
Installed in your home’s attic and made from a special type of aluminum, a radiant barrier system, Kramer says, operates differently than traditional insulation. Whereas classic insulation absorbs heat (and ultimately allows it to leak into indoor living spaces once it becomes saturated), a radiant barrier actually reflects heat away from your home, keeping it cooler in the summer and lowering your energy costs substantially.
What Are the Benefits?
The benefits of a radiant barrier system, Kramer says, are immediate and obvious. “In most cases, you can expect your utility costs to go down 20% or more,” he says. While there are certainly factors, he explains, that will affect an individual homeowner’s total savings, a significant reduction in costs is more the rule than the exception.
According to Bell, since every home is different, the effects of installing a radiant barrier system will be slightly different as well. Because the system is installed under the roof, a smaller home with a larger roof area will see the greatest benefits. A large, multi-story home with a smaller roof area, on the other hand, will still see a reduction in costs, but that reduction may not be as dramatic. Before he takes any radiant barrier installation job, Kramer always meets with the client to assess the home and provide an estimate of that home’s energy-saving potential.
“We use a 20% savings as an estimate,” Kramer says. “However, we’ve seen much larger savings in some homes. For example, we recently worked with a homeowner who was spending $750 each month on electricity. With the radiant barrier, we were able to reduce his monthly bill by $250.”
Other Factors
While any home can benefit from the installation of a radiant barrier system, some homes may have other efficiency issues that will continue to drive utility bills up, even after a radiant barrier has been installed. For this reason, Kramer recommends hiring a professional to conduct a thorough energy audit before you decide on specific upgrades. Kramer, whose company offers radiant barriers in Phoenix as well as energy audit services, says that in order to get the most benefit from your radiant barrier, it’s a good idea to have your ductwork, doors and windows checked for leaks first. If leaks are found, then sealing them at the same time at which your radiant barrier is installed will help you reap the greatest return on investment.
“When a customer hires Reflect Green,” Kramer says, “we offer a complete package. We can conduct a BPI certified energy audit, identify areas of inefficiency, fix them, and then install the radiant barrier system to significantly bring down heating and cooling costs.”
