Cool Summer Living Is Possible With An Adapted Insulation System

In the oppressive summer heat, we wish to keep our houses cool. When designing your new eco-smart home, you may want to be sure that attaining a comfortable space is as simple, affordable and sustainable as possible.

Insulation has a big role in keeping a cool temperature inside your home – however, when choosing an insulation system, what it’s important to know?

We’ve compiled a few guidelines

Protect your home against conductive and radiant heat

There are two different types of heat – radiant heat (the direct heat that comes from the sun) and conductive heat (the heat that flows through solid materials, and which can only be managed using insulation).

When designing your sustainable home, radiant heat can be directed away from the building by adding a special reflective material (called sisalation) under the roof surface and inside the exterior walls.

To manage conductive heat, insulation batts are added to catch the flow of air in the in-door and out-door spaces. Using BOTH insulation techniques to your home importantly increases their effects – this will also enable you to reduce air-conditioning usage, and electricity costs.

Pick the perfect insulation thickness

Insulation batts are made in several different thicknesses. When determining the optimal size of batts for your building, it is vital to keep in mind that any insulation higher than 2.5 is for a cold temperate climate – where people need to maintain the heat inside rather than out.

It can also be tempting to buy extremely thick batts and then squash them down to use in a small space, but don’t make this mistake! Remember – insulation batts work by trapping the air and keeping it there, so by compressing them you’ll just be reducing the effectiveness of the material.

Don’t rely exclusively on insulation – design your eco home to be naturally cool instead.

In tropical and sub-tropical areas, for 9 months out of 12 we experience hot temperatures, then it makes sense to design our houses to keep us cool. The best eco-home design has a north facing glass wall or doors. This allows in plenty of light , is cool in summer and warm in winter, decreasing the insulation needs in that space of the house.

The ideal sustainable home should have a adequate combination of ingenious design and good insulation, resulting in a comfy and happy living space, in every season.

Our very experienced architects specialise in designing homes in any style, assisting our customers from conception through to design and construction. We have been Home Builders for 30 years and we design and build customised homes created to suit our clients wishes and budgets. Check up our website and have a look at our Eco friendly house designs!