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Canada, Home Insulation, and Improving Your Comfort

January 17, 2020

Canada home insulation and improving your comfort

In Canada, home insulation means owning more comfortable home with lower energy bills. It also means a healthy home in every season, regardless of what our Canadian weather is like outside. It is also means your home is air sealed, reducing drafts and leaks both into and out of the home. But what if your home is not well insulated? Knowing how you and your family really feel in your home can help you know how to fix the problems you are having.

Take a minute to really think about how you and your family feel in your home. Do you need to walk around with a blanket just to keep warm in the winter? Does your family complain about having cold feet? Do you avoid the air conditioner in the summer because you fear how high it will make your energy bills? You might think that fixing these problems is impossible or will cost far too much. This article will hopefully prove otherwise.

Canada Home Insulation & Seasonal Changes

In Canada, our home insulation needs change as drastically as our seasons can. In the fall, we feel the dampness and the cold entering our homes and our living rooms. In the winter, the dry, cold air makes our teeth chatter as we crank up the heat and burn what money we have left after holiday shopping. In the spring, those of us with allergies are afraid to open the windows for fear of letting any rogue pollen infiltrate our bedroom sheets and our couches. In the summer, we tend to run to our homes to beat the heat only to end up beating down our bank accounts.

In some cases, we might think that our homes are perfectly fine the way they are, or that there is nothing we can do about it. We just learn to live with it. However, many of our homes were built when building codes were much more lenient. There may be little to no insulation in your walls and attic. If there is attic insulation, it might be too old to effectively provide a high R-value. As the Ontario Building Code moves closer to Net Zero, Canada’s home insulation efforts lead the way in changing how we protect our homes from the temperatures outside.

Where to Start with Home Insulation in Canada

Knowing where to start with improving your home comfort can be daunting. It is not like a renovation you can see, such as painting your living room a warmer colour, but we all know that is not actually going to make it any cozier. Instead, here are a couple of simple ways to help you figure out where to start. It is also information that you can pass on to your home insulation specialists (such as Great Northern Insulation).

  1. Take Out A Notepad and Walk Around Your Home

Let your home speak to you. Really. Do you hear any windows whistling? Or do you feel the need to turn up the heat (or AC) in a certain room? Does your finished basement feel more like a cold, damp cellar? Note down how each room makes you feel. If you live with anybody else, ask them how they feel in each room of the house too.

  1. Take Out Your Energy Bills

If you are not in the habit of keeping your energy bills, now might be a good time to start. It might be possible to lower them significantly with the right insulation upgrades. By taking them out now and setting them aside, you can compare them to the energy bills you receive after your insulation upgrades are performed. This way, you can calculate exactly how much you have saved.

Areas of Your Home to Ask About

No two homes are the same, but there are some common areas that can usually benefit from getting upgraded insulation. Every insulation inspection starts with your attic and ends in your basement or crawlspace. The insulation specialist who visits your home should carry their own checklist with them, and be able to tell you what they are looking for and what they have identified.

For most Canadian homes, better attic insulation is likely the first place you should turn. It is notorious for letting the heated air in your home escape during the winter. In most cases, it is also a very affordable first step to improving the comfort of your home that reaps a lot of reward. In fact, it could save you an estimated 10-50% on your energy bills. It is very important to remember that your attic is affected by more than insulation. Air leakage is a major culprit for uncomfortable homes.

At Great Northern Insulation, we provide almost every solution you can think of. We can air seal common areas that suffer from air leakage, or manually identify and seal key air leakage areas in your attic, and then install loose fill insulation evenly across your attic floor. We can also spray your entire attic floor with spray foam insulation to maximize air sealing, and then lay loose fill insulation over it. You can read more information about how we can help with attic insulation here.

Right now, you can take advantage of attic insulation and air sealing to get more money back through the Home Efficiency Rebate. First, get a free estimate from us. Then, have a Registered Energy Advisor participating in the program, such as a representative of Barrier Sciences Group, conduct a home energy audit. When working with Barrier Sciences Group, they will verify your eligibility in the program and the rebate amount you may be able to receive.

If you would like to learn more about home insulation in Canada, more about attic insulation and air sealing, or rebates through the Home Efficiency Rebate offer, you can contact us here or fill out the form below.

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Western Ontario

935 Keyes Drive
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada N4V 1C3

Phone: 1-800-265-1914

Fax: (519) 539-7946
TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

Muskoka, Haliburton, Northern Ontario

1027 Elwell Park Road
Gravenhurst, Ontario
Canada P1P 1R1

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Central Ontario

29 Ferndale Industrial Drive
Barrie, Ontario
Canada L4N 9V5

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

Greater Toronto Area

2 Guided Court
Etobicoke, ON
M9V 4K6

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

GTA East

103 North Port Road
Port Perry, Ontario
Canada L9L 1B2

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

South Central Ontario

450 Industrial Dr,
Toronto (Milton), Ontario
Canada L9T 5A6

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

Eastern Ontario

1035 Moodie Dr #1,
Nepean, ON
K2R 1H4

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

Niagara Region

25 Lincoln Ave
St. Catharines, ON
L2P 2C7

TOLL FREE: 1-800-265-1914

BBB

Great Northern Insulation - Better Business Bureau Profile.

Homestars Best of 2021 Award

Best of 2021

HomeStars has ranked Great Northern Insulation as a company that goes above and beyond in every aspect of business for the year of 2021.

Homestars Best of 2022 Award

Best of 2022

HomeStars has ranked Great Northern Insulation as a company that goes above and beyond in every aspect of business for the year of 2022.

Lowes

GNI is the Authorized & Trusted Insulation and Air Sealing Installer for Lowe’s

Trusted for Over 40 Years

Over 40 Years in Business

At GNI, we service your project with the most experienced staff in the industry. Ongoing professional development is an obsession at GNI and we will not compromise at any level to bring to our customers the very best Installers, Sales Representatives, Customer Care Personnel, Field Superintendents, Estimating and Technical Support to your project.

100% Canadian

100% Canadian

Great Northern Insulation is recognized as Canada's largest full-service insulation contractor. GNI is 100% Canadian owned, proudly serving Ontario customers since 1980.

Foam Masters

Do it right the first time
- with foam mastersTM

January, 2021 regulatory phaseout of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) with the introduction of WALLTITE CM01. Using hydrofluorolefins (HFOs) with lower global warming potential (GWP) compared to HFCs, WALLTITE CM01 is the next generation of spray foam insulation.

HEATLOK® SOYA HFO™ 

Huntsman HEATLOK® SOYA HFO™ 

Heatlok® Soya HFOTM leverages Honeywell’s latest Solstice® Liquid Blowing Agent technology. This new hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) blowing agent is the most environmentally conscious blowing agent produced to date, with a zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and a global warming potential (GWP) of 1, which is more than two orders of magnitude (99.9%) lower than HFCs used in this industry.

3M

3MTM products.
Quality + Performance = Savings

3MTM energy-saving products are designed to keep warm air in, and cold air out, while keeping energy bills down. Products optimize energy efficiency in buildings and homes; improve indoor environment for occupants; and effect the reduction of seasonal energy costs. 3M products are authorized for LEED credits (Leadership in Energy/Environmental Design).

Holmes and Holmes

Holmes and Holmes

 

Mike Holmes and his son Mike Jr. (MJ) convert MJ’s bachelor bungalow into a two-storey home for MJ and his girlfriend Lisa. Choosing the newest materials and build techniques, the father and son team follow Mike’s famous motto – “Make it right.” The show can be watched on HGTV and DIY Network.

Enbridge

Enbridge Incentives

The Home Efficiency Rebate Plus program offers up to $10,000 in home reno rebates – and Great Northern Insulation can pave the way.

Renomark

Great Northern Insulation proudly abides by a renovation-specific Code of Conduct set by RenoMark™.

eRenovate

We are Verified & Bonded by eRenovate. When you choose to proceed with our services through their platform, you receive the gaurantees set forth through their program.

As Seen on Love It or List It

The GNI crew have been featured installing insulation on Love It or List It - have you seen our logo in an episode?

Climatizer Cellulose

Climatizer

CLIMATIZER PLUS cellulose insulation is manufactured from a minimum of 85% locally-sourced post-consumer recycled newsprint. Non-toxic additives are applied to the uniquely fiberized paper generating a building material with superior thermal and acoustic properties, as well as exceptional resistance to fire, moisture, mould and pests.

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