Insulate your home and save money

HOMIFY001 HOMIFY001
homify 窗戶 金屬
Loading admin actions …

Insulation has literally swept the modern sensibilities and concept of home design. It is the latest talk of the town that has been doing rounds in both Eastern and Western countries. Insulation is added not only for sustainability purpose but also for minimising cost of electric bills and other utilities. Just like other technologies, insulation has also seen an evolution in design and implementation. By insulation we don’t just mean the insulation from weather elements like extreme summers, chilly winters and other weather anomalies like dust storms, snowstorms, and heavy rains. Insulation might simply be to keep the interior activities cut out from the outside world. Be it listening to your favourite music or be it enjoying those late night parties. homify brings to you some great tips and tricks to planning insulation for your new house.

Soft materials for the floor

homify 现代客厅設計點子、靈感 & 圖片

Wooden flooring and carpets can be used to impart insulation in the house. Using thick carpets can do this or rubber flooring that is soft for the feet and also provides insulation from the extreme climates. You may also go for under floor heating systems that provide a uniform heating to the houses. This technology is highly popular in bathrooms and kitchens and now is even introduced in bedrooms as well. While under floor heating provides a warm base to walk it also ensures that the room is heated uniformly. It eliminates the need of any room heaters or external appliances. The insulation ensures that heat is well trapped inside the house and does not leave through the floor. It is also good for kids and toddlers to walk on these, as they are harmless. Soft materials can very well be carpets, rugs, laminated flooring etc.

Have lots of unwanted furniture at home and looking to get it renovated? Here's an ideabook that will help : How to create upcycled furniture

Thickness of walls

homify 視聽室

Thick walls are another source of insulation. This includes both sound and heat insulation. While noise-cancelling insulation has been popular in home theatres and media room designs, it is now substituted by heat insulations for the entire house too. Wooden walls and thick fabric insulation on interior sides of the walls doesn’t just serve the purpose of insulation but gives a great excuse for implementing a unique design on the walls. Thick walls would be a great support while you also decide on using thick weather shield glasses for your windows. Go for fabrics that apart from being an insulator also add a visual appeal to the walls.  These can very well be cotton or layered cotton that can act as a wallpaper base as well. Thicker walls would also mean that the internal paint will be unaffected by any sort of external moisture or humidity.

Boards for the ceiling

homify 房子

Installing boards on the ceiling provides another way to insulate the house against extreme weather. Wood is a well-known insulator thanks to its absorption properties, be it insulating against the sound, or be it insulating under extreme temperatures. Having a layer or multiple layers of wooden boards lined up with the ceiling definitely helps keeping the extreme external weather from affecting the inmates of the residence. You may also use this while designing a home theatre or media room. Go for shaded wooden patterns to add a bit of glamour in the home décor. You may also use wood in the form of pergolas or projections running out from the ceiling to the walls. Apart from insulation, this design also lends a perfect country style theme to the house.

Covered tubes

Having tubes and pipes in the house when we experience extreme weather like extreme heat is always going to be a problem. Tubes and pipes, which generally transfer water and cooking gas (for kitchen stove), are critical when it comes to planning the insulation. Heated rubber pipes would mean development of cracks leading to leakage of the cooking gas. Similarly extreme heat might lead to shortened life of the PVC water pipes and tubes being used for water supply through the house as well as for drainage. Therefore, when introducing insulation in the house, make sure all pipes are perfectly covered for a prolonged life. You can either go for brightly coloured coverings that act as an accentuated item or subtle coverings that blend well with the mute interiors. These will prevent the tubes from rats and rodents as well.

Heavy doors, flushing with the floor

When it comes to insulating the house, it cannot just end with walls and ceilings of all rooms. It has to be ensured that the insulation has no gaps through which external elements can enter or affect the interiors. Doors, when closed, should act as great insulators. Using heavy flush doors made of pure wood would definitely give a nicely coordinated insulation to the interiors when coupled with insulated ceilings and walls. It has to be ensured that the structure of the doors is easy to use and maintain, while there are no gaps between the door frame and the floor. Any excess unwanted gap would mean an escape route for the internal sounds and as an entry option for external elements. Also, when you are maintaining a certain temperature inside the house you do not want external air coming through small crevices to act as a hindrance to the cosy ambience. While deciding the doors make sure that the heaviness does not make them non-functional. Designed by Spaces and Designs, architects from Kolkata, the above door design resembles that of an old vintage home. 

Heat insulation for windows

London Townhouse with Advanced Bronze Casements homify 窗戶 金屬 窗戶

Just like doors, windows, too, form an essential part of insulating any room. Having ordinary windows, on one hand, would never provide that shield from the external heat in summers as well as from chilly winters. On the other hand, the ordinary windows would not solve the purpose of insulating the interior rooms. Installing thick, engineered weather proof and heat proof windows would definitely work nicely along with the rest of the insulation. While the weather impact on the interior furniture would be minimal. Some brands offer tinted windows as well when it comes to the heat and weather proof windows options, so that could be an added bonus when planning for installation of such windows.

需要請人幫你裝潢設計或蓋房子嗎?
馬上找專業人士!

我們雜誌的焦點