Roof Ice and Insulation

Well, winter is finally here, and with it many homeowners are finding out how good (or not so good) their home’s insulation is. And while winter is still here, it’s just the time to tell you a bit about ice and its connection to your home’s insulation. Contrary to popular belief, icicles under your roof are not normal. If you think about it, how come not all homes equipped with the semi transparent hanging hazards? There is a difference, and not one that you can afford to ignore. The thing is that when you see ice collecting under your roof, this is money escaping, hanging off your gutters. Furthermore, the icicles can actually cause damage to your roof and/or eaves troughs, costing you even more money!

Although Ice damming may be caused by other factors such as damaged eaves troughs, one other possibility could be insufficient insulation in your attic.

Ice and Insulation Problems – What’s the Connection?

It might sound counterintuitive, but ice is not formed by cold. It is formed by heat. Heat escaping from your home. If there was only cold, such as the case when the insulation is fine, there is only snow. To form ice, the snow needs to be partially melted and drip over the gutter solidifying all over again in the cold temperature. This heat can come from one place only – your home. It escapes and melts the snow, launching this reaction.

This collecting of ice happens on most heated buildings, but it can be considerably slowed to save you money that is otherwise wasted on this unintentional ice sculpting. To make sure this is done, you need to call a team of Toronto attic insulation professionals to have a look at this. Unfortunately, not all situations are as easy to address as others, but most of the time something can be done.

No Ice – No Problem?

While ice is a definite giveaway that you are losing heating via the roof, the absence of ice still doesn’t mean that you don’t have a problem. If you have lots of heat escaping but there is ample attic ventilation, this heat may still be happily escaping without causing ice. If you want to be sure that your Toronto area home insulation is in top shape, the only way to achieve this is to get attic insulation specialists to inspect the home. There are many little things that need to be inspected and only a professional will know where to look for them, identifying insulation problems.

If you live in an old home or perhaps a newer one, you may still be experiencing ice damming. With over 40 years under our belt, Jerry’s Insulating can identify potential problems easily and take care of them for you. Just call us and we’ll make sure you stay warm this winter!