Home Comfort Insights from Connecticut's Insulation Experts

Let’s talk about something not-so-glamorous but seriously important: attic baffles.

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Also called rafter vents (for the fancy crowd), these are simple plastic or foam channels that get tucked between your rafters, usually right above your soffit vents. Why? Because without them, your attic insulation can choke off airflow, and that’s when problems start piling up—think mold, heat, and the dreaded ice dam.

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So yeah, baffles might not look like much—but they’re doing a whole lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes.

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Why Attic Baffles Matter

Here’s what these unsung heroes actually do for your house:

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🌀 Keep the Air Moving

Baffles make sure fresh air flows from the soffit vents up into the attic. Without them, your insulation can block that airflow like a wet towel stuffed in a vent. You want air moving—not getting trapped.

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❄️ Prevent Ice Dams

In winter, a poorly ventilated attic can heat up, melt snow on your roof, and cause it to refreeze at the edge. That’s an ice dam, and it’s a nightmare for your roof and gutters. Baffles help keep attic temps consistent and ice dams at bay.

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💧 Control Moisture, Stop Mold

No airflow means condensation. And condensation in an attic = mold party. Baffles help your attic breathe, which keeps moisture down and mold out.

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💡 Boost Energy Efficiency

A well-ventilated attic means your HVAC isn’t working overtime to deal with trapped heat. Your AC and furnace will thank you—and so will your energy bill.

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🏠 Protect Your Roof

Excess heat and moisture can rot your roof from the inside out. That’s not drama—that’s reality. Baffles help extend the life of your roofing materials.

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Why Call Nealon for Baffle Installations?

We’ve been crawling through attics along the Connecticut shoreline for 48 years. We’ve seen what happens when ventilation gets ignored, and we know how to fix it before it becomes an expensive problem.

Here’s what you get with Nealon Insulation:

• Expert Installation – We don’t just toss in baffles and hope for the best. We install them right, every time.
• Integrated Strategy – Baffles are part of the big picture. We line them up with proper insulation, air sealing, and ventilation for the whole system to work together.
• High-Quality Materials – No cheap junk. We use durable baffles that stay put and do their job for the long haul.
• Real Results – Lower energy bills, fewer headaches, and a house that feels just right—winter or summer.

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Ready to Give Your Attic Some Breathing Room?

If you’ve got insulation without airflow, you’ve got a problem. Let’s fix that.

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👉 Contact Nealon Insulation today, and we’ll make sure your attic is vented, sealed, and built to last.

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At Nealon, we don’t just install insulation. We build performance—and attic baffles are a crucial part of that.

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P.S We do all types of insulation

• Cellulose insulation
• Fiberglass insulation
• Spray foam insulation

If you're a homeowner in Connecticut and you like saving money (who doesn’t?), let me introduce you to EnergizeCT. It’s one of the best-kept secrets out there when it comes to making your home more comfortable and more energy-efficient—without draining your wallet.

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So What Is It?

EnergizeCT is a state-backed program that helps homeowners and businesses cut down on energy use and upgrade their homes with rebates, incentives, and expert services. It’s funded by your utility bills (yep, you’re already paying into it), and it’s managed by folks like Eversource, United Illuminating, DEEP, and PURA. Translation: it’s legit—and if you’re not using it, you’re leaving free money on the table.

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How EnergizeCT Helps Homeowners

Here’s what’s in it for you:

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🏠 Home Energy Assessments

Through the Home Energy Solutions (HES) program, you can get a pro to come out, check where your home is bleeding energy, and fix small stuff on the spot. Drafty doors? Leaky attic? They’ll pinpoint it and start sealing it up—same day.

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💸 Rebates for Insulation

This is the big one. EnergizeCT offers huge incentives for insulation, sometimes covering half or more of the cost. It makes upgrading to high-performance insulation—like our dense-pack cellulose—way more affordable.

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🔥 Lower Energy Bills

Better insulation = less work for your furnace and AC. Less work for your furnace and AC = more money staying in your pocket every month. It adds up fast.

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😌 Year-Round Comfort

No more frozen toes in February or sweating through your T-shirt in July. Proper insulation helps keep your house the same temperature everywhere, all the time.

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🌍 You’re Doing Right by the Planet

Less wasted energy means fewer emissions, which means a cleaner Connecticut for the next generation. And that feels pretty good, doesn’t it?

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Where Nealon Insulation Comes In

At Nealon Insulation, we’ve been insulating homes on the Connecticut shoreline for 48 years, and we’ve been part of the EnergizeCT installer network for a long time. That means we know the ropes—and we make the whole thing easy for you.

Here’s how we help:

• We Walk You Through the Rebate Process
  We know which forms to fill out, what documentation you need, and how to make sure you don’t miss a single dollar of what you’re owed.
• We Do It Right the First Time
  We use high-quality cellulose insulation and experienced crews who treat your home like it’s their own.
• We Maximize Your Savings
  Because we understand the program inside and out, we’ll make sure your upgrades are optimized to get the most energy savings for the lowest out-of-pocket cost.

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Ready to Start Saving?

EnergizeCT is here to help. We’re here to make sure you actually benefit from it.

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👉 Contact Nealon Insulation today to schedule a consultation. We’ll handle the details, install the insulation, and help you cash in on every rebate available.

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At Nealon, we don’t just stuff insulation in your walls—we help you build a better-performing home that stays comfortable and efficient all year long.

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Let’s make it happen.

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If you live near the water, you already know: coastal homes don’t play by the same rules as the ones inland. Salt air, moisture, wind, wild temperature swings—Mother Nature throws everything she’s got at your place. And if your insulation isn’t built for that kind of punishment? You’re going to feel it in your comfort, your energy bills, and your wallet.

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Let’s break down the biggest challenges—and how to actually deal with them.

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Moisture, Humidity & All the Damp Stuff

Coastal homes are basically moisture magnets. High humidity, sea spray, driving rain—you name it. And when that moisture sneaks into your insulation, it can lead to mold, mildew, and saggy, useless batts over time.

Our fix: Dense-packed cellulose. It manages moisture like a champ—letting the house breathe while keeping the heat and cool air where it belongs. It’s not magic, it’s just good building science done right.

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High Winds & Coastal Storms

Nor’easters, hurricanes, gale-force gusts—Connecticut shoreline homes get hit hard. And if your house isn’t air-sealed properly, all that wind will find a way inside, driving up energy bills and making your home draftier than a screened-in porch.

Our fix: Tight air barriers, blown-in cellulose, and proper ventilation. That combo locks down your building envelope, so your home stays warm in a storm and cool when the sun’s baking.

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Salt Air—The Sneaky Destroyer

That briny ocean breeze may smell great, but it’s murder on your house. Salt accelerates wear and tear on everything—paint, siding, framing—and it doesn’t stop at your insulation.

Our fix: We use materials that can stand up to it. Cellulose is dense, pest-resistant, and less prone to breakdown than fiberglass. We also install it with care, so you don’t get air leaks that invite salty air into your walls.

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Hot Summers, Cold Winters, and Everything In Between

The Connecticut shoreline gets it all—muggy August heat and freezing February nights. Your insulation needs to work both ends of the thermometer, and cheap stuff just can’t hang.

Our fix: Cellulose again (notice a theme?). High R-value. Fills every crack. Keeps you cozy in winter and cool in summer. And it helps flatten out those wild energy bills, too.

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Are There Specific Parts of Shoreline Homes That Need Extra Insulation Attention?

Definitely. If you live along the Connecticut shoreline, a few areas of your home are especially vulnerable to heat loss, moisture, and good old-fashioned New England weather. Here are two that deserve special attention:

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Crawlspaces: Small Space, Big Impact

A lot of shoreline homes sit on vented crawlspaces or partial basements — and they’re almost always cold, damp, and ignored.

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That’s a problem. Uninsulated crawlspaces let cold air sneak up through your floorboards, driving up heating costs and leaving your feet freezing from October to April. On top of that, coastal humidity can lead to musty smells, mildew, or worse.

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🧱 Walls in Older Shoreline Homes: Often Hollow (Literally)

Chances are, if your home was built before 1980 and it’s near the coast, those charming walls are hiding a big secret: they’re empty.

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We’ve seen plenty of homes in Madison, Clinton, and Old Saybrook with zero insulation in the walls — or a sad handful of fiberglass that’s collapsed over time. That means heat escapes like it’s on a mission, and summer humidity slips right in.

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Our go-to for walls is dense-pack cellulose, blown into the wall cavities from the outside or inside (depending on access). It’s a no-demo solution that fills every nook and cranny, adds soundproofing, and dramatically improves comfort — without messing up your historic woodwork or plaster walls.

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Moral of the story?
If you’re on the shoreline, don’t just insulate the obvious spots. Pay close attention to crawlspaces and wall cavities — especially in older homes. They might be out of sight, but they’re not out of mind when your energy bill hits.

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Why Go with Nealon Insulation?

We’ve been insulating homes along the shoreline since 1977. That’s 48 years of salty air, weird weather, and every attic and crawl space the coast has to offer.

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Here’s what makes us different:

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🧠 We Know Shoreline Homes

This isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve spent decades dialing in insulation strategies for coastal conditions—and we know what works (and what doesn’t).

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🌱 We Specialize in Cellulose

Eco-friendly, moisture-resistant, fire-retardant, pest-deterring... the list goes on. We believe in cellulose because it flat-out performs where fiberglass falls short.

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🛠 Custom Solutions, Not Cookie-Cutter Installs

Every home is different. We take the time to walk through your space, figure out what’s actually going on, and build a plan that fixes it right.

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🤝 We Stand by Our Work

No half-measures, no cut corners. Our crew shows up, does it right the first time, and makes sure your home is sealed up tight.

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Let’s Get Your Shoreline Home Dialed In

Insulating a coastal home isn’t just about slapping some batts in the attic. It takes the right materials, the right methods, and the right team.

That’s us.

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👉 Contact Nealon Insulation today for a free consultation. We’ll assess your home, explain your options in plain English, and help you make the upgrades your house needs to stay comfortable and efficient—season after salty season.

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At Nealon, we’re not just insulation pros. We’re shoreline specialists. Let’s build you a home that handles the coast like a champ.

Connecticut’s full of charm—cobblestone streets, historic districts, and houses that have been standing since before disco was a thing. But if your home was built before the 1970s, there’s a good chance it’s missing something important: modern insulation.

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That means higher energy bills, weird temperature swings, and cold floors that make you wonder why you ever left the city.

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Let’s talk about why older homes leak energy like a sieve, and what you can do (without wrecking your plaster walls) to make your place way more comfortable—and efficient.

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Why Older Homes Weren’t Built for Efficiency

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If your house predates bell bottoms, odds are it was built at a time when:

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❄️ Energy was Cheap

Nobody worried about heat loss when heating oil was practically free. Insulation just wasn’t part of the plan.

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🧱 The Walls Were Solid (Literally)

Plaster, lath, brick—beautiful, but not designed for insulation. Many walls didn’t even have cavities to insulate.

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🌬 Drafts Were Considered “Ventilation”

These homes were made to breathe. Trouble is, they still are. And now they’re breathing in cold air and breathing out your hard-earned money.

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Signs Your Home’s Insulation Is… Not Great

Here’s how you know your house is under-insulated (or not insulated at all):

• 🔥 Your HVAC never shuts off but you’re still wrapping yourself in a blanket like it’s a cape.
• Cold drafts sneak in around the floors and walls every winter.
• One room’s roasting, another’s freezing—you play thermostat roulette all day.
• You get ice dams like clockwork after every snowfall.
• Your walls feel cold to the touch, even when the heat’s cranking.
• Mold or moisture shows up, especially near exterior walls.

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If any of that sounds familiar, it’s time to talk about a retrofit.

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The Best Way to Insulate Pre-1970s Homes

You don’t need to gut your house to bring it up to modern standards. You just need the right strategy—and the right crew.

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1. Blown-In Cellulose for Walls

Most old homes have empty walls. Blown-in cellulose is the fix, and it doesn’t require tearing down plaster or drywall.

✅ We drill small holes, fill the cavity, and patch them up.
✅ It cuts drafts and bumps your energy efficiency way up.
✅ It’s eco-friendly and pest-resistant—win-win.

At Nealon Insulation, this is our bread and butter. We’ve been dense-packing cellulose into old shoreline homes for nearly 50 years.

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2. Attic Insulation: Start Here, Always

Attics are the worst offenders when it comes to heat loss. Hot air rises—if it’s not sealed up top, it’s out the roof.

Best options:

• Blown-in cellulose – Fills every nook, seals air gaps, and performs year-round.
• Fiberglass batts – Cheaper, but you sacrifice air sealing.

🛠 Pro tip: Don’t forget attic baffles. They keep airflow steady and prevent moisture issues. No one wants mold in the rafters.

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3. Basement & Crawl Space Insulation

Stone and concrete foundations may look tough, but they do nothing to keep the cold out. And if your floors are freezing, this is probably why.

Smart options:

• Spray foam or rigid foam board on the walls—for moisture control and insulation in one.
• Cellulose or fiberglass in the rim joists—stops major air leaks.

Once we seal up your basement or crawl space, your feet will thank you.

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Don’t Let Old Age Be an Excuse

Your house might be 100 years old, but that doesn’t mean you have to live like it’s 1925. With the right insulation (and a crew that respects your home’s history), you can stay warm, save money, and still keep the charm.

Ready to stop heating the neighborhood?

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👉 Contact Nealon Insulation for a free consultation. We’ll walk you through the smartest ways to upgrade without gutting your place—and make sure your beautiful old home is built to handle modern New England weather.

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At Nealon, we don’t just do insulation. We preserve comfort—without compromising your home’s character.

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P.s. How much insulation does your house need?