Insulating Your Home

Choosing the Right Type of Insulation

Insulating your home with the right insulation is important to reduce excessive heat loss and save energy cost. Reduce the heat loss whether from heating in cold weather or cooling in summer weather will save you energy cost.

Deciding which type of home insulation to use is so much easier when you have an idea of what the different types are, how effective they are, and where they are used in the house. If you understand the purpose and how each type of insulation is used you can in turn get the best insulation for the job that you can afford.

The more expensive insulation choice is residential foam insulation. However, you will recoup your costs over time with the additional savings in energy costs that you will get through using expanding foam. Foam insulation expands to fill every little space where air and moisture might enter the home. It is the best types available and is easily applied through a spray nozzle.

The blow insulation is less expensive than the foam. It is made up of either fiberglass or cellulose insulation and is blown in the walls or attic. You will need a thicker layer than you would if you used fiberglass batts, but this will save you some money and make it easier to insulate hard to reach areas. It is especially great for attics. Attic insulation is especially important since heat rises and you don't want all your heat in the winter to go out through the roof. Attics require and R factor between 30 and 60 to be adequately insulated. Blow in insulation is much more effective in the attic than batt insulation.

If you have a cathedral ceiling without an attic, rigid foam panel roof insulation is a must. It is attached in two ways. First; it is attached to the roof rafters before the roof sheathing is installed. The second method is to install it underneath the roof rafters before the sheetrock is installed. It takes about four inches of foam roof insulation to obtain an R-30 value.

Wall insulation and floor insulation is typically fiberglass batt. A standard 2X4 exterior wall should be insulated to a minimum of R-13 to R-15 with fiberglass batt insulation. R-21 fiberglass batt insulation is used on standard 2X6 exterior walls. The exterior wall insulation factor can be increased by adding one inch of rigid foam insulation either to the outside before the exterior finish is installed or on the inside before the sheetrock is installed. One inch of rigid foam insulation will add approximately an additional R5 – R7 insulation factor to your walls.

Floor and ceiling insulation is typically R-13 batt fiberglass insulation. A lot of builders and home owners do not insulate floors between the first and second level or between the basement and first level. This allows heat to penetrates to the upper level from the first floor or down to the basement.

Most garages are not insulated but if you live in a cold climate I recommend the garage be insulated with R-13 fiberglass insulation. It will help to regulate the temperature of your garage and makes it a more useful place even though it may not be heated. You might also find that you save on your energy cost as an insulted garage will help keep the house warmer. 

Whatever type insulation you use in your home keep in mind that the higher the R factor the better. Always lean to the high side, the difference in cost will be made up by energy savings.

Related articles:

Insulating Finished Basements

Sound Proofing Foam Insulation