Insulation
Posted on 25. Aug, 2009 by Manu Sharma in Do-it-your-self, Home Improvement
While the cost of energy is rising and will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, more and more homeowners are turning to home insulation type solutions to help reduce bills and update the energy efficiency of homes against the elements. How can you tell if your house is properly insulated? A quick and easy check is to touch the walls and floors in your home. If you have uneven temperature within different floors of the house, your heating costs are high and mold growing on your walls, you have insulation problems.
There are different types of insulation, batt type (a rolled blanket of fiberglass insulation), loose fill, board stock and spray applied. All insulation effectiveness is labeled with R-values and RSI –values. The higher the values, the more resistance the material has to the movement of heat.
Different types of insulation are used in different locations in your home. The roof or attic is the single most important area of any structure to insulate. The fact that heat rises attributes to the fact that over 50% of all structural heat loss is through the roof.
The basement is a critical location because of the amount of moisture flows from both sides of the walls. On the outside, rigid insulation tends to be used. For insulation in the walls, batts or spray-applied insulation are used in the stud cavity of a wood-frame wall, with the exterior face of the studs using a rigid insulation. For cost-effectiveness most insulation in the attic are normally loose fill or batts.
Garages and garage doors are a frequently overlooked source of heat loss. Garage doors should be insulated with proper gaskets between panels; frame walls and ceiling joists should also have adequate insulation.
Insulation can be a cost effective measure when assessed for the ongoing savings for temperature control in your home.
