The nuts and bolts of home insulation

Since heating and cooling seem to have become a major priority for every house, home insulation is a necessity too. If you have to imagine a comfortable home, you will think of a home which is cool in summer and warm in winter. During summertime, the heat naturally flows from outdoors to indoors while during wintertime you have the reverse. Home insulation resists to heat flow and helps you to keep the ideal temperature in your house.

The best time to install insulation is while building your house, but it is possible to add insulation even later. You will have to choose between four basic materials: bats or blankets, loose fill, rigid board and foamed in place. Insulation bats are blankets composed of glass fiber or rock wool and are easy to install between ceiling framing, floor and exposed walls. Loose fill types of home insulation are made from mineral wool, glass fiber or cellulose and are best suited to existing homes. Professional assistance is recommended. The rigid board insulations are used around slab foundations and in basement or crawl spaces walls. They are made from plastic materials, such as polyurethane, polystyrene or extruded polystyrene. Polyurethane is one of the plastic insulations available in a foam form. These types of materials can be sprayed into roof or walls cavities.

If you intend to install the insulation yourself, you must plan ahead and be very careful, because your roof may have a lot of electrical wiring. You must use protective clothing, gloves, face masks and other safety equipment. You must also follow all the supplier’s instructions.

When buying your home insulation, you must take into consideration some features, like R-value, climate, cost and safety.

The R-value is the coefficient that measures the performance of insulation, meaning how well it succeeds in reducing heat flow. The resistance or the R-value is based on thickness and density. The higher it is, the better the insulation properties are. You must be careful not to over insulate your home, because different climates and areas need different insulation materials. For example, the R-value of the walls is half that of a ceiling. So don’t pack your house too tightly, because it needs to breath!

The cost of home insulation can vary a lot. It is more expensive if you install it in an existing home than if you install it during the initial build. The initial cost will also depend on the insulation R-value, but your heating bills will be reduced even by 50 per cent, so you can spend more money now and save in the future.

Speaking about safety, you have to pay attention if your insulation has a flammability test certificate. It is also very important to wear proper safety equipment during installation, because some types of insulation can irritate your eyes, nose and skin.

In conclusion, if you choose a proper home insulation, your home will be more comfortable. It will save on your energy bills every winter, by reducing the amount of heat escaping through the walls, and it will keep your house cooler in the summer. Effective insulation will also eliminate condensation problems in your house and, the last but not the least; it will contribute to the environment protection by reducing global warming.

Want to know more about insulation? Visit Paul Phillips' home improvement website.

And if you need to hire a contractor to do the work, be sure to visit Paul's page about Contractor Interview. This could save you lots of money and headaches. :-)

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