Adding Insulation to Your Home

Unless your home was built in the past twenty years, it probably was not specially constructed for energy efficiency. If you are a DIY homeowner you can remedy this yourself and can probably reduce your energy bills by adding more insulation. Many older homes have less insulation than homes built today and should have additional insulation installed for a more efficient home. Even adding insulation to a newer home can pay for itself within a few years.

To determine whether you should add insulation, you first need to find out how much insulation you already have in your home. An energy assessment, also known as a home energy audit, will help identify areas of your home that are in need of additional insulation.

If you don't want an energy assessment, you need to find out the following for yourself:

Where your home is, isn't or should be insulated.
What type of insulation you have.
The R-value and the thickness or depth in inches of the insulation you have.

If you live in a newer house, you can probably get this information from the builder. If you live in an older house, you'll have to inspect the insulation yourself.

How to inspect and evaluating your insulation:

Check the attic, walls, and floors adjacent to any unheated space such as the garage or basement. The structural elements are usually exposed in these areas which make it easy to see what type of insulation you have and to measure its depth or thickness in inches.
Inspect the exterior walls by using an electrical outlet. Turn off the power to the outlet first and remove the outlet cover and shine a flashlight into the crack around the outlet box. You should be able to see if there is insulation in the wall and how thick it is. Remove a small amount of insulation if needed to help determine the type of insulation.
Inspect and measure the thickness of any insulation in unfinished basement ceilings and walls, or above crawlspaces. If the crawlspace isn't ventilated, it may have insulation in the perimeter wall. If your house is relatively new, it may have insulation outside the basement on the foundation walls. The insulation in these spaces won't be visible.

Determining the recommended R-values:

When you find out the R-values of your insulation, you can determine how much additional insulation you should add and where you should add it for maximum energy efficiency.

In most residential homes the insulation is standard fiberglass insulation, either blanket or batt and has an R-value between R-2.9 and R-3.8 per inch of thickness. High-performance (medium-density and high-density) fiberglass blankets and batts have R-values between R-3.7 and R-4.3 per inch of thickness. The R-value for standard typical exterior walls, ceiling and floors are as follows:

R-11 for 2x4 studded walls
R-19 to 21 for 2x6 studded walls
R-25 for ceiling and basement joist

When adding additional insulation over existing insulation, the un-faced batt is the recommended choice.

By adding additional insulation to your home, you can save on your energy bill and have a more comfortable home.

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