Home Insulation Can Make a Difference

Home Insulation

Electricity, oil, and gas bills - all homeowners pay for one or more of these utilities. No matter where you live, your home will be more comfortable and energy efficient with the right insulation.

A properly insulated home reduces heat flow, using less energy in the winter for heating and less energy in the summer for cooling. Simply put, insulation helps reduce the costs of heating and cooling your home because heat travels. Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter, heat flows out; in the summer, heat flows in.

In the winter, this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated attics, garages, and basements, or to the outdoors; or indirectly through interior ceilings, walls, and floors. During the cool season, heat flows from outdoors to the house interior.

To maintain comfort, the heat lost in winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in summer must be removed by your air conditioner.

The term "home insulation" generally means the practice of providing a barrier of some kind to prevent the transfer of heat either in or out of the home. Reasons for insulating include increased comfort, energy efficiency and cost savings.

Insulation Materials

Traditional insulation materials:

· Fiberglass insulation is probably the most common of materials. It's made of many microfibers spun from molten glass and is usually pink or yellow in color.

· Rock wool is from rock, spun from molten rock instead of glass and is usually brown or gray in color.

· A variation on these two is slag wool, which is fiber spun from molten slag.

· Cellulose is made from shredded newspaper or cardboard, and chemically treated to make it fire and insect resistant.

New and alternative insulation materials:

· Plastic fiber made of mainly recycled plastic milk bottles.

· Polyurethane has the highest R-value of any other material for any thickness.

· Polystyrene also has a high R-value, good moisture resistance, high structural strength,

· Concrete block insulation combines concrete with a variety of other materials, including polystyrene beads, perlite beads (expanded volcanic glass), or wood chips.

· Natural fiber insulation is most often used in countries that are not heavily industrialized. Fibers used include wool, hemp, flax, and cotton.

· Straw bales were popular over a century ago and are enjoying renewed interest, as are straw panels made from a process invented in the 1930s, in which straw is fused into flat panels without the use of adhesives.

Types of Insulation

There are a number of different types of insulation:

· Rigid Board Insulation: also known as slab, board, or foam board insulation is made to be used in confined spaces like basements, foundation slabs, crawl spaces or exterior walls.

· Batts and Blankets: are different words for essentially the same product. Batts are insulation blankets that have been cut to a certain size, while blankets refer to the uncut rolls themselves.

· Loose Fill Insulation: is most often used as attic insulation in unfinished attics. It is often blown in with a blowing machine, or for smaller spaces, can be poured directly from the bags.

· Spray Foam Insulation is one of the best forms of insulation available as far as R-value.

Radiant Barrier Insulation works by reflecting heat or thermal energy either away from a structure to keep it cool, or attracting it to keep it warm.