Attic Insulation Basics

It simply is blown in to the depth required to meet the r value specified by local code.

Attic insulation basics.

Blown in dry cellulose insulation is commonly used in this area of the home. Check your attic insulation. If the cost to heat and cool your home is getting you down don t worry. You should do this in the planning and design phases of your home.

The more heat you can prevent from escaping into your attic the healthier your attic and roof will be. Conduction is the way heat moves through materials such as when a spoon placed in a hot cup of coffee conducts heat through its handle to your hand. The recommended level for most attics is to insulate to r 38 or about 10 to 14 inches depending on insulation type. The installation process for dry cellulose insulation looks like this.

Sounds excessive but it isn t. It can be used by itself to fill in joist cavities that have no insulation or laid as a thick layer over the top of existing batts of fiberglass insulation. To estimate costs for your project. We all know that insulation makes our homes more energy efficient.

Now that you know the basics about how insulation works and why it s critical in your home start talking with your builder about the insulation strategy they re choosing for your home and why. In frigid areas experts recommend 12 of fiberglass insulation between the living space and attic giving you an r value of 38. The higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation. Batt insulation is a type of insulation made of loosely matted fibers fashioned into a blanket like form.

It s available in fiberglass mineral wool plastic fibers and natural fibers. Blanket insulation is available as batts or rolls and is the easiest diy insulation material. How insulation works to understand how insulation works it helps to understand heat flow which involves three basic mechanisms conduction convection and radiation. Attic most building codes also require insulation in the attic.

Actual costs will depend on job size conditions and options. R value is a measure of insulation s ability to resist heat flow. But even if you re lucky enough to have insulation in your home you heating and cooling bills might be out of control. Insulation levels are specified by r value.

For attics cellulose insulation is blown in parallel to the joists. This type of insulation. Create your own price list in homewyse lists for a basic project in zip code 47474 with 500 square feet the cost to insulate an attic starts at 1 68 3 25 per square foot.