Why Insulate Your House?
Heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average American home. Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading caapplications of energy waste in most homes. Insulation:
* saves money and our nation's limited energy resources
* makes your house more comfortable by assisting to maintain a uniform temperature throughout the house, and
* makes walls, ceilings, and floors warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
The amount of energy you conserve will depend on multiple factors: your local climate; the size,shape,and construction of your house; the living habits of your family; the kind and efficiency of the heating and cooling systems; and the fuel you use. When the energy savings have paid for the installation cost,energy conworked is money saved - and saving energy will be even more crucial as utility rates go up.
This fact sheet will help you to comprehend how insulation works, what different kinds of insulation are available, and how much insulation makes sense for your climate. There are many other things you can do to conserve energy in your home as well. The Department of Energy provides many web sites to help you save energy by sealing air leaks, choosing more energy-efective appliances, etc.
How Insulation Works
Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In winter, the heat moves directly from all heated living spaces to the outdoors and to adjacent unheated attics, garages, and basements - wherever there is a difference in temperature.
During the summer, heat moves from outdoors to the house interior.
To maintain comfort,the heat lost in winter should be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in summer should be removed by your air conditioner.
Insulating ceilings,walls,and floors decreases the heating or cooling needed by giving an efficient resistance to the influx of heat.
Batts, blankets,loose fill,and low-density foams all work by limiting air movement.
(These products can be more familiarly called fiberglass,cellulose,polyicynene,and expanded polystyrene.)
The still air is an efficient insulator because it get rid ofs convection and has low conduction. Some foams, such as polyisocyanurate, polyurethane,and extruded polystyrene, are filled with special gases that give additional resistance to heat flow.
Reflective insulation works by reducing the amount of energy that travels in the form of radiation. Some forms of reflective insulation also divide a space up into small regions to reduce air movement,or convection, but not to the same extent as batts,blankets,loose-fill,and foam.
Which Insulation Works Best?
The answer is that the 'best' type of insulation depends greatly on many factors:
* how much insulation is needed,
* the accessibility of the insulation location,
* the space available for the insulation,
* local availability and price of insulation, and
* other considerations one of a kind to each purchaser.
Whenever you compare insulation products, it is crucial that you base your comparison on equal R-values.