Why insulation works

Rigid Foam Insulation. Spray Foam Insulation. External Insulation. Own an old house? You can still do energy efficient house upgrades to save you money and make your house a warmer and more comfortable place to be. Insulating an attic room correctly will make a big difference and reduce the risk of damp, interstitial condensation and even rot. Airtightness improvements to your home will not only reduce your heating bills but also make your home more comfortable.

So what is passive stack ventilation, what are the advantages and disadvantages and should I install it in my home? What is wood fibre insulation and what are the reasons to use it or not use it. How to install insulation in your attic the right way. Turns out most of us install it incorrectly, which can cause condensation and mould. Enjoy this page? Share it with your friends.

The solution is to reduce the heat-load and block the heat from coming into your home. Insulation installed in your attic and walls will dramatically reduce the amount of heat entering your home; the house stays cooler longer into the day and the air conditioning, when it does come on, runs much less often.

When we insulate homes during hot days, customers often notice an immediate difference and frequently describe the feeling as though a huge shady cloud came over their home. Just as insulation can block heat from entering the home in the summer, it too works in the same way to keep the heat contained within the home during the winter.

Homeowners frequently complain of cold homes and furnaces that run continuously. This is because the heat is escaping about as fast as the furnace can produce heat. Once insulated, heat is retained within the home for hours longer. The result is a warmer home that uses much less energy to stay warm. Attic insulation should be installed directly on the floor of the attic, which is your ceiling and this is because you are heating and cooling the area below the ceiling, this is referred to as conditioned area while the area in the attic itself is considered unconditioned area.

If you were to put insulation under the roof, then heat would wastefully rise into your attic area where it would be readily lost through attic ventilation. Our feeling is that a very well insulated attic insulation installed on the floor of the attic against the ceiling , brought up to R38, should sufficiently work to keep the inside of the home comfortable in both summer and winter. To further help in the summer you could install additional attic ventilation to allow heat to escape and keep the attic cooler.

A well insulated home means the air conditioning and furnace system work less often, besides saving money on heating and cooling bills, the air inside the house does not get processed and cycled as much through your HVAC system, which means the air does not get nearly as dried out.

Insulation also serves to reduce outside sound from entering the home. Although it is possible to calculate an R-value for a specific radiant barrier or reflective insulation installation, the effectiveness of these systems lies in their ability to reduce heat gain by reflecting heat away from the living space.

The amount of insulation or R-value you'll need depends on your climate, type of heating and cooling system, and the part of the house you plan to insulate. To learn more, see our information on adding insulation to an existing house or insulating a new house. Also, remember that air sealing and moisture control are important to home energy efficiency, health, and comfort.

Use the following map to determine your climate zone and then the following tables to estimate the required R-values. See the International Energy Conservation Code for more information on climate zones. Other considerations may include indoor air quality impacts, life cycle costs, recycled content, embodied carbon, and ease of installation, especially if you plan to do the installation yourself. Some insulation strategies require professional installation, while homeowners can easily handle others.

Insulation materials run the gamut from bulky fiber materials such as fiberglass, rockwool, cellulose, and natural fibers to rigid foam boards to sleek foils.

Bulky materials resist conductive heat flow in a building cavity. Rigid foam boards trap air or another gas in their cells to resist conductive heat flow. To determine insulation requirements, it is necessary to calculate R-values for each part of the building. See determining insulation requirements for more detail. Bulk insulation works by trapping dry air in lightweight, bulky materials. Still air is a poor conductor of heat, so bulky materials that can trap large amounts of air can reduce the ability for heat to be transferred by conduction.

If a material consists of many small pockets of trapped air rather than a large, contiguous volume of air, the ability to transfer heat by convection is also reduced. An everyday example is a feather or fibre duvet. Bulk insulating materials such as wool, polyester, glass wool and foam boards work by trapping air and reducing the speed of heat transfer.

Retrofitting or repairing foil insulation under suspended floors has been banned since 1 July