Insulation Retrofit

Overview

Insulating and air sealing your home is critical to getting the most out of your furnace and air conditioner, as well as making your home as efficient, green and comfortable as possible.

Home Insulation: For Your Attic, Basement and Walls

In many cases, the two most cost-effective ways to make a home more energy efficient are adding insulation and air sealing to your house. Unless your home is brand new — and built by a knowledgeable contractor — you can probably add insulation to the attic, walls, crawlspace or basement and have a major impact on your home's energy efficiency.

The optimal amount of insulation — whether it's blown or in batts — varies according to your climate and the part of house being insulated (attic, walls, basement). Do-it-yourself insulation and air sealing is difficult to get 100 percent right — incomplete coverage and improper air-sealing can seriously compromise the effectiveness of insulation. It looks easy, but unless you're trained in building science and happy to crawl around in the dust and grime of the furthest reaches of your attic and crawlspace, it's almost always best to bring in a professional to get it right.

A professional contractor can help you determine how much insulation you need to add to your home, depending on your current level of insulation and what region of the United States you live in. Insulation is rated by an R-value, which stands for resistance to heat flow. In northern states, the R-value needs to be much higher than in warmer states. However, insulation is important no matter where you live, because it also plays a role in keeping your home cool in the summer time.

Getting Started With Attic Insulation

If you have to choose one area of your home to insulate, choose the attic. Attic insulation is one of the most important and cost-effective things to get right in your home to make it more energy efficient and more comfortable, regardless of whether you live in a hot or cold climate. If you don't already have all the insulation you need up there, it should be at the top of your list because it's usually easy to get to your attic (compared to getting inside your walls, for instance), and your attic is subject to really big temperature swings from winter (when the cold winter air blows right through) to summer (when the sun beats down on your roof and heats up the attic to unbelievable temperatures).

How do you know if you need more attic insulation? If you can look into your attic and see any wood sticking out between the insulation — that includes the rafters — then you've got what we'd consider "thin" attic insulation. Whether you live in a cold northern part of the country or a hot southern part of the country, you probably need more insulation than what you've got up there now. Here's a chart from the Department of Energy that shows, region by region, how much insulation you need in an existing home.

Have a project in mind? Find the right contractor.