Best Spray Foam Insulation

Archive for the ‘About R-Values’ Category

The United States Department of Energy has ZIP-Code Insulation Calculator that enables you to determine the recommended R-value for your part of the country.

You will need various R-values for the different areas in your home, as each one plays its own part in helping to keep your home comfortable. For example, if you have a home in the Midwest the recommended R-value for your attic is R-38 to R-44 while the recommended R-value for your basement is only R-10 to R-19. Your crawlspace will need an R-value of R-19 while your sidewalls need anywhere from R-11 to R-18.

The United States Department of Energy has ZIP-Code Insulation Calculator that enables you to determine the recommended R-value for your part of the country.

Adding insulation to your attic will give you the most bang for your buck. You can save up to 20 percent on your heating and cooling costs by simply upgrading your attic insulation from three inches to twelve inches.

Upgrading the insulation in your attic is even more important if you use electricity to heat your home. Electric heat is both less energy efficient and more expensive than other forms of heating, so much so that the U.S. Department of Energy gives a recommendation of R-49 for homes that are heated using electricity.

You can lower your home energy costs by an additional ten percent by upgrading your sidewall insulation, although this is more challenging than adding attic insulation. One great method used to add sidewall insulation to an existing home is to cut small holes in the exterior siding and blow in loose fill insulation. If you are remodeling your home by replacing your exterior siding you may want to consider adding rigid foam insulation on top of the sheathing.

Another way to lower your energy costs by five to ten percent is to add insulation to your basement and foundation. You can also insulate the walls of your crawlspace to give you even more energy efficiency.

The R-value is the rating given to insulation that shows how effectively it holds back heat, or in other words it thermal resistance.

When it comes to insulation, the higher the R-value the better the product. The R-value is the rating given to insulation that shows how effectively it holds back heat, or in other words it thermal resistance.

To give you an idea of some common R-values, bare concrete usually rates about an R-1 while the insulation in the attic of many newer homes often rates around R-44.

While thicker insulation generally has a higher R-value, this can vary depending on the type of material used for insulation. Materials that have air pockets throughout usually have higher R-values. You can see how this works when looking at the various R-values of different insulating materials. To get an R-value of R-38 you could use 10 inches of rock wool loose fill, 12 inches of fiberglass batting, or several inches of expanding foam.

As you can see different products require different thickness to provide the same R-value. Rock wool has an R-value per inch of 3.0-3.3, while fiberglass has an R-value per inch of 2.2-2.7. Cellulose comes with an R-value per inch of 3.2-3.8.