Home Insulation Cheat Sheet
To have optimal energy efficiency in your home, you need to be properly insulated from your foundation all the way up to your roof. Sometimes, insulation in your home seems to be an overlooked area until you already have an issue with an ice dam or inconsistent temperatures throughout your home. Insulation is the single most important home improvement project to increase your comfort and save money on your energy bills.
Where should I have insulation in my home?
- Unfinished attic spaces
- Attic access doors
- Finished attic rooms
- Between the studs and rafters of exterior walls & your roof
- Walls between your living spaces
- Unheated garages
- Slab floor or foundation walls in your basement
- Crawlspaces
Inspect & Evaluate Your Insulation
Start with the path of least resistance when checking your insulation status in your home. Your attic, walls and floors that are adjacent to an unheated space, such as a basement or garage, will most likely be exposed areas allowing you to see what type of insulation you currently have in your home. You are then able to measure the thickness or depth or your current insulation.
You can inspect your insulation in your exterior walls by using an electrical outlet in your home. Turn off the power to the outlet and remove the cover. Shine a light into the outlet box. You should be able to see if there is insulation in the wall and approximately how thick it is. Make sure to check different outlets on each level of your home. Just because you find insulation in one wall does not mean it is everywhere in your home.
Get a Behind the Scenes Look at an Insulation Project Recently Completed by Our Team of Experts:
Don’t forget to check for insulation in your basement ceilings, walls and above your crawlspace. If you have a newer, you may have insulation outside your basement or foundation walls and it will not be visible in these spaces.
Now that you have determined where you have, or don’t have insulation, it is time to understand how much insulation you need added.
The R-Value
You need to make sure that you have the proper R-value of insulation to reap home energy savings. The R-value is the resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power you will have. Here are the optimal R-values for Minnesota and Wisconsin that will increase your comfort in your home and add money back into your pockets through energy savings.
Optimal R-Vales for Minnesota & Wisconsin:
- Ceilings: R-49
- Walls: R-21
- Floors: R-30
- Basement Walls: R-13
You are going to want qualified home insulation technicians, such as those at Lindus Construction, who will use their special diagnostic tools to pinpoint your insulation needs in your home. They install insulation according to manufacturers’ specifications, paying extra attention to gaps, voids, compression and wind intrusion. We offer free no-obligation estimates to help you save up to 20% off your heating & cooling costs.
