What are my options to reduce my heat bill and have a better insulated house?
- Mar 31, 2017
- 2 min read
These days it seems like everyone is trying to find a way to save on the heating/cooling bill for the place that you live. If you are renting, you really can not do a whole lot about it. This is where building or remodeling comes in handy. This is an important step in the building process. You can loose up the 35% of the heat or cold air in your house through your walls. Having good insulation within your walls will cut back on your heating and cooling cost. It saves on you wallet but it also saves on the furnace and A/C unit for the house. They should last longer as they won't have to turn on and off as much. When it comes to choosing what type of insulation you want, there are many factors you have to evaluate. The two main factors are: R-Value and cost. Basically the R-Value tells you how good the material is at doing its job. The higher the value, the better it is. Cost is self explanatory. The type of importance you place on these two factors will give you a place to start at when looking/asking about the different types of insulation out there. Typically in older houses you will see some sort of "Batt or Blanket" insulation. There is nothing wrong with this option, but you are getting what you pay for. They are R-Value isn't the best and over time, the batts tend to fall within the cavity. This can leave you with air gaps at the top of your walls. Loose fill fiberglass or cellulose is another option to go with. This is what you typically see blown into your attic space. About 18 inches of this in your attic gives you a respectable R-Value and it allows your house to breath as well. By using this in the walls, the cavities are filled super tight to pack in all the nooks and crannies not leaving any air gaps or cold spots. It can provide a higher R-Value then batts but over time gravity will take effect and it will settle some potentially leaving you with some small air gaps at the top of your walls. The third option, which is become more and more popular, is spray foam. There are two types of spray foam: open cell and closed cell. There is debate as to which one of these two options is better, but in my opinion, any type of spray foam is better then the other options out there. The catch is the cost. This option does cost the most, but it provides you with the most R-Value. Your house will be best insulated allowing you to save on your heating/cooling bill. With this cost, you will have a return investment. Because of this return, I believe it is the best value (not right away up front, but over time). Now, of the two spray foams, closed cell has the higher R-Value. To learn more about the different types of insulation talked about in this blog post, check out this website: https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/home-maintenance-tips/insulation-types/
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