House Insulation - Best Options

House insulation has always been a necessity in colder places of the world all because of the extreme nature of the climate in both hot and cold weather. This is also triggered by the fact that maintaining comfortable temperatures inside the house can be expensive, not to mention that it is an ongoing yearly energy expense.

The expenses on insulating your residence can be considered an investment knowing that it is quite hefty. The consolation is that it is a one-time expense compared to the yearly payment to keep your house in comfort.

Areas  

For some consolation, there are only a handful of places that need to be insulated in your house. Obvious examples would be the attics and the walls.

With proper insulation, the ROI on your investment would be definitely raised. The reason is that the insulation on the critical parts of your house raises its total value. 

More places

The other areas that need insulation would be your ceilings with unheated spaces, the basement walls, the floors above the vented crawl spaces, the cathedral ceilings, and the floors over unheated garages and porches.

It is also wise to include insulating such areas like the knee walls and the in-between interior walls (like the bathroom). The goal is to envelop the entire house in insulating materials.

Sampler

One example of proper insulation would be the use of fiberglass. This material can keep your house cool during the summer months and keep it warm in winter.

The technology is simply that the insulation resists the flow of heat from one place to the other. As an energy form, heat moves out of the house in winter (looking for the cool places) and flows inside during summer (which is unwanted at the time).

Added advantage

There is an additional advantage in the use of fiberglass as insulating material. It keeps out the heat while at the same time it works as a sound absorber. Installed in walls and ceilings, the material can reduce (noticeably) the transmission of unnecessary sound.

This is an advantage these days as the surrounding environment in most places is getting unnecessarily noisier. Some house owners have separate sound proofing installations on their houses.

Types

The required insulation is defined in terms of the R value. This is the resistance value of a material to heat passing through it. The higher the R-value, the greater is the material’s insulating qualities.

However, choosing the insulation material strictly on its high R-value is not entirely correct. R-values of insulation for specific houses also depend on the local climate and existing building codes. You need to familiarize on their properties.

There are also other options with regards to these insulation materials for your house as there are varieties.  You can pick out fiberglass, mineral wool, cellulose, foam or cotton.

Options on materials

There are many varieties of insulation materials that you can use – fiberglass, mineral wool, cellulose, foam and cotton. (A manufacturer has just added a new mineral wool, earthwool in its line-up.)

Choosing the materials for your house insulation needs to include such factors as thermal grades (R-value), lifetime performance, fire safety, moisture among others.