Putting Insulation In Walls

Check the attic walls and floors adjacent to an unheated space like a garage or basement.

Putting insulation in walls.

So if your house was built before insulating walls became standard you can potentially save a great deal of energy by insulating. That creates gaps and air convection routes around the box. Unfortunately however builders didn t insulate the walls of most homes built before the 1980s. Achieving greater r values in attics the higher the r value the better the thermal performance of the insulation.

Choose fiberglass insulation batting. Walls both exterior and interior are the next area to insulate in a home. Tuck the snipped out plug of insulation behind the box. Insulation in house exterior walls is one of the primary defenses against heat and energy loss.

Fiberglass batts foam or cellulose can be used to insulate the interior walls. Only a cost benefit analysis in relation to your own situation can help you arrive at the right answer. Insulating interior walls isn. The grade of batting will vary depending on the wall that you re insulating.

In most wall applications you will use r 13 or r 15 kraft faced fiberglass insulation rolls for these two by four stud walls. Find your zone on the map and then use the chart to determine the level of insulation you need to properly insulate your attic walls floors and crawlspaces. Rigid boards work best on exterior walls along with a vapor barrier. In some cases the cost of adding insulation may exceed the cost of energy needed to heat or cool it.

The advantages of insulating interior walls. Don t wrap fiberglass batts around electrical boxes or stuff full batts behind them. Most communities have building codes that require a minimum amount of insulation in a house s exterior walls and ceiling. Retrofit wall insulation is a debatable subject because there is no single right answer for all homes and homeowners.

Put the batt in place and use a scissors to snip around the box. The r value of the batt measures the thermal resistance so the higher the r value the more effectively. The structural elements are usually exposed in these areas which makes it easy to see what type of insulation you have and to measure its depth or thickness inches.