With the temperatures dropping and holiday decorations illuminating most streets, the feeling of winter is in the air. Partnered with the impending costs of the holidays, most people anticipate higher gas and heating bills this time of year – a double whammy on the pocketbook. Yet those heating bills don’t have to obscene with proper insulation. And to truly have a “green” holiday, not only does proper insulation reduce the cost of heating, it also minimizes the total carbon footprint we leave on this planet.
Before I extrapolate on the ecological goodness of better insulation and using a carbon calculator to figure out your total carbon dioxide in pounds per year, let’s take a moment to review home insulation materials and types. The Department of Energy provides an easy-to-read chart of types of insulation, materials used, how and where to install that particular material, and the advantages/draw-backs of each product.
There are far more types of insulation than I would have expected, from rolled sheets of fiberglass or natural fiber to blown-in wool or sprayed foam; each with their own advantages.
A quick summary and breakdown of the types of insulation include:
- Batts and rolls: most commonly found at local hardware outlets consisting of fiberglass or natural fiber it’s easy to install on a DIY basis or “roll” out and fairly inexpensive.
- Structural insulated panels: foam, liquid or straw panels placed inside a wall during new construction. It’s the “top of the line” insulation and offers the greatest R-value (I’ll get to this in a moment).
- Blown-in or loose-fill: can be used for hard-to-reach areas, again installed by professionals.
- Spray foam: provides really good insulation but costs more than batts and rolls.
A great way to determine if you need better insulation is to do an energy audit. You can do one yourself by visiting the Energy.gov website, or ask a professional by calling your local gas or electricity company (they often provide this service for a nominal fee), or hiring an energy auditor. The auditor will inspect for leaks, inspect your current insulation, check your ducts, and may even use an infrared camera to determine where most of your energy is leaking out. By following the inspectors advice, you can save anywhere from 5% – 30% on energy costs.
If adding insulation is on the “to-do” list, cost and off-setting expense is usually what drives which type of insulation to use on an existing home. Insulation is rated on an R-value scale, a measure that determines the …”maximum thermal performance” (energy.gov). For example, an 8-inch roll of insulation offers an R-value of 25. Using a cellulose insulation calculator I found online, if I plugged in an old R-value of 10 (let’s say my home had crummy insulation) and I filled in 1,000 square feet with a new 8-inch roll of insulation at an R-value of 25, my annual savings would be approximately $135 annually. The higher the R-value and the more square feet you cover, the greater your savings. Update 2016: We upgraded the insulation on our new manufactured house and we can already tell the difference. We visit it almost every weekend and 9 times out of 10 it’s been a very hot day, but inside it’s not that bad considering our air conditioner hasn’t been delivered yet. Insulation makes a difference!
Once you’ve beefed up your insulation, plugged up and weather-stripped any leaking window or door seals, you’ll find you’re not only saving money, but reducing your carbon footprint. There are lots of great carbon footprint calculators out there to help you determine your total carbon output, but the EPA.gov has one of the better ones that helps you calculate ways to reduce the CO2 that is emitted in our everyday lives.
Have you done an energy audit or recently added insulation to your home?
9 Comments
About a year after I moved in, I went up in the attic and noted the paltry amount of insulation up there, so I set a weekend project where I blew in about eight inches of cellulose insulation. It’s helped. I need to do some weatherstripping around some of the windows. Eventually they’ll need to be replaced, but the weatherstripping should help cut down on the drafts and hopefully get us by for a few more years.
@Money Beagle – Adding insulation to the attic is a good first step. I’d bet that most homes are lacking sufficient insulation, unless they’re brand new. That calculator I found is really nifty, you can see how much you’d save annually by installing certain types of insulation.
I never knew I could have an energy inspector come out. That’d be SO worthwhile at my house, which is older and probably needs lots of energy upgrades. It’s impossible to know which to do first.
@AverageJoe – If you start with your local electric/gas company, they might be able to do one for you for free or a nominal fee. An infrared scanner can show you where you’re losing heat and then you can prioritize.
We recently blew insulation in to some of our walls and used roll insulation on the walls that were open when we remodeled. Apparently in 1898 they didn’t bother to insulate at all! It has made a world of difference on our bills and comfort level.
@Wayne – 1898! Wow, that’s a vintage home. 😉 It’s a wonder people didn’t freeze back in those days with no central heat and little to no insulation. It’s good to know you’ve added some and seen a difference.
Thankfully, after years of brutal winters on the east coast we’re now much warmer here on the Gulf Coast. I’m hoping to see a BIG reduction in our winter heating expenses.
We’re thinking about moving from a warm climate to a cold one in the next year, and I’m actually giddy at the thought of finally being able to justify getting the spray foam insulation. It looks so cool, and I’ve heard it’s well worth the extra cost over the pink stuff.
I just got back from Lake Tahoe. Freezing, but place was warm with a fire. My house on the otherhand is freezing inside, but not so bad outside. After all these years, I still can’t get myself to blast the furnace due to the heating bill.
So, I take hot baths for hours.