Insulating your Home

Properly insulating your home will not only help reduce your heating and cooling costs but also make your home more comfortable. The insulation in your home provides a resistance to heat flow. The more heat flow resistance your insulation provides, the lower your heating and cooling costs. This resistance to heat flow is measured in terms of its thermal resistance or R-value.

Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter, this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated attics, garages, basements, and eventually outdoors. Heat flow can also move indirectly through interior ceilings, walls, and floors—wherever there is a difference in temperature. During the cooling season, heat flows from the outdoors to the interior of a house.

To maintain comfort, the heat lost in the winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in the summer must be removed by your cooling system. Properly insulating your home will decrease this heat flow by providing an effective resistance to the flow of heat.

How Much Insulation Does My Home Need?

For insulation recommendations tailored to your home, visit the DOE Zip Code Insulation Calculator at www.ornl.gov/~roofs/zip/ziphome.html