INSULATION

Michael Holigan: If you're the typical homeowner you're going to spend thousands of dollars over the next few years heating and cooling your home. A lot of that money is just wasted. It goes through cracks and seams in your house. Even goes right out the roof. Today we're going to show you a way to stop all of that and keep those bucks in your pocket. All insulation does is create a barrier against the transfer of heat and cold. Not everyone knows it, but the best insulator is air held perfectly still or trapped inside an insulated substance like fiberglass or foam. All materials can be given a number called an "R" value that tells how well the substance resists the transfer of heat and cold through it. All materials, brick, Sheetrock, 2x4's, have an R-value. The higher that R value number, the better the material is at keeping your energy dollars inside the home. We'll start at the top because that's where the most money is lost. Experts say at least a third of all the energy lost in the home goes out through the attic, which brings up to the first tip for saving you money. Most builders use insulation with an R-value of 22 to 30 in the attic. We recommend that you insulate your attic to an R-38. That'll cost you a little bit extra when you put it in, but you'll have big savings as time goes by. How much extra will it cost? In a 2,000 square foot house going from an R-22 to R-38 will cost you about $300 more. You'll get that back in the first two to six years. There are other things to check in your attic to make sure you're not losing money up there. Does your house have insulation batts under the decking on the roof? Many builders are lazy and don't insulate under the decking because they can't just blow it in. But insulating the decking can make a big energy-saving difference. Finally, check above the soffit vents to make sure baffles are installed. Soffit baffles will keep your insulation from covering the vent. This allows air to circulate in your attic so heat doesn't build up in the summer and work its way down through the insulation. Downstairs there are things that you can do that'll save you money too. If you're building a new home you should consider having your builder use 2x6's for the frame instead of the standard 2x4's. That's because the insulation that fits snugly in a 2x4 frame normally has an R-value of 13, but 2x6's allow insulation with an R-value of 19. That's almost six inches of insulation and 30% more. Better noise protection too. What's the cost? Let's say you're building a 2,000 square foot home with 2x6 wall studs. It's going to cost your about $150 to upgrade the insulation from R-13 to R-19 in the exterior walls. You'll get that back in the first year or two you live in the house. Another thing you might consider if you're building a new home is a new insulating product called Icynene. It's a very different approach, but it's been getting more acceptance over the last few years. Two liquids are mixed as they come out of the tip of the spray nozzle. They react with each other and the substance expands to almost 100 times the original volume creating an excellent easy-to-apply insulating material. Lot of little, little cells in there. What do they do?

Graeme Kirkland: Well, they entrap the air inside the foam. In fact, what you're holding in your hand is 99% air.

MH: And the air is actually what insulates the house.

GK: Exactly. And to insulate air has to be kept stationary and this does an extremely good job of keeping it stationary.

MH: In fact, the foam fills every crack and crevice, allowing less air to escape your house. Because the foam can be sprayed in it makes it easier to get to problem areas. The foam is great for filling holes and cracks created by plumbing, electrical wiring and dryer vents, which are hard to insulate and usually leak a lot of air. This is all about making your new house airtight from the inside. But you can also do something on the outside that will make a big difference. It's called a house wrap.

Steve Easley: A home has thousands of places where building components come together and everywhere that they join there's a crack or a gap that causes air to infiltrate in which causes you to be more uncomfortable and raises your energy bills.

MH: For years, caulking has been used to fill these gaps, but over time caulking wears out. When you wrap home wrap around your home it seals up those cracks and gaps and will last for the lifetime of your home. Wrapping your house can really reinforce your insulation. If we don't have a house wrap on the house, how much air are we going to have coming into the house?

SE: If you have a R-13 wall and you have even a nine mile an hour wind blowing across the home, that reduces the apparent R value of that insulation down to about five.

MH: Wow! More than 50% cut in R-value.

SE: Absolutely.

MH: So that's why people get cold, even in a brand new house or get warm in the summertime just missing a house wrap.

SE: It's real important to control air infiltration because every time that air infiltrates into your house that pushes out the air that you've already paid to heat and cool.

MH: Tyvek HomeWrap can breathe, which allows moisture to escape, but keeps air and water out of the home. That's important because the average family produces almost 70 pounds of moisture vapor a day and that moisture needs to have a way to get out of the home. You can see you have lots of options for upgrading your house's insulation and saving yourself lots of money over the years you'll be living there. Here are some important things to remember: in the attic, be sure your insulation is at least rated R-38; install batts or insulation under the decking of the roof; in framing a new house, use 2x6's instead of 2x4's and put in batts of R-19 insulation; consider upgrading to an Icynene foam around problem areas; wrap your new house's exterior with a quality home wrap. Upgrading your insulation is an important home improvement. It's one that you can't see until you get that bill every month. You're going to save enough money you can do any other home improvement you want in your home.

Contacts:
Icynene 800-758-7325

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Episode 64 1997 - 98 Season

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