Insulation

Good Morning Everyone. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. This weeks blog is about adding insulation and when not too add insulation. So lets jump right on in and lets begin.

When you have your home, a lot of times the insulation in the walls and other places you may wonder is it enough? Some people have asked why aren’t all the walls insulated? Or my favorite is, can I put R-30 in my walls instead of R-13? We are going to answer them questions and more in today’s blog.

Insulation whether its in the attic, crawl space, walls or the bathroom wall needs to be the proper type. You can not have R-30 in an exterior wall. It just wont fit. And you do not want to buy R-13 insulation for the crawl space. Just a waist of money. Your exterior walls will normally be a faced insulation of R-13 or R-11. The attic will normally have un-faced insulation and will be R-49 type. And the crawl space will be R-30. When we are doing a remodel project for the bathroom we will usually install insulation on the bathroom interior walls. One reason is sound proofing but the main reason is to have the bathroom insulated for the colder months of the year.

Now you maybe asking what the “R” means with the insulation. The “R” means, An insulating material’s resistance to conductive heat flow is measured or rated in terms of its thermal resistance or R-value — the higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness. The R-value depends on the type of insulation, its thickness, and its density. When calculating the R-value of a multilayered installation, add the R-values of the individual layers. Installing more insulation in your home increases the R-value and the resistance to heat flow.

So, as you can see there are ways to add additional insulation as well. If you have an attic and maybe the insulation is a blown type and its flat. The insulation will not be effective to reduce the heat flow. You will want to add more. Below is a chart of the recommended type of insulation. This will help in determining the R value. One thing you do not want to do is over insulate. By doing so you will make the walls condensate on the interior and cause damage.

In closing there are types of insulation that are faced and un-faced. Some are organic and some have chemicals in the insulation. There is a type, celluloose which is a blown type. And then you have a new style which is organic, rockwool. When we are insulating we prefer the organic style insulation. Has no chemicals, easier to work with. We normally will use a faced type for exterior walls, and crawl space. And a unfaced type for the attic and other areas.

For more information about insulation and other services, feel free to contact us anytime. 352-322-2700 or on the web, www.pascoremodel.com  We gladly do this type of service and many more in Land O Lakes, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs and Zephyrhills Florida. We will service other areas was well.

For insulation recommendations tailored to your home, visit the Home Energy Saver tool.

Zone	Gas	Heat Pump	Fuel Oil	Electric	Attic	Cathedral Ceiling	Cavity	Insulation Sheathing	Floor
1	•	•	•	•	R30 to F49	R22 to R38	R13 to R15	None	R13
2	•	•	•		R30 to R60	R22 to R38	R13 to R15	None	R13
				•	R30 to R60	R22 to R38	R13 to R15	None	R19 – R25
3	•	•	•		R30 to R60	R22 to R38	R13 to R15	None	R25
				•	R30 to R60	R22 to R38	R13 to R15	R2.5 to R5	R25
4	•	•	•		R38 to R60	R30 to R38	R13 to R15	R2.5 to R6	R25 – R30
				•	R38 to R60	R30 to R38	R13 to R15	R5 to R6	R25 – R30
5	•	•	•		R38 to R60	R30 to R38	R13 to R15	R2.5 to R6	R25 – R30
				•	R38 to R60	R30 to R60	R13 to R21	R5 to R6	R25 – R30
6	•	•	•	•	R49 to R60	R30 to R60	R13 to R21	R5 to R6	R25 – R30
7 (Florida)	•	•	•	•	R49 to R60	R30 to R60	R13 to R21	R5 to R6	R25 – R30
8	•	•	•	•	R49 to R60	R30 to R60	R13 to R21	R5 to R6	R25 – R30