A Well Insulated Home;
What's it Worth?

A well insulated home is one our most cost effective ways of saving energy and reducing heating and cooling costs while at the same time adding to the thermal and acoustical comfort.

Insulation in the walls and the ceilings of your new home resists the flow of heat. In fact, insulations are rated by the quality of this resistance to the transfer of heat. The rating is called an "r" factor. Generally the higher this "r" factor, the greater the resistance to heat transfer and the better the insulation. Heat transfer is but one of the jobs of insulation in our new home. Heat is a form of energy and it is continually moving and seeking a cooler area. In the winter, heat tends to flow out of your home and in summer heat tends to flow into your home. By reducing this transfer of heat, a well insulated home uses less energy for heating in the winter and less energy for cooling in the summer.

A second benefit of a well insulated home is the acoustic benefit. Not only do insulations reduce heat transfer, they also reduce sound transmission. Sound transmissions may be the noise of children from room to room within a home or outside or neighboring sounds like other homes, car horns, traffic, children playing, etc.. Another source of sound within the home may be appliances like clothes washers, dishwashers or central heating and cooling systems.

Where should your new home be insulated and with how much insulation? Insulation is not only for ceiling attic spaces and exterior walls. There are many other areas that should be considered. Knee walls are walls that extend from the floor to the ceiling in a sloped roof area. These areas
should be insulated and also they should be insulated as attic spaces rather than wall spaces. Generally wall areas are insulated with far less insulation than attic area. In the attic, the insulation will be subjected to far more harsh temperature extremes and therefore requires additional insulation. Knee walls are one of several areas that are under-insulated in many new homes. Cathedral ceilings, vaulted ceilings and dormer ceilings are other areas that require the heavier insulation for an attic space. Sloped walls and vaulted or over hang walls are two more areas that are sometimes overlooked. Another area that is uninsulated in 99% of the homes built today are the "T" and "corner" framing members of the home. Each place where an interior wall intersects an exterior wall and at every corner of your new home, there are voids in the insulation. All totaled, these voids may make up 4 to 8% of the total wall area. You wouldn't allow your home to be built with a gaping 10 foot hole in the insulation, would you? Think again! As to how much insulation is needed, the DOE (Department of Energy) has produced recommended guidelines for different geographic areas of the country. These guidelines are generally greater than Standard Building Code and lower than typical SmartHOME standards.

So what is a well insulated home worth? If that home is a SmartHOME built to our own EcoSmart Envelope standards, we can predict that savings will be in the range of 30% greater than typical code built homes. If that home is a SmartHOME built to EnergyStar standards, we can guarantee savings of 30% or more. For two years, if the costs exceed that amount, you get a check for the difference.

Until next time,

BUILD SMART!