Adding Insulation
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Insulation helps keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer by preventing the free flow of air between your house and outdoors. This helps cut your carbon footprint by reducing the strain on your heating and cooling systems.
This diagram (click to enlarge) shows the main areas in your house that require insulation. 
All outside walls should be filled with proper insulation to prevent air from escaping or entering your house. As well, your attic is a key place to add insulation to prevent air being transferred through the top of your house.
There are many different types of insulation, including:
- Fiberglass (in batt and blown forms)
- Cellulose
- Rigid Foam Board
- Spray Foarm
If you live in a sunny part of the country, you can also get Reflective Insulation, also known as Radiant Barrier. This will reflect sunlight so that less heat is absorbed by your home.
Different areas of your house will require different levels of insulation. Insulation performance is measured by the ‘R-Value’, which represents a substance’s ability to resist heat flow. Generally, the higher the R-Value the better, although this can depend where it is in your home.
The below table shows recommended R-Values for different areas of your house depending on the type of climate you live in and the type of heating system your house uses. These are the current best practices to reduce your carbon footprint and help fight global warming.
Cost-effective Insulation R-Values for Existing Homes |
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If you live in a climate that is... |
and your heating system is… |
insulate to these levels in the… |
|||
ceiling |
wood-frame wall |
floor |
basement/ crawl space walls |
||
Warm with cooling and minimal heating requirements (i.e., FL & HI; coastal CA; southeast TX; southern LA, AR, MS, AL & GA). |
gas/oil or heat pump |
R-22 to R-38 |
R-11 to R-13 |
R-11 to R-13 |
R-11 to R-19 |
Mixed with moderate heating and cooling requirements (i.e., VA, WV, KY, MO, NE, OK, OR, WA & ID; southern IN, KS, NM & AZ; northern LA, AR, MS, AL & GA; inland CA & western NV). |
gas/oil or heat pump |
R-38 R-49 |
R-11 to R-22c |
R-13 TO R-25 |
R-11 to R-19 |
Cold (i.e., PA, NY, New England, northern Midwest, Great Lakes area, mountainous area (e.g., CO, WV, UT, etc.)). |
gas/oil |
R-38 to R-49 |
R-11 to R-22c |
R-25 |
R-11 to R-19 |
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