Insulating a home - Correctly

[Grandad]

Pastor Paul's question made me think about this website, where you can get great information on how homes SHOULD be insulated. Rest assured that your home is probably not done right. Nobody's is, really. As an example, who has ever seen insulation on outside walls where the second floor meets the wall? I never have, but that is the correct way to do it.

[link:www.ornl.gov/|Oak Ridge National Laboratories]
[link:www.ornl.gov/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html/|ORNL Insulation page]

You can learn things about how to insulate, new technologies regarding insulation, correct Rvalues for your area - more than you could ever want or need to know.

[PastorPaul]

Grandad,

Thanks for the link. I will be sure to check it out both now, and when I am ready to start insulating.


Pastor Paul

"If they don't have woodworking in heaven, I ain't going!!!"

[TDHofstetter]

That is in fact a great example. People often think to insulate the rim joist in the basement, but it's almost always foregone between the first floor and subsequent floors... the subfloor goes on, the sheetrock goes up, no insulation gets stuck between the joists. Maybe it's because most houses are built during warmer weather?

Another thing very often incorrectly (IMO) done is failing to insulate the outside of concrete basement walls. Insulation on the outside allows the walls to contribute to the thermal mass of the house, assisting in temperature stabilization. Insulating on the inside of those same walls excludes the walls from the house's thermal mass and can in cold climates actually make the house COLDER than leaving the walls uninsulated.

I s'pose I should go peek at that link - gotta be some good information over there. Better be, you & I probably paid for it... :)

-- Tim --


Eschew obfuscation.