Are You Familiar with R-Value?

This article was crafted with the help of Woodman Insulation.

Understanding the R-Value of Insulation

When making the decision to add insulation to your home, you may get tripped up by the term “R-value.” The R-value indicates the resistance to heat flow, and the higher the R-value, the higher the resistance.

This equals less heat loss and a more even temperature inside your home, which is beneficial in both winter, when you’re heating, and summer, when you’re cooling.

But this doesn’t mean you should spend all of your money putting the insulation with the highest R-value you can find into every nook and cranny of your abode.

Homes in different parts of the country will have different ideal R-values, depending on the location’s weather patterns, and different parts of the home require varying levels of heat flow resistance.

Essentially, what’s right for your attic may not be right for your basement, and what’s right for your Aunt Eileen in Houston may not be right for your home in Atlanta.

Local Municipalities and R-Values

Your local municipality has likely established a set of recommendations to guide your insulating process, and the U.S. Department of Energy website can suggest appropriate R-values for your particular circumstances.

Also, it is important to note that different types of insulation have different R-values; it may take more of one kind of insulation to equal the R-value of another.

Be aware that as years change, so can building codes. A correct R-value one year may be too low the next. So, if your home was built in the 1920s and has never had updated insulation, you can expect that there’s a different amount of insulation hiding in it than if your home was built in the 1990s.

How Long Will Insulation Last?

According to Jeff Woodman of Atlanta’s Woodman Insulation, “Insulation doesn’t go bad, unless you have extenuating circumstances. If it has been condensed by being covered, if the cable guy has walked hard across it, or if you have a leak or fire, these are different things that can ruin insulation.

If your insulation has survived undisturbed, it should be fine. But that doesn’t mean it is up to code.”

Building Codes and Insulation

Building codes become particularly important if you are selling or buying a home, as prospective buyers will want insulation to be compliant with the local building code. To determine whether or not your house passes the test, you can hire a home inspector or an insulation company to evaluate your home.

This article was crafted with the help of Woodman Insulation, an Atlanta expert in Insulation. While we strive to provide relevant information to all homeowners, some of the material we publish may not pertain to every area. 

Please contact your local Best Pick companies for any further area-specific advice.

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