After seeing how high your winter heating bills can be without adequate home insulation, you may be interested in making an improvement to your walls and attic floor. It’s possible to add insulation to your existing home, though many types of insulation are designed to work only with new construction projects. Here’s a look at several varieties of home insulation and where they are used.
- Batts and rolls: These types of home insulation are made of flexible fibers that come in standard widths. That way, they can fit between wall studs and attic beams that are built to code. You can find them with or without a facing, which provides a vapor barrier and helps facilitate fastening. In short, batts and rolls are generally used in new construction projects or areas with unfinished ceilings and walls.
- Rigid foam board: Like the name suggests, rigid foam board is stiff. It provides excellent thermal resistance for how thin it is and is usually used in unfinished walls, floors, and ceilings. To meet fire safety code, this type of home insulation must be covered by gypsum board.
- Loose-fill: Instead of being used primarily in new construction, loose-fill home insulation can be added to existing, enclosed walls. It is blown into place with special equipment and can fill oddly sized spaces. Loose-fill is also very popular for attic floors.
- Sprayed foam: This type of home insulation provides twice as much thermal resistance as batt insulation and it can be applied to small cavities to seal leaks. It starts as a pressurized liquid in a spray container that expands and hardens once it’s applied. It conforms to the shape of the cavity and fills it completely. You can add sprayed foam insulation to existing walls by making a small hole, applying the foam through the hole, and sealing it up again.
For additional information about adding home insulation to a new construction project or renovation, please contact Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. We proudly serve residents of northwest Arkansas.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about home insulation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Paschal Heating, Air & Geothermal services Northwest Arkansas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
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