Attic Insulation Case Studies: Impacts of Insufficient Insulation (low R value)

Challenge

What is insulation R-value?

The R-value of building material, such as insulation, is its resistance to the movement or transfer of heat. R-value is known as thermal resistance; R stands for Resistance. It is a numerical rating of how good an insulator of certain building material is. Different materials can provide a different R Value along with the amount of material used.  

We often experience homeowners who call us due to rooms that are too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer.  Many times these same customers started off by calling an HVAC company to come and "fix" their HVAC system because it will not heat or cool their home and rooms to the right temperature, only to be told the HVAC system is working as it should be.  Once we have one of our Home Performance experts evaluate the entire home, the most common problem that we uncover is either insufficient or poor quality insulation.   People have too little insulation to properly hold in the heated or cooled air created by the HVAC system, thus an R Value that is too low to perform as needed for the home.  Or the home has poor quality or poorly installed insulation which allows the conditioned air to escape.  

Solution

With most attic projects that we work on, we start by removing the old, inefficient or poorly installed insulation. We then use ZypFoam to create an air seal around can lights, air vents, utility wire pass throughs, plumbing pipe pass throughs and any other cracks or spaces that allow air to escape the rooms below.  Afterwards we install insulation (in this case TruSoft cellulose blown insulation) to the R Value needed to perform properly for the home.  In an attic with HVAC ducts we make sure to bury the ducts in insulation.  Protecting the HVAC ducts from the hot or cold temperatures in the attic allows the air passing through them to have a safer path from the HVAC unit to the rooms the air is intended to heat or cool.  All of this can reduce energy costs in a home, reduce stress on an HVAC system by reducing the need for it to run so often and improve the comfort for the homeowner.