Wondering how roof insulation keeps your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer? In this quick video, I teach you why and how to insulate your attic to save energy and money.
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Hi, I’m John Schultz, owner of JDS Home Inspection Services in Denver, Colorado. Today, I want to give you a little information about attics. For most of us, it’s just a place for unwanted storage. I know many homeowners who’ve lived in their homes for years and never seen their attic space. Though usually small, inaccessible, and stiflingly hot; attics and attic spaces are very important and shouldn’t be ignored completely. They don’t just hold up the roof, they help the home keep a consistent temperature as well as greatly affect the home’s overall energy efficiency. In most attics, at least in Colorado, you’ll see three things: the roof structure made up of roof joists and framing, the sheathing, which is the surface the roofing material is attached to, and the insulation. Like I said, this space helps control the temperature in the house. This simply has to due with the fact that hot air rises. In the winter, all that warm air your furnace provides the house slowly makes its way up here to the attic. When enough hot air escapes into the attic, the house cools down and the furnace kicks back on to heat up more air. Insulation acts like a quilt to keep that warm air from escaping. The thicker the quilt, the more warm air is trapped in the home where it belongs and the furnace doesn’t need to turn on as frequently, lowering your utility usage and making your home more energy efficient. Insulation is measured in what’s called R-Value. This is the material’s resistance to energy transfer. Blown in fiberglass insulation is very common and has an R-value of 2.5 per inch, so you can calculate your R-value by measuring the depth of your insulation. If you have 10 inches, multiply 10 times 2.5, which gives you R-25. Recommended insulation levels vary throughout the country since they’re based on average outside temperatures. Obviously, your going to need more insulation in Alaska than you would in the Florida. In most of Colorado, the department of energy suggests an R-38 to maintain energy efficiency. That’s about 16 inches of fiberglass insulation. Even more is recommended for higher elevations. That being said, 85% of homes in America don’t have enough insulation. Under insulated attics account for 15% to 48% of a home’s heat loss. Properly insulating the attic can save you thousands of dollars in the long run, prolong the lifespan of your heating systems, and raise the resale value of your home. For those of you who wish to make use of your attic space, I suggest you do not. Using the attic space for storage is a terrible idea. Remember an attic is fairly inhospitable. It may heat up 40-50 degrees hotter than it is outside; so on a ninety-degree day, it’s pushing 130 in the attic, literally cooking anything you’ve put up there. It’s not necessary or recommended to enter your attic, but it’s a good idea to pop your head up there once in a while. Check the roof structure, penetrations, and sheathing for water damage, wood-rot, or mold. This will indicate an issue with the exterior roofing material. Check your insulation to see if it has settled or has been damaged by pests or moisture. Finally a word of warning... be very careful in the attic. Most don’t have floors so it’s very easy to put your foot through the ceiling or fall. Keep an eye out for pests that may have made your attic their home. Call a professional if you suspect an animal has moved in. If your insulation resembles popcorn, seal your attic immediately and do not disturb the fibers. This is called Zonolite and contains asbestos, which has been known to cause lung cancer. In this case, you should contact a qualified asbestos remediation contractor to handle it safely. Even though you don’t really go into it or think about it much, I hope this video has shown you that the attic is vital to the comfort of your home. Thanks for listening and be sure to check out our other videos for helpful tips on other home-related subjects.
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