Insulating your home is one of those projects that requires a small investment for a big payoff. Adding more to your attic or increasing the amount in your walls may be something you can do on your own or hire a contractor. Regardless, you’ll see your heating and cooling bills drop. This guide can help you choose the right kind for your project.

Batt

This is the most common and easiest to install. Most batt insulation uses fiberglass or mineral wool. Batts are easy to lay in attics where there’s enough space to move around and in new home construction. If you’re remodeling your home and either removing interior or exterior siding, batt insulation is also easy to install.

Blown-In

Made from either recycled paper or loose fiberglass, blown-in is good for increasing the amount of insulation in attics and walls. It’s a two-person job to install, since someone has to fill the blower and the other point the nozzle. Blown-in is a good choice when you don’t want to disturb your existing walls. You can use a special drill bit to open a hole in the interior or exterior walls, blow in the material and seal the hole.

Rigid foam

If you don’t have much space in your attic, rigid foam products are a good choice when insulating your home. Inch for inch, foam has better insulating properties than batt or blown-in. They come in varying widths and thicknesses.

Radiant barriers

A radiant barrier in your attic sends the heat back to the roof in the summer. You can find it at home improvement centers as bubble wrap covered with reflective material or as batt insulation with a radiant barrier covering. It’s a good choice for our climate, since summers are so long and hot.

Expanding foam

This type has the highest R-value of any kind of insulation, but it’s also the most expensive. Use it for small, hard-to-reach spaces.

If you’d like to learn more about insulating your home, contact Powers Heating & Air. We provide HVAC services for the Peachtree City area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree, GA and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about insulation and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock