Keeping your home warm in the Winter and cool during the Summer, is heavily dependent on proper insulation. It's a key part of the barrier that protects your home from all of the outside elements. By creating a consistently comfortable climate indoors, you are keeping your home energy efficient, while reducing your utilities expenses for heating and cooling. You can reduce your expenses as much as 20 percent, simply by making sure the home is properly sealed, caulked, and insulated.
Insulation is most commonly measured by R-values; the higher the number, the better the quality of the insulation is which in turn means greater resistance to heat flow. Determining how much insulation you need is fairly easy – taking into consideration your local climate as well as the size, shape, and structure of your home – as well as your family's preferences on climate.
As a first step to figuring out what type of insulation you need, you should start by figuring out what type of insulation is already in the home. The quickest way would be to check the attic. If your attic is not easily accessible, look at spaces that are attached to an unheated area of the home such as walls of your garage, or even your basement. Usually the walls are unprotected in these areas, so you can see what type of insulation is there, and even measure the thickness.
Regardless of the type of insulation you choose, whether it’s batt, rolled, reflective, blown-in, or spray foam, they all work in the same way. There are also insulations made specifically for soundproofing. They limit the amount of air in and out of your home. In most cases, you can recoup the cost of the insulation within a few years, because of the savings you’ll see in your utilities expenses. You also get the added benefit of reduced noise from outside, and condensation control. All around, you’ll be living in a much more comfortable environment.