Remember that down-filled parka you were going to put on your house? Well, in considering where you need insulation, let’s think about the parka again.
If you’re outside on a cold day with a parka that’s a couple of sizes too large for you, you’re going to feel colder than if you’re wearing one that fits you properly. That’s because a large, loose parka will let cold air in and your body’s heat out.
Also, you can have the best-insulated, best-fitting parka in the world, but if you leave the zipper unzipped, it’s not going to do you much good.
It’s much the same way with your house. You want to keep the insulation close to the heated areas (you don’ t want to keep warm air in your attic; you want to keep it in the living quarters beneath the attic, so you insulate the attic floor, not the attic ceiling or between the rafters), and you don’ t want to leave “unzipped” gaps through which the warm air will escape (such as an uninsulated attic trapdoor).
Urea Formaldehyde (UF) foam insulation (which is pumped into walls only by contractors) has been installed in half a million or more American homes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports hundreds of consumer complaints about unhealthful effects from formaldehyde gas released by UF foam insulation. The complaints include difficulty in breathing, eye and skin irritations, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and severe nosebleeds. The commission is also studying possible long-term effects of formaldehyde gas expo- sure, such as birth defects and links to cancer. UF foam, while largely banned, is still used by some unscrupulous contractors. Insist that your contractor show you the labels on any insulation materials that he or she pumps or blows into your exterior walls.
The following illustration shows you where insulation should be placed.
When insulating your home, you should pay close attention to the following areas:
* Ceilings. Especially ceilings with cold spaces above.
* Exterior walls. This includes the short walls of a split-level house, which are often neglected. You should also insulate walls between living space and unheated garages or storage rooms. If you have open framing in your garage, you can do the job yourself, but with garage walls that are enclosed on both sides by plasterboard (Sheetrock), you should hire an insulation contractor to do the job. The contractor will have to blow the insulating material into the wall cavity— not a job for a do-it-yourselfer.
* Floors above cold spaces. Crawlspaces, garages, open porches, and any portion of a floor in a room that extends beyond the wall below.
Don’ t let the previous figure overwhelm you! There are lots of places to install insulation, but in almost every case it’s an easy job; you’ll need only minimal mechanical skills.
Think about this: Most insulation is hidden from view, so you don’ t have to install it with a cabinet-maker’s precision. Because of this, insulating is kind of fun—it’s so much less demanding than a lot of other household repair jobs. The chances are good that you’ve got everything you need for the job around your house, except the insulating material. So, you’ve got no excuse—get on with it and watch those fuel savings pile up!