House Without Attic Insulation

Take the architectural drawing of the house and without lifting the pencil draw a single line representing the insulation around the house.

House without attic insulation.

But if you ve got an unfinished attic giving it proper insulation is one of the simplest ways to keep a lid on your heating bill this season. It makes adding insulation to your attic a breeze. Insulate water heaters to prevent costly energy loss. Rather than insulating the whole home and potentially causing problems like excess humidity you can properly seal the attic of an old house.

Insulating ductwork is a diy friendly job and while you re at it you can eliminate duct leakage by covering joints in duct fittings with foil faced tape designed for ducts. Blown in insulation is installed using blowing machines. Cut a hole 1 1 2 to 2 inches in diameter between each pair of studs at the top of the wall and spray cellulose or foam into the cavity with a hose. 4 be smart don t break the original home s design.

Without insulation attic ducts will get hot in the summer when they need to carry cool air and cold in the winter when they need to transport heated air. Without proper insulation in the winter months the warm air you need will seep up to the attic. Roughly a quarter of the average home s heat is lost through the roof. A vent baffle should be installed between the insulation and the roof decking to maintain the ventilation channel.

It s a diy project you can tackle in a weekend and the savings you ll get add up every year says toh general contractor tom silva. This is a safe first step to retaining heat and saving energy. Look for insulating pre cut jackets or blankets with an insulating value of at least r 8. Other than that the pressure in the area with warm air will increase.

You get a free blown in machine rental with your insulation purchase. Adding insulation to your water heater can reduce standby heat losses by 25 to 45 percent. Insulate your attic outer walls and crawl space first as these areas are most susceptible to heat transfer. Foil faced batt insulation is often used in cathedral ceilings because it provides the permeability rating often required for use in ceilings without attics.

Replace the hole cut outs fill with wood. Wherever you lift the pencil would be a discontinuity where outside air could short circuit the insulation rendering it useless. No matter how small the gaps that lead up to your attic warm air will find ways to go up.