Insulation and Your Home

The comfort level of your home can be directly attributed to having proper insulation installed. Proper installation of insulation will also make your home more energy efficient. The ability of your insulation to prevent heat flow is measured by its R value.

Choosing the proper insulation for your home can be a daunting task for a homeowner. Whether being installed in walls or in attics can have a huge difference in the type of insulation you should choose. Talk to your local supplier to find the recommended types for your home. Choose a supplier that carries all types of insulation to prevent being sold the product that he carries, rather than the one that is right for you.

Rodents like to nest in blown in fiberglass insulation and they are almost impossible to keep out. Mice can climb straight up brick walls and enter through any tiny crack or hole to winter in your attic. If you have vinyl siding then you would be safe from climbing mice as its surface is too slippery for them.

Fiberglass insulation is made by jetting molten glass through tiny heated holes in a high-speed stream. The resulting fibers are drawn very thin and to great length. The fibers are then collected into a matte to produce fiberglass insulation.

Blown in cellulose insulation is made mostly from shredded newspaper and mixed with a variety of chemicals (up to 25% by weight) to reduce its flammability. Many firefighters do not like cellulose as its insulation qualities make it hard to find fire fingers using thermal imaging and they have to remove a large amount of insulation at any small fire as a result.

Blown in cellulose insulation is 2-3 times denser than fiberglass insulation. Studies comparing Blown in cellulose insulation Vs fiberglass insulation show that cellulose insulation was 38% tighter and required 26% less energy. A Princeton University study shows, a group of homes with blown in cellulose insulation in the walls had an average of 24.5% reduction of air infiltration compared to fiberglass insulation, with only the walls insulated. A similar study, the Leominster MA Housing Project for the Elderly found that, a building with blown in cellulose insulation compared to a building with R-13 fiberglass batt insulation in the walls and R-38 fiberglass batt insulation in the ceiling, had 40% lower leakage. However, when it comes to air infiltration, sheathing and drywall are better air barriers than any cavity insulation. Air infiltration barriers such as high-density polyethylene membranes are installed for this specific purpose.


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