R-Value in Insulation: What’s That?
Your Central Iowa Home’s Comfort
Every Winter, it is always the struggle of trying to keep your home comfortable without constantly cranking the heat up. You may think you need to lay down more insulation in your attic to solve the problem but with properly insulating your home comes a lot more little details. When looking to improve the energy efficiency of your home, we look at a term called R-Value. The R-Value tells us a lot about how a home needs to be insulated.
Figuring out how to keep your Central Iowa home comfortable can be very confusing with how many options of insulation are out there.
Think of R-Value like a large winter coat. Winter coats do not actually make you warmer on their own, but rather they trap the body heat that you produce and make it harder for it to escape. Your body heat will simply disperse into the cold air without this additional obstacle.
What Is R-Value?
When laying down insulation in your home, we use the R-Value to measure how much insulation needs to be installed. The R-Value is a way to measure and understand the effective insulation value of a specific material. It is very helpful when comparing different insulation types. The higher the R-Value, the more resistant the material is to heat transfer for any given thickness. The more resistant the longer it takes for heat to escape from the room. As a result, less energy is required to keep your room warm.
How It Affects Our Climate
Each climate zone has a recommended amount of insulation for a home in each region. Here in Iowa, we have much colder temperatures. Our homes need a lot more insulation than the southern states would need. The recommended R-Value for Northern states is 49. Now you may think your home is up to par because it is new. Well even though they recommend 49 to be the R-Value, most new homes are not insulated that high.
Reach Your Max R-Value Today
While you may think your home is fully insulated, it could be missing some little details. Here at Home Solutions of Iowa, we offer various insulation services that can meet the needs of your home. Based on where heat is escaping, we provide Air Sealing, Cellulose Insulation, and Spray Foam Insulation to provide a solution to the cold drafts in your home. Reach out to us today for a free Home Performance Evaluation and maximize your home comfort today!
