To start, using a green energy barrier is not a substitute for traditional types of insulation (fiberglass, cellulose, etc.).  Radiant Barriers and regular attic insulation work TOGETHER to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient.

How it Helps in Hot Climates

Regular attic insulation slows conductive heat, while green energy barriers reflect radiant heat.  Your home gets a lot of both and how much heat that flows in or out is determined by basically three things:

1. inside surface temperatures
2. outside surface temperatures
3. R-value and thickness of what is between the inner and outer surfaces

The walls and top of your home are typically insulated with traditional insulation that works to slow conductive heat gain. Regular insulation slows heat, but it also HOLDS heat.  At the end of a hot-sunny day, the insulation in your attic can become a big, thick 130º blanket over the top of your home.  When the sun goes down, this hot blanket in effect continues to hold and drive heat into the home. Once the roof cools down, the insulation can easily be the hottest part of your whole house; this can make your air conditioner run later into the night. Adding a radiant barrier acts like a car sunshade and blocks the heat from entering the attic space so the surface temperatures are reduced and the insulation stays at a comfortable temperature. This is how installing a radiant barrier will make what insulation you already have even more effective.

By combining good attic insulation and radiant barrier, you will get the best of both properties.  Reduction of conductive heat flow AND reduction of radiant heat flow by decreasing surface temperatures of the attic insulation.  Lower surface temperature is like putting the house in the shade.

How it Helps in Cold Climates

The top of the insulation is wide open and exposed to air currents. Think of this like a winter jackets that has an inner layer and an outer shell that is windproof. If you take off the outer windproof shell and walk outside on a cold windy day, you will freeze your backside off.

Inside the attic, there can be a huge differential between the temperature inside the home and the attic. For example, if the attic is 20º and the living space is 70º you have a 50º difference. This large difference promotes a phenomenon called Convective Looping. This happens when cold, dense and heavy air falls through the insulation and displaces the warm air against the living space.

Installing foil on top of the insulation acts like the outer windproof shell of a jacket; it helps minimize the convective looping within the insulation while still allowing moisture to pass through the perforations.

The other reason radiant barrier foil helps in cold climates is the reduction of radiant heat loss from the living space. It’s like when you wrap a potato with foil to keep it warm. The potato will not “emit” as much radiant heat. This is called emissivity, or the prohibiting of heat release. Green energy radiant barrier AtticFoil has an emissivity rating of .03, meaning it will ONLY release 3% of the radiant energy/heat. This is why so many customers report a noticeable difference in comfort and fewer problems with rooms being hot and cold.

So, for most homes I recommend both topping off your existing insulation AND adding a green energy barrier (AtticFoil).  They will work together for maximum comfort and energy savings year round.

Read More:

1. Attic Radiant Barrier – Cut Heating and Cooling Bills

You will need to make a decision on how thick your want your insulation installed. Foam insulation r value is typically higher than your standard batts of fiberglass insulation. You will need to check the recommended r value ratings in your area to find out how much thickness you will need.

As for installing foam insulation in the attic, you are going to have to be careful. The best place to spray foam insulation in the attic is on the underside of your roof. This will provide for a very comfortable attic space and increase the efficiency of any heating or cooling equipment that might be stored in the attic. However, you need to remember that the attic is often the only pathway for excess interior water vapor to leave your home. You will want to make sure that your installer is using an open-cell variety of foam insulation so that water from leaks can pass through and avoid being trapped against the wood roof sheathing and lumber. An attic fan is also an option that you might consider if you don’t have one to improve ventilation in the attic space.

Since foam insulation is generally more expensive than fiberglass or cellulose insulation, it is important to figure out if this route makes financial sense. If you can get the same amount of r value in one of the cheaper materials, you will end up with the same efficiency so it makes little sense to pay more for the same benefit. You must also keep in mind that r value does have a diminishing marginal return. In other words, the more you get the less each additional unit of insulation increases your efficiency. You can go overboard! Consult with your HVAC contractor and come up with a plan that makes the most sense for your situation.

If you are a home owner and believe you may have asbestos insulation, any disturbance has the potential to release its fibers in the air. Limiting the number of trips to the attic will help limit your exposure. It is important to meet with professional abatement contractors in order to determine what the best course of action is for your situation.

Used in millions of homes throughout the twentieth century, asbestos insulation can be a big problem for homeowners because of its corrosive and health deteriorating qualities. Deadly cancer’s such as Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Malignant Mesothelioma are obtained through asbestos exposure and take the lives of thousands each year.

The Environmental Protection Agency suggests:

• Asbestos insulation should be left undisturbed in your attic.
• Limit the amount of accessories and items stored.
• Do not allow children’s access.
• If you plan to remodel or conduct renovations, hire professionals to handle asbestos to safely remove the material. Removing asbestos by yourself can potentially spread fibers throughout your home and your family will be at risk of inhaling asbestos dust.

It is not always an easy process to determine whether or not a particular insulation contains asbestos. Anyone who is unsure about the insulation in their home should have the materials in question tested. To protect your investment, professional consultants can provide an evaluation of the home. Consultants will identify material defects structures and components of the home, in adherence to or exceeding national, state, and industry regulations and standards.

Also, check out electric radiant heat.

The first thing you’ll want to do is climb up into the attic to see how much insulation is there. Take a ruler to measure the thickness of the insulation, and then multiply that number by the R-value per inch of the type of insulation used, which can easily be found on the web. This will give you your R-value. The higher the number, the better. Next, do a search for the recommended amount of insulation for the region in which you live (the Department of Energy is a good place to start looking), and subtract the amount you do have from that number, which will tell you just how much more insulation you need to install. Make sure you also know the measurements of the area you are covering before heading out to buy your supplies.

There are many different types of insulation, such as fiberglass, cellulose, and polystyrene board, just to name a few. With these types of insulation, some come in loose-fill, while others might be in rolls. You can add the same type of insulation that you already have, or you can choose another type. Either way is still effective. Your local hardware or home improvement store should have the materials needed for insulation, including blowers that can be rented for the loose-fill type. When installing, make sure you do not block air flow in the eaves or cover up recessed lighting. Be sure to read any instructions that come with the insulation, as well. If you are not the do-it-yourself type of homeowner, there are also many companies that can do it for you. Regardless of which route you take, the time and money spent now on insulating your attic will come back to you in the form of savings on your gas and electric bills.

If you have an older home, you might need to check that you don’t have asbestos attic insulation. You will need to carefully remove it because of it’s negative health effects.

Not only is insulating your attic good for your budget and your wallet, it also is good for the environment. Saving energy and using your heating and air conditioning systems less reduces carbon offsets. The less carbon that is released into the atmosphere, the better. So, please, take the time to ensure that your attic is well-insulated and is helping to keep hot air in the house in the winter and cold air in the house in the summer. Your wallet and the environment will thank you.

You never want to use faced fiber glass when you are adding another layer to existing attic insulation. What you should use in this situation is unfaced fiber glass that does not have any vapor retarder. When you learn how to lay attic insulation, you’ll realize that the insulation facing acts like a vapor retarder and will help to lower the level of moisture that enters through a wall or any other surface. If you added a second vapor retarder over layers of faced insulation, any amount of moisture, no matter how small, that gets through the first layer will actually condense onto the second. Some damage to ceilings or walls will occur because of this condensation and the areas will be stained. If the condensation continues for a long period of time, then there may even be structural damage.

Any decent guide that tells you how to lay attic insulation should always cover the subject of radiant barriers. There are three main types of radiant barriers. Single layer film material, bubble film or multilayer, and then single films that are put directly on the underside of the sheathings on the roof, are the three most common types. However, you must know that radiant barriers are not actually insulation. In fact, they do not even have an r-value. The fact is that you can find radiant barrier products which actually use the concept of trapped air and that enables them to have an r-value, even though it will be very small.

Another interesting fact when learning how to lay attic insulation, is the difference between summer r-value and winter r-value. Summer r-value is actually the insulation rating when examining the heat flow in a downward direction. Winter r-value is when you examine the heat flowing upwards. Even though radiant barriers are sometimes used, it is almost always more cost effective and overall effective to simply use quality insulation products. Also, in truth, the actual heat flow which is resisted by radiant barriers is usually much less than what the manufacturers claim. Learning how to lay attic insulation is a skill that anyone can pick up as long as they learn the right methods that are safe and effective.

Read More:

1. Attic Radiant Barrier – Cut Heating and Cooling Bills

I know first hand how effective attic insulation is on the efficiency of your home. My electric bills fell by 40% during the winter time. It also helped the bill in the summer time, just not as dramatically. The cost to do my attic with cellulose insulation was a little over $600. That included a free rental of the blowing machine with the purchase of 20 or more bags of insulation.