Adding Insulation To Interior Walls

The r value of the batt measures the thermal resistance so the higher the r value the more effectively.

Adding insulation to interior walls.

With a small hole and a pump you can insulate your existing walls with minimum fuss. Most communities have building codes that require a minimum amount of insulation in a house s exterior walls and ceiling. In some cases the cost of adding insulation may exceed the cost of energy needed to heat or cool it. Retrofit wall insulation is a debatable subject because there is no single right answer for all homes and homeowners.

Fiberglass is a great way to insulate an existing wall. Unfortunately however builders didn t insulate the walls of most homes built before the 1980s. Most mooney walls use blown in insulation so that you get added r value from the depth of the horizontal interior strapping. Choose fiberglass insulation batting.

Insulation in house exterior walls is one of the primary defenses against heat and energy loss. The advantages of insulating interior walls. If a house s attic or roof is already fully insulated adding insulation to the walls may be the single best way to reduce heating and cooling costs. In an existing home adding insulation to the exterior of the basement walls is impractical.

It s possible of course to install batts between the horizontal strapping if you want to do that type of fussy work although it would be hard with 1x3s. While fiberglass often comes in batts it does come in loose fill form as well making it easy to install without tearing open any walls. As is the case with most remodeling projects many of this house s walls were going to remain intact so tom had to consider how best to retrofit the. Never insulate these cavities or plug their drain holes.

Insulating interior walls isn. So if your house was built before insulating walls became standard you can potentially save a great deal of energy by insulating. Many solid walls including double brick walls see figure 7 1 have a small cavity generally less than 25 mm 1 in which is a drainage plane that collects and drains water out of the wall. The grade of batting will vary depending on the wall that you re insulating.

The only option is to add insulation to the exterior or to the interior. It is much less expensive to install than exterior insulation for existing buildings. Interior wall insulation in an old house. Achieving greater r values in exterior walls in exterior walls add insulating sheathing to achieve a greater r value in your wall system.

Interior basement wall insulation has the following advantages. There are various grades of insulating batting for different locations in the house so you ll need a different insulation for interior exterior attic or basement walls. You can achieve better thermal performance in your attic by adding an additional layer of insulation.