Insulation Savings Vs. Cost
In the United States, homes use from about 50 percent to 75 percent of their energy expense in heating and cooling. When insulation is inadequate, air leaks out of homes and is a leading cause of energy loss. In addition to wasting resources, this wasted energy costs money. When insulation is adequate, it can drastically reduce the leakage of heated or cooled air, saving energy and reducing costs to the homeowner.
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Estimating Payback for Insulation
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The U.S. Department of Energy provides an equation consumers can use to estimate how long it takes for the cost of insulation to pay for itself in energy savings. Many variables can affect the years until payback. Energy prices vary by region and season. Weather varies. The estimating method assumes that uniform sections of house are being considered, those with same R-value insulation and the same amount of insulation in walls, ceilings and floors. The department's sample estimate assumes that the home uses a natural gas heater and the homeowner pays a typical amount for natural gas. The homeowner in the sample scenario insulates his attic and achieves payback in 5.62 years.
Spend Less and Increase Comfort
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates in its "Methodology for Estimated Energy Savings from Cost-Effective Air Sealing and Insulating" that homeowners in a typical residential situation are likely to save substantially when they add insulation. The conditions outlined in the study include insulating floors over a crawl space, attics and specific areas of basements. The determination is that insulation of the correct R value properly installed can reduce cooling and heating costs by about 20 percent and maintain a more even temperature in the house.
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How Insulation Inhibits Loss of Energy
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In cold weather, heated air flows away from the heated space and toward the cold, while the cold outside air seeks to enter the heated space. In hot weather, cooled air flows away from the cooled space and toward the warmer air, and hot air outside moves toward the cooler inside spaces. Applying insulation to areas where heated and cooled air is inclined to leak such as ceilings, floors above basements, walls, crawl spaces and attics inhibits the loss of temperature-controlled air through these vulnerable spaces.
Two Typical Houses in Two Different Regions
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Imagine one house is in a Northern U.S. state and another in a Southern state. Both of the houses are of wood construction and have three bedrooms with 1,500 square feet overall. Both were built between 1975 and 1985. The attics have blown-in insulation and the walls have batt insulation. They have similar configurations of windows and ducts to the exterior, and they both leak about the same amount of air. Now imagine that owners of each of the houses follow EPA guidelines for adding insulation. The Northern house saves about 20 percent of heating and cooling energy and reduces its utility costs by about 19 percent. The house in the South consumes 23 percent less energy and lowers its utility costs by 20 percent.
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