When it comes to insulation, the U. S. Department of Energy recommends R-49 to R-60 in the attic and R-13 to R-21 in the walls for the Palm Beach area. This resistance to heat flow is known as the R-value.
Different levels are recommended depending on where you live, and if you're building a new home, you can consider installing insulation on the underside of the roof cover and sealing the attic space by creating an “unventilated attic”. The Boston University School of Public Health found that if all homes in the country were properly insulated according to modern building standards, electricity consumption would be reduced by 37 billion kilowatts. Life cycle analysis, environmental impact, and human health issues associated with resource extraction, manufacturing, use, and disposal of insulation are also important considerations. The Department of Energy's insulation fact sheet provides information on how to determine the R value using this technique.
Heating and air conditioning service experts can help you determine what type of attic insulation is best for the West Palm Beach climate and your home's needs. Continuous insulation is used in more than 100% of the roof area and on the upper plates of the building's eaves. You can measure the thickness of the attic insulation with a ruler and multiply the number of inches by the R value of that particular insulation to get an insulation rating. The effectiveness of an insulated wall or ceiling also depends on how and where the insulation is installed.
One category of insulation products that exceeds these two prerequisites is polyisocyanurate or polyiso. The choice of insulation depends on the space you have to insulate it, the apparent density of the materials (weight per volume) so that the roofs don't sag with the additional weight, how easy it is to access the space, how much money you can spend, how easy it would be to replace the insulation if you had a roof or wall leak, and whether you are building a new house or improving an existing one. If you're not sure what type of insulation already exists in your home, take a sample to an insulation expert. However, if you have adequate attic insulation in Delray Beach, it can help you reduce your electricity consumption.
