How much insulation do I actually need?
This is a common question we get from homeowners who are at the beginning of their DIY insulation project. And it can be a daunting task when you have multiple applications across your home and you’re trying to figure out the correct type of insulation. If you spend a little time on the internet, you’re likely to get more confused by the myriad of opinions about where, how, and with what product you should insulate. As always, we here at Havelock Wool are doing our best to keep it simple for those folks who want to insulate themselves. With that in mind, we developed our own insulation calculator to ease the process of a DIY project.
What R- Value Do I Need?
In order to know how much insulation you need, you should determine your R-Value requirements. R-Value, as we’ve written about, is a metric used to judge thermal insulation performance. It’s expressed as a number and the higher the R-value, the better the product’s insulating ability. Building code dictates different R-Values for different areas of your home. Our calculator page provides baseline R-Value requirements for your home across climate zones here in the US. Of course, these are just baseline figures, and folks often choose to go above code requirements.
Where Should I insulate?
In a perfect world, your home is properly insulated from roof to foundation. But that is far from reality for most homeowners. Even if you’re in a new home there can be areas where insulation should be improved. So knowing all the parts of a home that deserve proper insulation is a step in the right direction. Our calculator provides a detailed overview of all these areas.
A reminder on square footage
Our calculator requires that you input square footage. And here is just a friendly reminder on how to make this calculation (in case you forgot from elementary school). To calculate square feet (or sq. ft. for short), determine the length and width of the area to be insulated, measured in feet. Multiply the length by the width and you’ll have the square feet. Example : An 8ft high wall that runs 10ft across is 80 square feet : 8 x 10=80.
What’s this going to cost me?
The calculator will determine your bag count and from there simply proceed with your shipping address for a full quote including shipping cost.
And finally, am I crazy to think I can do this myself?
Absolutely not. We’ve seen the most unlikely candidates take this task on and have literally become obsessed by the gleeful responses. Apparently, it doesn’t matter if you’re a little kid or a grandmother, or anything in between; wool insulation installation is literally borderline fun. And don’t forget we are here to help as is a rather extensive video library here.
Thanks for supporting what we do…..and have fun insulating with wool!
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