Insulating your home is very important for saving on energy costs. Insulating a house is like wearing warm clothes which do not let the internal heat escape to the outside environment or let the external heat into the house. This helps increase the efficiency of heating and air conditioning systems. Without insulation the warm/cold air would move out and the heating/cooling systems would have to be used more extensively thus leading to high energy costs for the house owners.

There are numerous options available for insulating a house depending on the budget, climate of the area and the design of the building. Some of the commonly used insulation materials are: fiberglass, cellulose, mineral wool and rigid insulation. The most common and popular form of insulation is fiberglass insulation.

What is Fiberglass Insulation?
This insulation is made using a man-made material which usually feels soft and wooly and comes in various colors. Fiberglass is made usually from sand and recycled glass although other materials also might be used. This is available in the form of loose fills or as blankets. The loose fill insulation comes in bags, and can be used to fill in spaces and gaps while the blankets are available in the form of sheets of varying sizes and thickness and can be used to cover various surfaces within the house to provide insulation.

Fiberglass Insulation Applications:

1. It is usually used as a liner in air-ducts to insulate the hot or cold air passing through the ducts so that they don’t lose their required temperature as they are transported along the duct.
2. Fiberglass Insulation can be used in Attics/Basements/Crawl spaces to insulate them.
3. Fiberglass insulation can also be used to cover walls, floors and ceilings to insulate them.
4. Special types can be used as hot water pipe insulation

Advantages of fiberglass insulation:

1. It is widley available
2. Since it is made of sand and recycled glass, it is not flammable.
3. It is water resistant and retains its original insulation properties even if it gets wet. It just needs to dry out and then will insulate again.

This insulation should be considered for all homes which face high energy bills or face highly uncomfortable temperatures in summers and winters. While going in for any kind of insulation material, it is generally advisable to look at its R-value which indicates the insulation level of the material (higher the R-value, higher the insulation capability). Fiberglass has an R-value of approx 3.2 per inch which is a pretty good value in its cost class. Another consideration to be kept in mind is that Fiberglass is known to cause skin irritation so it is advisable to use protective gear while installing fiberglass.

Fiberglass insulation is a good choice, as it is cost effective and helps in reducing energy consumption which results in lower utility bills. Fiberglass insulation provides an added benefit in the form of sound muffling.

Additional Resources
Insulation Installation

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