Even if your home is newer, your attic may be under insulated. Today’s building codes may be different than codes when your home was built. Your insulation may have settled. A hard wind entering your attic through your soffits may have compromised your insulation. These factors — and many others — can result in you spending more money on energy bills than is necessary.
If your attic has less than 12” of insulation, you may be wasting money on your energy bills. Today’s building codes require 12” of insulation (equivalent to R-38) to ensure your home is properly insulated.
Want to check your attic? Here’s how:
- Open the access point to your attic. This may be found in the ceiling of a closet, a bedroom, or the garage.
- If your home has two different rooflines (one section of the roof pitching one direction, one pitching another) be sure find the access point for each.
- Place a ruler into the attic insulation with the one-inch mark at the bottom and make a note of insulation depth. With the required 12” of attic insulation, proper attic insulation depth should reach the top of a standard ruler.
- Call us and tell us the results. We are happy to schedule a time to double check the depth and provide an estimate to upgrade your insulation.
- Don’t forget – 12” is the minimum level! Building codes in our area say attic levels could be up to R-60, which is approximately 17” of insulation!
Adding insulation to your attic will increase comfort and reduce your energy bills. Have other questions about energy efficiency? Contact us — we’re happy to help!