Roof Insulation - What is it... and why do I need it? by ecoMaster

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TRANSCRIPT:
Speaker: Maurice Beinat, Chief Technical Officer and Energy Efficiency Expert
"When I asked folks "Do you have ceiling insulation" usually a get the answer "Yes". But when I ask "Do you know how much ceiling insulation you have?" usually nobody knows and in reality mostly what happens is mostly there is some level of some level of insulation somewhere in the ceiling but in other parts there will be less or no insulation. Or in another ceiling in the same home there'll be no insulation.
Ceiling insulation is the single most important insulation in your home. Without it your home can't be energy efficient and it's most likely going to be uncomfortable and very expensive to heat and to cool.
Now ceiling insulation is measured in terms of 'R' value. That's "resistance to heat". So the higher the number, the better the insulation.
Here we have a cross section of an uninsulated ceiling. Now we all know that heat rises, so when you're heating your home in the wintertime the hottest part is actually against the ceiling and that actually maximises the heat escaping through that ceiling. This, by the way, has an 'R' value of just R 0.2. That's not very much at all and so the heat will travel readily through that. In the summertime the temperature in your roof space can be as hot as a sauna and that heat will readily push through the ceiling into your home greatly increasing the cost of cooling.
Quite often ceilings are insulated by some form of loose fill and you'll notice that this is dished in the middle, and that's normal, that's what happens over time, and in fact it dishes across the house as well so your living area in the middle of the home is even less well insulated. The 'R' value of this varies quite a lot usually from between R 1.0 and R 2.0 If you've got this type of ceiling it's important to even it out and then augment it with a good quality bulk insulation on top. In cases where there is limited roof space or specifically a heat problem then it's good to augment the bulk insulation with a reflective insulation as that will readily reject the extra heat coming through that roof. Here we see an R 4.0 batt, and this material by the way is the best material available, this is polyester. It's non-allergenic, it has very good loft (that is it stays springy, it maintains its shape) and that will last a lifetime.
Now the R 4.0 bat is 20 times better than the R 0.2 uninsulated ceiling. Think about that, it's 2,000% better. That's worth doing. So insulating your ceiling properly will make your home more comfortable to live in, much cheaper to operate and it will be good for the environment too."
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