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Do You Need More Insulation?
To find out whether you should add more insulation, you should first determine how much insulation you already have in your home and where it is located. A trained and experienced contractor will be able to identify how much insulation you currently have in your home and how much more insulation you may need to ensure maximum energy efficiency.
In order to really see how much insulation your home has without using the assistance of a contractor you will need to remove the electrical outlets in each room and note if there really is insulation within the wall. Next, you will have to pull down ceiling tiles and pull up a small piece of flooring in each room to see if the the floor and ceilings are fully insulated. Finally, measure the thickness for each piece of insulation you can retrive and check out the US Department of Energy's online fact sheet to determine the R-values of your insulation.
The best way to see how much more insulation you may need is to go to the DOE's website, search for the Insulation Calculator, and enter your zip code. The calculator will provide an estimate on the quantity and R-values of insulation you should need for your specific geographic location.
Do you feel that it is too much work to determine how much and what type of insulation you currently have and whether to install new insulation? Don't worry, most owners feel the same way. A trained insulation contractor can help you easily figure these things out and provide free estimates (plus save the headache of doing it yourself).