Attic Insulation for Your Phoenix Area Home
It's summer, and the temperature inside your home keeps rising. Sometimes it’s not your AC unit. It could be your attic is too hot and is affecting your home's overall temperature. Improper ventilation and insulation at this part of the house can make your air conditioners work twice as hard than it should, which in turn, increases your power bill. Fixing these issues by installing these properly can bring down both the temperature as well as your costs.
Why Proper Insulation for Your Attic Is Important
Building materials transfer excessive heat throughout the home if insulation is insufficient. This causes you’re A/C to work even harder to keep you comfortable. However, it is not as easy as just adding an additional layer of insulation to the existing one.
Air Sealing: Insulation slows down heat transfer from both its sides. Unfortunately, air pockets can reduce its effectiveness by redistributing the heat. This is why it's important to air seal the all holes before adding more insulation.
Spray Foam: Spray foam insulation on the underside of your roof can significantly decrease attic heat transfer.
Attic Access Sealing: Because attic access ceiling covers normally don't seal properly, insulating this area helps keep the heat out.
Duct Insulation: Having ducts in the attic properly insulated is important for an efficient system.
The R-value concerns attic insulation and how well it reduces the transfer of hot and cold air inside the house. To find out what the R-value of your house is, you must first determine how thick your insulation is. Then multiply the number of inches of insulation by the R-value for your type of insulation.
Some common types and their R-values include:
- Fiberglass (blown): 2.2 - 2.9
- Fiberglass (batts): 2.9 - 3.8
- Cellulose (blown): 3.1 - 3.8
- Rock Wool (loose): 2.2 - 3.3
- Foam (sprayed): 3.6 - 8.2
The recommended R-value for houses in warmer climate areas like Phoenix is a minimum of R-30.
Fiberglass batts, or pink insulation, is the most inexpensive way to insulate a house. Residents in the Phoenix area can expect to pay between $0.64 - $1.19 a square foot for materials only. To have a 500 square foot attic supplied with insulation the cost would be about $150 - $200 for materials, and between $300 - $500 to have it professionally installed.
The recommended insulation thicknesses by type for Phoenix residents are as follows:
- Fiberglass (blown): 14” - 18”
- Fiberglass (batts): 11” - 14”
- Cellulose (blown): 11” - 13”
- Rock Wool (loose): 12” - 18”
- Foam (sprayed): 5” - 11”
How Proper Ventilation for Your Attic Cools Down Your Home
If heat is trapped in the attic, the heat eventually travels down into the house. Having proper ventilation in place keeps this from happening. By installing roof mount solar-powered exhaust fans, you will greatly improve the ventilation in your attic. These exhaust fans start spinning when sun shines on the fan and does not require any other electrical source. Not only does this help your air conditioning system work more efficiently, you also do not add to your power bill by installing this fan.
The R-value concerns attic insulation and how well it reduces the transfer of hot and cold air inside the house. The recommended R-value for houses in warmer climate areas like Phoenix is a minimum of R-30.
Contact Hobaica Services today for your Comfort Evaluation on your home’s insulation at (602) 633-9555. We are the friendly experts in home services and have been working with Phoenix homeowners for more than 60 years.
