100 Ways to Reduce Your Impact

Step 21 Insulate your walls

Insulating your walls can save you hundreds of dollars on heating and cooling costs each year.

Insulating the attic will help people in both warm and cool climates save money because you will not be spending more money to heat/cool that attic space as well.

Comments

[belcat]

I should stress that insulation is the cheapest most effective green technique (or money saving, for that matter), at least when it's DIY or new construction. It trumps most other ways of saving energy, and it doesn't break down like high efficiency furnaces, etc.

[belcat]

Theadamlevy -- the trick is not to over insulate, but to properly insulate. You should always be able to see light from the soffit vents (where the wall meets the roof). As well, you should have another vent near the top of the roof. This allows cold air to come in from the soffits and exit at the top of the roof. Voila! Cheap and effective cooling for the attic, and no melting snow. People have insulated to R60 using this technique with no snow problems.

[theadamlevy]

In places that have real winters (with snow and whatnot) insulating your attic too much is a bad idea if your attic get too warm the snow will melt on your roof refreeze at night melt again etc. this can cause your roof to leak and water damage is a bitch to fix

[Woodenbikes]

I think it's best to insulate your ceiling a lot to keep your warmth in the house and let the attic be cool and vented.