The United States Department of Energy estimates that 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average home is used for heating and cooling.
Over half of your utility bills, therefore, go to keep you comfortable inside, irregardless of the weather outside.
That's a pretty hefty price to pay for a little coziness.
Keeping cozy, however, doesn't have to break the bank.
One of the best things you can do add to both your wallet and your home's comfort level is to add insulation.
Adding insulation to the attic, walls, floors, crawl spaces and basements can save as much 28% on your existing utility bills.
What is insulation? And how does it work? Insulation is simply any material that slows the flow of heat.
Today, insulation is made of rock wool, fiberglass, cellulose and even soybeans.
It comes in blankets or rolls, called batted insulation.
There are types that are loose, blown into place with large pneumatic air pumps.
Insulation comes in large foam sheets that can be used to completely "wrap" a building's exterior.
There are even a spray foam insulations that harden into place, perfect for closed spaces between walls, or small spaces like the cracks around window and door frames.
Whatever it's made of, and whatever form it comes in, it all has one purpose, to keep warm air on either the inside or the outside, depending on the season.
Heat is transferred by three methods - convection, conduction or radiation.
Convection heat transfer occurs when water or air is heated.
Forced air furnaces are excellent examples of convection heat sources, heating the room's colder air as it passes through the unit and pushing the warmer air back into the room.
Conduction heat moves through an object.
When the spoon handle in your cup of tea gets hot from the heat moving up from the tea and through the metal handle, you're experiencing heat conduction.
Radiant heat is the warmth you feel from the fire on the hearth or from the sun coming through your window.
Insulation forms a barrier that prevents these types of heat transfers from occurring.
In the warmer weather, insulation keeps the warmer air from reaching the cooler air inside.
In the winter months, insulation slows the flow of warmer air out of the building and keeps the colder air from reaching inside as quickly.
Insulation's resistance to all forms of heat transfer is known as its R-value.
All insulation has an R-value.
This is very important in knowing what type and how much insulation you'll need.
The Us Department of Energy has issued a chart for each and every region of the US with recommended R-values for various parts of your home, like the attic, floors, walls and crawl spaces, so you'll know exactly how much insulation to add.
Keep in mind that existing, older layers of insulation will compress slightly from the weight of newer, added insulation and take that into account when calculating the R-value needed.
Where and how to insulate? In most homes, the best place to start when adding insulation is in the attic.
Your roof is your home's first line of defense against the sun's heat in summer, and your last line of defense against losing warm air in winter.
Meeting or exceeding the recommended R-value for your attic is an excellent way to prevent heat transfers through your home's roof.
If your home has no existing attic insulation, you may, in fact decide to insulate the underside of the roof, for an easier, more effective barrier.
Most attics are easily insulated using blankets or rolls of insulation, cut and nailed or stapled into place.
In some styles of attics, it may be easier to use the blown-in style of loose or shredded insulation instead.
Insulating crawl spaces can be another big money saver, as the floor boards of a home can be another source of heat transfer.
Your toes will certainly be warmer in the winter with an insulated floor underneath them.
Whether you insulate under the floor boards, or around the exterior walls of the crawlspace depends on whether or not the crawl space is ventilated.
You can't insulate the walls if there are air vents in them, as this can actually reduce the effect of the insulation.
(The same goes for your attic, by the way.
You can't insulate over the attic vents.
) Spray foam insulation can be used to fill in around odd-shaped or tight-fitting spaces, and can be very nice for insulating over wires and cables that might be running under the home.
Duct work and pipes should be insulated, as well, to prevent freezing and bursting of water pipes.
Insulating walls can be trickier, but not impossible.
Spray foam insulation can be injected between the walls, filling the enclosed spaces and thus providing the desired seal of air flow.
Whatever the type of insulation used, and wherever in the building it is used, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The first is the insulation's R-value.
You need to make sure that you have a high enough R-value to reach the desired effect.
The second is pricing.
When pricing insulation, look for the best price per square foot of equal R-value.
Two insulations of the same R-value provide the same heat loss prevention, so as long as your R-values are equal, the cheaper price is the better price.
Lastly, not all types of insulation, and not all insulation jobs are for the DIYer.
Spray foam and loose types of insulation require professional equipment and personnel.
Crawl spaces can be tricky, with water barriers, pipes, duct work and all sorts of other obstacles to work around.
Happiness Is a Well Insulated House Insulating your home can be a big job, but it can take hundreds off your heating and cooling bills every year.
Remember that 28% mentioned above? That can be as much as $400 for the average American homeowner.
Now, if that's not a comfortable way to keep your toes cozy, what is?