Insulation in Arizona?

While family and friends battle snow drifts and icy blasts winter winds across the country, Arizona residents are enjoying some of the nation’s best weather. It’s easy at this time of year to forget the scorching heat of Arizona summers, and the toll the high temperatures take on our energy bills. Your home’s insulation (or lack of it) plays a key role in your utility costs.

The R-value of insulation measures resistance to heat flow, so insulation with a higher R-value provides more effective insulating power. APS recommends R-30 ceiling insulation and R-19 wall insulation for homes in the Phoenix area. There are several types of insulation that can be installed, including loose-fill or blown-in, batts or blankets. Having the insulation properly installed is crucial to effective insulating power. Air gaps can reduce the effectiveness of insulation by over 30%, and insulation that is compressed will also underperform.

The attic is the first place to start when investigating your home’s insulation. This is an area of the home where there are often deficiencies that can be corrected for energy savings that can be substantial. This is especially true in older Arizona homes. Just 5% missing attic insulation could result in R-value dropping by as much as 50%.

Having improvements made to your home’s insulation by a quality installer can be a great investment – both as an energy savings strategy, and as an investment in the proper care and maintenance of your home that will pay off when it’s time to sell your property.