Best Way To Insulate Attic In Hot Climate

Hope the middle climate zones are tough because you have to split the difference between insulation techniques.

Best way to insulate attic in hot climate.

The opposite happens in cold weather thus your improved temperature balance in winter. While just adding more insulation to the building doesn t necessarily get great improvements in efficiency adding insulation to the right locations does. Reverse stack effect in hot weather will create a highway of hot air from your attic into the house especially the upstairs. Radiant barrier is a great option for hot climates as it doesn t try to slow the heat from passing.

One of the best things you can do is to move the attic insulation so that the air conditioning ducts are inside the insulated envelope. The best way to avoid the heat transfer from the roof and the attic into the living space is to use high levels of attic and roof assembly insulation provided by materials such as cellulose or rigid foams. I discuss the different types of insulation you can choose and how to decide on the right one in a previous post. The attic is almost always the best place to start with the biggest bang for your buck.

It is a great option for attic walls and floors. Spray foam insulation is by far the best type of insulation for hot climates as it has. And yet for example our fresno calif franchise abc cooling routinely insulates attics from r 50 to r 60 in home retrofits. But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates.

The most important factor to consider in a warmer climate is the addition of a radiant barrier to whichever type of insulation you select. You can use products like radiant barrier on the underside of the roof spray foam or even good old fashioned batts of rock wool denim or fiberglass. Another name of loose fill insulation is blow in insulation. Because the simplest and cheapest way to insulate an attic is to add material to the floor.

Check out my other post insulation for a hot climate for some ideas for the other side of the coin. A machine blows loose fill into the spaces filling each corner in the wall and floors to apply in every corner. Common practice in some areas still has it pegged at r 19. Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.

Best insulation for hot climates 1.