Hot Attic Insulation

In cold climates the best radiant barriers are installed on the floor of the attic so that they can redirect radiant heat from the home back into your living spaces.

Hot attic insulation.

Whether using loose fill or batts put the vapor barrier closest to the warm side of your installation where hot moist air would get in facing the house s interior in cold climates beneath floor insulation and the attic s interior in hot climates on top of floor insulation. If you can see the ceiling rafters you need more insulation. Within the attic insulation is a must. With insulation more is usually better.

The most important factor to consider in a warmer climate is the addition of a radiant barrier to whichever type of insulation you select. The two basic types of attic insulation are rolled insulation and blown in attic insulation. 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. Common practice in some areas still has it pegged at r 19.

And yet for example our fresno calif franchise abc cooling routinely insulates attics from r 50 to r 60 in home retrofits. Building codes vary among the thousands of jurisdictions but a typical requirement in hot climates is r 38. A good way to gage if more insulation is necessary is to look in your attic for ceiling rafters. For hot climates where most of the radiant heat hitting the attic comes from sunlight radiant barriers should be draped from the attic ceiling or installed between the roof beams.