Which Insulation Is Better R11 Or R13

Improved insulation is a good step toward improving building efficiency particularly since the atlanta based american society of heating refrigerating and air conditioning engineers ashrae increased minimum roof insulation levels in 2007 in its standard 90 1 the first increase in 18 years and if that isn t enough to spur someone into action.

Which insulation is better r11 or r13.

L s if the contract states r15 you should be getting r15 simple as that. Thermal values range from a low of r 4 to a high of r 45. While there are additional considerations such as venting and moisture problems to take into account when you insulate under floors the united states department of energy recommends an r 25 rating in cold climates and an r 11 in warmer parts of the country. Speaking of budget your contractor is trying to save money by using lesser insulation and the staple part i fired a guy of my previous job because he did that.

The label on insulation gives its r value. Higher numbers indicate insulation that is more effective. R15 should be better than r13 by a little bit in the wall. In attics we should use additional layers of.

The r value per inch for different types of insulation varies depending on the. The r value of insulation indicates its thermal resistance to the flow of heat. If you have steel studs instead of wood then the r15 and r13 walls would be about the same because of high conductivity of the steel. A recent mckinsey co.

Applications r 11 has about 73 percent of the insulative efficiency of r 15 when comparing two of the materials. However the r value of insulation also depends on proper installation to avoid compressing it. Is it better to do a crossing pattern with one layer of r19 between the joists and another layer of r19 laying on top going across them to get r38 or just go with a single thick r38 bat. On rigid insulation and insulation bats the r value same calculation applies but the r value on the insulation already calculated the thickness.

This doesn t mean that one house insulated with r 11 will have 73 percent less. My most recent house i did had a mix of r15 and r13 due to budget reasons. Either way you have the thermal short circuit from the studs the r13 and r15 are just laboratory numbers for the insulation part of the wall. How much real difference is there between r11 and r13 insulation.