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You need insulation in your home to provide resistance to heat flow. The more heat flow resistance your insulation provides, the lower your heating and cooling costs.

Properly insulating your home will not only help reduce your heating and cooling costs but also make your home more comfortable. Here you'll find the following information:

Two wall-construction techniques — the Airtight Drywall Approach and Simple Caulk and Seal — can be used to create a continuous air barrier within a house. Using one of these techniques can significantly reduce air leakage to help improve a home's energy efficiency.

Air barriers block random air movement through building cavities. As a result, they help prevent air leakage in your home, which can account for 30% or more of a home's heating and cooling costs. Air barriers also help control moisture in a home. While they stop most air movement, air barriers also allow any water vapor that does enter to diffuse back out again.

Air sealing is an important factor when constructing an energy-efficient home. These are some air sealing techniques and materials:

You can use weatherstripping in your home to seal air leaks around movable joints, such as windows or doors.

To determine how much weatherstripping you will need, add the perimeters of all windows and doors to be weatherstripped, then add 5%–10% to accommodate any waste. Also consider that weatherstripping comes in varying depths and widths.

One Step Closer to the Jetsons

In the news this week there has been talk of inanimate objects that can Tweet their status to humans via their Twitter accounts.  Included in this array were a house plant that can complain about being under- or over-watered and a pair of shoes that can advertise when they take steps.  Entertaining, for sure, but the one category that caught my attention was electric meters that can Tweet data.

Caulk forms a flexible seal for cracks, gaps, or joints less than 1-quarter-inch wide. You can use a caulking compound to seal air leaks in a variety of places throughout your home, including around windows and door frames.

Most experts agree that caulking and weatherstripping — two simple air sealing techniques — will pay for themselves in energy savings within one year. Applying these techniques will also alleviate drafts and help your home feel warmer when it's cold outside.

You may already know where some air leakage occurs in your home, such as an under-the-door draft, but you'll need to find the less obvious gaps to properly air seal your home.

Air sealing is one of the most significant energy efficiency improvements you can make to your home. Air sealing will not just reduce energy costs; it will also improve your home's comfort and durability.