It is very important to select the proper kind of attic insulation for your Henderson home. The desert heat is intense, and the sun beats down on your roof. In the winter, even a little bit of sunshine can warm things up, so a house is never designed to hold in just heat or just coolness. It must do both. For spring, fall, and mild winter nights (or any night, really), I want to be able to not feel the outside temperature at all. I have lived in houses that were poorly insulated, and I have lived in houses that were well-insulated, and I can tell you that the difference is like night and day. Without a proper attic insulation selection, one can incorrectly condition the space inside, wasting huge amounts of energy, weakening one's comfort level, and sinking one's utility bills. When you select the right type of attic insulation, you can avoid all of that.
One of the most important things to look for in a good insulation material is the R-value, which is a measure of how well that material resists heat flow. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation. The recommended R-value for the attic in a house located in Henderson is in the range of R-30 to R-60. That means you should have a good amount of high-quality insulation in your attic, even if you have some there already (you might have some from the original construction of your house, or you might have added some yourself in the past). When added insulation is needed, it is much better to use a high-R-value material than a low-R-value material. And be sure to control moisture as well! A well-ventilated attic goes a long way toward keeping mold at bay.
The effectiveness of attic insulation depends substantially on two factors: how well it is installed and the space in which it resides (attic, not basement, in this case). Like all insulation, the material chosen for the job has a certain R-value (the measure of insulation's ability to resist heat traveling through it). But its R-value means little if the insulation cannot stay put or if the air around it can move freely. The Space Matters. More than any other single factor, the space in which the insulation exists affects its ability to perform. The attic must not be sealed (that is, the air in the attic must be allowed to move as it pleases), and the air must be as still as it is in the basement, where it tends to be cooler in summer and warmer in winter. If you stop reading now, I hope you remember this: More heat loss occurs in uninsulated walls than in uninsulated ceilings.
