How to Determine the Number of Bags of Blown-In Insulation Needed

Homes with unused rooms, such as attics, or open areas, such as crawl spaces, lose a lot of heat because they're poorly insulated. The solution is to fill the room with insulation by blown-in insulating fibers. These fibers expand as they're blown into the room, creating effective insulation in an otherwise drafty area. Prepare for the project by calculating how many bags of insulation are necessary to fill the space. This prevents you from having to run out and buy an extra bag if guessed wrong.

Measuring tape

Instructions

- 1
  Determine the R-value you want to use by contacting your municipality to see what the minimum requirements are. Research your local area and climate, talk to builders and find out what R-value is commonly used. The higher the number, the more effective the insulation is. Stay above the minimum requirement. Each type of insulation, such as fiberglass, varies slightly in the R-values.
- 2
  Measure the square feet of the area you're going to fill. Measure the length and width of the room, and multiple them together to get the square feet. For example, a room that's 23 feet by 23 feet is 500 square feet.
- 3
  Compare the size of bag you want to buy with the square footage. For example, if you're using R-19 insulation and it covers 40 square feet a bag, divide this number into the size of the room. In a 500 square-foot room, you'll divide 40 into 500. This gives you 12.5. You'll need 13 bags for this room.

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