WINTERIZE

BY ARETHA FRANKLINE
Intern

For new home owners, the mortgage, the insurance and the new cost incurred with buying a home are top priority, but with bad weather on the way, it is time to start winterizing your new home.

Although there has not been many improvements in insulation since your parents bought their house, winterizing your new home in areas usually left unnoticed by many homeowners need to be addressed. There are several options a new homeowner has when deciding on the type of insulation one will use.

However, the first step is to assess the Rvalue of the insulation, whether fiberglass or foam. The R-value is the insulation's resistance to heat flow from the house. Normal fiberglass insulation usually has an R-value of 11 on a three-and-ahalf inch roll 50 feet long.

According to Rick Reese, a salesman at One Stop Building Supply Center in Newport, it is difficult for people to try new types of insulation because it's cheaper- and it is the standard type used when building a home.

"[Plus] fiberglass insulation doesn't deteriorate over time, foam [insulation] does," said Norton Wheeler, a salesman at United Building Supply Company Inc. of Westerly and Richmond. "When aged it [fiberglass insulation] has a lesser R-value, but it only declines a certain extent."

Another form of insulation is fiberglass wrapped in plastic. It is more expensive than plain fiberglass, yet the R-value is greater, R-13. With the fiberglass wrapped in plastic, one will not have the itching usually associated when installing normal fiberglass.

There is also the energy shield sheet which has a higher R-value of 7.2 per inch. The sheet is made of foil on both sides. One would use this before reshingling the roof. Although a little more expensive, the styrofoam. used in a basement would not absorb as much water as fiberglass would, thus reducing the chance for mildew.

The most expensive insulation is Astro-Foil. It is a quarter-inch thick with an R-value of 14. It is reflective insulation with foil on both sides. It's easier to install than fiberglass and can be stapled to a stud, but it needs a three-quarter inch airspace on both sides to work.

The safety aspect of foam versus fiberglass comes down to fire. In a fire fiberglass will give off toxic fumes, yet foam just compresses into itself To get at the small spaces foam and fiberglass cannot reach, there are three different types of spray foam insulation; fast drying, minimal expansion and triple expansion. The solvent-based product is easy to use. All one has to do is point at the small area, and shoot. It has minimal expansion, so make sure the space isn't so big plastic foam or fiberglass cannot fit in.

This product has one downfall. When one starts with this product one must finish it. The fast drying properties of the solvent-based product does not allow reuse.

The latex product, which is new this year, is in a aerosol can, used in the same way as the solvent based product. The latex is cheaper, and can be reused. All one has to do is wash the straw from the can. This is the triple expansion product. A little bit will do in the very small cracks. It may take a few tries to ascertain the right amount insulation for the small areas.

For windows, according to Jerry Wilson, a salesman at One Stop Building Supply, plastics sheeting along with window stripping over the cracks in the window are best. Pipe stripping made of foam rubber is another way to protect against the cost of high heating bills. The foam covers pipes outside the home, and will shrink from the pipe's heat, allowing less heat to be lost.

Another tip to save energy to make sure thresholds are sealed by a metal or rubber strip attached to the bottom of the door to stop the heat loss in the crack between the door and the floor.

A money-saver not too many people are aware of is the heat loss through electrical outlets. The cure is to take off the outlet cover and insert a specially designed foam pad that fits around the outlets. The cover is then reattached.

A surprisingly amount of heat is lost from the uncovered outlets, according to Mark Lennon, a One Stop Building Supply Co. salesman. Fireplaces can pose a heat loss too, said Lennon, unless they are covered or fitted with a glass screen/door combination,.