Do It Yourself: Energy Savings at Home
Insulation

Watch the video:

Kathy Hopkins, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Educator: Now that we have taken care of all the little air leaks in the house, it’s time to think about insulation. Using the proper insulation can save you up to 30 percent on your heating bill every year. You need to know what kind of insulation to use and where to use it. There are three major kinds of insulation. You can get fiberglass insulation. This is an example of a water heater blanket; it’s fiberglass with a plastic coating to keep the heat in your water heater. You can also use fiberglass insulation in walls and ceilings and up in your attic. Here’s a piece of solid polystyrene insulation; it has a vapor barrier on both sides of this particular piece. This is good for use around foundations and you can also buy foam insulation, which you can use on pipes, and this is an example of that. Pipes that are un-insulated can lose a lot of energy. So, these are very easy to apply, you take them out of the package and just slide them around the pipe and you may need to secure them to make sure that they stay in place, but they’ll save you a lot of energy through the heating season.