Home repair tip #2 Missing or unsealed insulation

Of course older homes in the south are poorly insulated as a rule. If your home is an older one you might need insulation installed beneath your floor or some insulation added to your attic. Now, that said, you guys with insulation can still have some problems by today's standards. One of the coolest things I learned about insulation is the "sealed on six sides rule". When insulation goes in your walls there's usually only 3 1/2" of it. This insulation works a lot better if it's sealed on six sides. The top, bottom, sides, front, and rear. In a regular wall this happens normally. What you need to look for is places where this does not happen naturally. Places like "knee walls", bonus room walls in the attic, unfinished rooms, places like that. If you can go in your attic and see unfaced insulation on the walls in places, then you have this problem. The wind blowing around in your attic could cause this insulation to not properly do its job. To fix it you need to seal the backside of your insulation in these spots. You can do it with 1/2" foam board, 1/8" plywood, or even a roll of housewrap. Just seal it up so it's enclosed on all six sides. (I wouldn't use plastic sheeting for this, as moisture problems can arise in certain situations.) Once your wall insulation is sealed up tight it will begin to do its job properly and your power bills should go down!