Homeowners in America spend a lot of money heating and cooling their homes. Unfortunately much of that energy is wasted due to poor insulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to wasting money, poorly insulated homes are just less comfortable. They\u2019re drafty and difficult to keep at the right temperature, which results in a home that’s too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving your home\u2019s insulation is a great way to save money, improve your comfort, and cut your carbon footprint. Depending on where you live you could save between $200-500 on your utility bill and cut your carbon footprint by 500-1,000 kilograms (0.5-1 metric ton) per year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this guide, we’ll help you understand how much you can save based on where you live and how to get started without breaking the bank. If you’re ready to work on an insulation project, check out our insulation buyer’s guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much does insulation cost?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cost and savings from insulating your home depend on a few different factors: your climate, the age of your home, and existing insulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What insulation you need\u2014and therefore what it’s going to cost\u2014is almost entirely based on your local climate. Hotter climates will be able to get by with minimal insulation by stopping air leakage, while houses in colder climates will require more insulation (in addition to modifying the home to stop air leakage). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This map by the Energy Department is a good place to start to understand how much insulation you need. If R-values don\u2019t mean anything to you, check out our insulation buyer\u2019s guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Age of the house<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As with most things home ownership, the older your home, the harder\u2014and more expensive\u2014it will be to install insulation. There are a few reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

• Older homes were often built without any<\/em> insulation, so in order to install what is currently recommended for your climate, you may need to substantially retrofit your home to make room for it. If that’s the case, you’ll need to consider the costs of that project on top of the cost of insulating.<\/li>
• If you have an older house, you’ll also want to have an electrician involved: adding insulation to a home with aging electric wiring<\/a> may be a fire hazard. (Never a dull moment with old homes.)<\/li>
• Houses built before 1978<\/a> might have asbestos<\/a> in them, and if you’re digging into the walls for insulation, that will require specialized removal and will increase the cost. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

  Size of the house<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

  The bigger the house, the more it’ll cost to insulate. Simple as that. You’ll need more insulation, and it’ll take longer to install, so it’ll be more expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  The main reason for this is that insulation is priced per square foot and takes quite a bit of manual labor to install. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Existing insulation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

  What insulation you currently have will impact the cost of upgrading. Modern insulation (in the form of fiberglass) was only invented in 1932<\/a>\u2014homes older than that used anything from horse hair to newspaper for insulation. Hopefully some previous owners took care of that and you don’t have horse hair in your walls, but stranger things have happened in old homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Upfront insulation costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

  Improving your insulation isn’t as expensive as switching to a heat pump<\/a> HVAC system, but it’s more definitely a bigger investment than small energy efficiency improvements like installing LED lighting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Your upfront costs will depend on all the factors listed above: an old home in a cold climate with minimal existing insulation will cost the most; a newer home in a warm climate with decent existing installation will cost the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  But it\u2019s helpful to at least have a baseline estimate. So we analyzed data from the Energy Department to estimate how much the average insulation project costs in each state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n