Should I Insulate The Ceiling Between Floors

One of the most common questions i get on energy audits.

Should i insulate the ceiling between floors.

The numbered areas shown in the illustration are as follows. Insulation between floors should i insulate in climate zone 3 you are at 3 air changes per hour which is a very tight house. If you re building or renovating a double or multi storey house then there may be good reason to considering insulating the mid floor i e. Putting insulation between the ground and first floor should in theory stop sound vibration and heat from moving between levels in your property.

In the uk most of us live in a cold climate. At first blush it makes some kind of sense. We are no strangers to cold concrete floors in the winter. During energy audits we get into a lot of building shell discussions should i insulate my basement or should i insulate my interior walls to pick two completely random questions that i totally haven t written about.

As mentioned in the beginning it is not just important to answer should there be insulation between floors but what type of insulation as well. Should i insulate my basement ceiling the interior floors feel cold the house is warm the basement is cold insulation slows heat loss so i should insulate my basement ceiling right customer looks at me for affirmation. Actually it s nowhere near that simple. The question of whether you should insulate between floors is remarkably similar to that of insulating interior walls.

We insulate our roof and we insulate our walls but can you insulate between two floors within a house to reduce noise. The main reason to insulate between floors is to reduce the noise transfer between floors. I am in process of learning as much as i can about tight houses air quality mold control humidity control. With the floor gone you ll have to find a spot elsewhere for stashing those off season clothes and that holiday decor.

But if the floor is covered in plywood you can t stuff enough insulation beneath it to do the job sufficiently not even in warm climates. This will also increase thermal insulation for the room above. The illustration above shows all the areas of the home where there should be insulation. The building shell to understand the pros and cons of insulating your finished basement ceiling we first need to talk about the concept of a building shell think about all your home s exterior walls including the top floor.

Plan to pull up the flooring and layer new insulation on top of the old.