Cold weather is on its way. Does your house have adequate insulation?

Insulation helps keep homes warm and lowers energy usage. Older homes may have no attic insulation or very little insulation.

Those insulation levels may have been the recommended amounts and R-Values at the time, but recommendations have changed.

One way to determine whether more insulation is needed in the home is to hire an energy auditor to evaluate the air sealing and insulation levels in the home. The auditor should have knowledge of construction materials and practices and may have tools such as an infrared camera and blower door.

If evaluating the home on your own, be sure to follow safe practices, using goggles, gloves, air filter masks and a sturdy ladder. Be careful about stepping near electrical wires. You may be able to observe only from the attic access or door using a flashlight and measuring tool.

If more attic insulation is needed, the first step is to address air leakage into the attic from the living space. Leakage is a large contributor to heat gains and losses. It is important to seal large air leaks that result in energy loss, especially those that are at the ceiling and upper floor.

Air leaks into attics often occur where there is air penetration to the attic such as where the attic floor surface is penetrated with plumbing, wiring, chimneys, vent stacks or recessed lighting.

Recessed lighting and electrical wiring that needs to be upgraded or brought up to code should be done by a professional electrician before having the space insulated.

Recessed fixtures should be rated for insulation coverage, protected from direct contact with insulation, switched to air-tight models rated for insulation coverage or switched to surface-mounted light fixtures. A qualified electrician should examine the recessed light fixtures.

When determining how much insulation is needed, be sure to consider the existing insulation level and its condition — it may be wet or uneven or missing in some areas, the ease of access to install the insulation, adequacy of attic ventilation, climate conditions and comfort levels. Also consider future costs for energy.

Every house is different and the amount is determined by what will realistically fit into the attic areas.

To find out whether you have enough attic insulation, measure its thickness. If it is less than R-30, consider adding more. Vermiculite or perlite loose-fill insulation have R-values of about 2.4 per inch. Loose-fill cellulose has an R-value of 3.2 to 3.8 per inch, fiberglass 2.2 to 2.7 per inch and rock wool 3 to 3.3 per inch.

Most U.S. homes should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation in the attic.

For more information on R-values and insulating your home according to your zip code area, you can find a computer program at www.ornl.gov/~roofs/Zip/ZipHome.html.

For information on saving energy and conducting a do-it-yourself audit, go to hes.lbl.gov.

Adding insulation will give you peace of mind knowing your house ready for the cold weather.

Lorene Bartos is an Extension educator with Lancaster County Extension of the University of Nebraska. She can be contacted by telephone at (402) 441-7180; by mail at 444 Cherrycreek Road, Lincoln, NE 68528; or by e-mail at lbartos1@unl.edu.