Home insulation is an important part of your house and a properly as well as adequately insulated house is essential not only to save energy cost and meeting energy standards but also the occupants in the house can live comfortably. With that being said even though home insulation is important, not every part of the house requires insulation. To find out which area or part of your home requires insulation, read on. The following paragraphs describe a couple of do-it-yourself (diy) steps in which you can take to easily determine the area or parts of your house that requires adequate insulation.

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The first rule in lowering your heating bill is to prevent cold air from getting into your house. We do this, of course, with insulated walls, ceilings, and floors. What happens, however, when you make a hole in that wall or ceiling or floor for some particular reason?

That’s when you install something to fill up that hole like a window or door or vent. All of these are specially designed to prevent air infiltration, of course. Even then, you need to add weatherstripping and caulking to ensure that no cracks remain.

There’s another category of holes we make in walls, where these holes don’t go all the way through — these holes are for electrical outlets and light switches. The typical exterior wall in a house is made with 2″x4″ or 2″x6″ studs with sheathing and siding on the outside and sheetrock on the inside. Between the studs should be as much batt insulation as will fit snugly. Electrical outlets are then installed in a plastic box about 3″ deep that is either shoved or cut into the insulation. Anyone who has worked with an electrician can tell you that electricians are not worried about insulation. For electrical outlets on exterior walls, there is typically little or even no insulation between the outdoors and the inside of the house.

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Effective Jan. 27, any Canadian who spends money on home renovations will be eligible to receive up to $1,350 in tax relief, thanks to the new Home Renovation Tax Credit proposed in the Government’s Economic Action Plan.

“Each time a Canadian invests in home renovations, they are helping to create jobs in construction and building supplies in their own community,” said the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. “By providing an incentive for Canadians to invest in their homes, we are also encouraging them to invest in local jobs.”

To highlight the kind of projects that will be eligible under this plan, the Minister visited a Victoria-area home renovation site and met with a local contractor who will be better able to protect and create jobs thanks to the additional home renovation projects that will be encouraged through this tax credit.

The Home Renovation Tax Credit will provide a one-year, temporary 15% income tax credit on eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, between January 27, 2009 and February 1, 2010. The credit may be claimed on eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000 but not more than $10,000.

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Home renovations can represent a smart investment in the long-term value of a home and generate broad-based economic activity. They can also reduce energy consumption and the long-term cost of owning a home. To support economic growth during these challenging times, Budget 2009 proposes to introduce a temporary Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC).

The HRTC will provide a temporary incentive for Canadians to undertake new renovation projects or accelerate planned future projects, thus providing timely stimulus to the Canadian economy while boosting energy efficiency and the value of Canada’s Economy.

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