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Keeping heat inside Canadian homes through better insulation.

An informative overview of weatherproofing, insulation materials, and the everyday building details that reduce household energy loss across Canada's cold-climate regions.

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Last updated: June 3, 2026

Attic insulation in a residential home. Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Core topics

Where homes lose heat, and what reduces it

In a heating-dominated climate, most household energy goes toward keeping indoor air warm. Heat escapes through the building envelope: the roof, walls, windows, and the many small gaps where air leaks. These notes group the subject into three practical areas.

Topic 01

Insulation materials

Batts, loose-fill, mineral wool, and spray foam each behave differently. Thermal resistance is described by RSI in Canada (and the imperial R-value), measuring how well a material slows conductive heat flow.

Topic 02

Air sealing

Insulation slows conduction, but uncontrolled air leakage carries heat and moisture directly through gaps. Weatherstripping, caulking, and sealing penetrations work alongside insulation rather than replacing it.

Topic 03

Windows & heat loss

Glazing is usually the least insulating part of a wall. Double and triple glazing, low-emissivity coatings, and gas fills reduce the heat that passes through window assemblies in winter.

Why it matters in Canada

Cold winters put the building envelope to work

Across much of Canada, the heating season is long and temperatures stay well below freezing for weeks at a time. The larger the gap between indoor and outdoor temperature, the faster heat moves outward, so the performance of insulation and air barriers is more noticeable here than in milder climates.

The National Building Code of Canada and provincial codes set minimum thermal requirements for new construction, and these are typically expressed as effective RSI values for roofs, walls, and foundations. Existing homes, especially older ones, often fall short of current expectations, which is why retrofits focus on attics, basements, and air leakage first.

Colour thermograph showing heat loss from a building exterior — Thermographic image showing exterior heat loss. Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons (U.S. National Archives).

Quick reference

Reading insulation values

A few terms recur throughout these articles. They describe how materials and assemblies are measured rather than endorsing any specific product.

Common terms

RSI valueMetric thermal resistance (m²·K/W)
R-valueImperial thermal resistance
Thermal bridgePath of faster heat flow, e.g. a stud
Air barrierLayer limiting uncontrolled airflow
Vapour barrierLayer limiting moisture diffusion

Practical sequence many retrofits follow

Identify the largest, most accessible losses first, often the attic.
Seal air leaks before adding more insulation so the new layer performs as intended.
Address moisture pathways so insulation stays dry and effective.
Treat windows and below-grade areas as separate, often costlier, stages.

Articles

Detailed notes by area

Three focused articles cover the topics above with specific materials, Canadian context, and references to publicly available sources.

Worker installing insulation in an attic space

Insulation materials

Attic and Roof Insulation

How attic insulation types compare, why the attic is usually the first retrofit, and ventilation considerations in cold climates.

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Spray foam insulation being applied to a framed wall cavity

Air sealing

Air Sealing and Weatherproofing

Where air leaks occur, how weatherstripping and caulking address them, and the role of the air barrier in the wall assembly.

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Cross-section of a sealed double glazing window unit

Windows

Windows and Household Heat Loss

How glazing layers, coatings, and frames affect winter heat loss, and what the labels on window assemblies describe.

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