I have been advising friends and folks I have met over the past 30 years on how they should insulate their homes. Sometimes the advice was well accepted; sometimes people have told me I was crazy.

This week, we will go over why $4.70 a gallon oil hurts so bad.

A quick primer: R value, which is a measure of insulation, is the inverse of the thermal conductivity of different insulation materials. In other words, the better a material is at not conducting heat or cold, the higher its R value. If you are not an energy wonk, you only need to know that a higher R value is better and a lower one is worse. A single pane of glass is R-1. One inch of pine is about R-1.25.

Current building codes warrant R-19 insulation for walls, R-38 for ceilings, R-10 for slab insulation and R-19 for floors over unheated spaces. These numbers vary somewhat depending on the code the municipality follows, but they are fairly representative of the common wisdom – for 1976. Do you remember oil prices from then? Try under 50 cents a gallon!

Here is what I believe residential (and perhaps commercial) construction should be doing, as minimums (since that is what current codes suggest, only a minimum):

. R-35 walls, R-60 ceilings, R-30 slabs and R-40 for floors over unheated spaces.

. Additionally, windows should be a minimum of R-3.5.

Every time these numbers are proposed as some sort of code, there is a baleful moan from contractors all over the region: “This is unworkable, it is expensive, and it will not have the desired results.”

These are simple to achieve and here are a couple ways to approach them:

. One can use structural insulated panels (I will explain these in more detail in an upcoming column or you can Google them) and simply get the required insulation numbers.

. Or we can stick-build walls as we have always done and insulate them with high-density fiberglass, cellulose or even cotton insulation in the wall cavities and then wrap the exterior of the entire building with 2 inches of polyisocyanurate (urethane) foam insulation, which will bump the wall up to the desired level. The foam covers the studs and is then covered with sheathing. This is structural and simple to do. If the framer thinks this is not strong enough, metal corner bracing can be easily installed before the foam.

The attic can be filled to the necessary level with any fluffy blown-in insulation.

The windows are off the shelf, with low E coating and Argon gas filling.

All of this costs more money, but is worth it.

By the way, if you have a new home, how many of you can feel cold air coming in from an electrical outlet on an outside wall? This is unacceptable for any home in 2008.

I believe that in 2008, homes should have R-60 walls and roofs and the windows should be at least R-6. The walls and roofs are easy, the windows are coming.

All this makes you a lot more comfortable and drops your heating bill down to a level that you can afford. And think of the bragging rights.

I am not proposing that the code be changed. As a consumer, you have the right to demand this from your contractor. And contractors, if they want to stay in business, need to realize that they cannot stay with the status quo from 1976.

Questions for Tom Gocze should be sent to homefront@bangordailynews.net or mailed to The Home Page, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329. A library of his practical home-improvement videos, reference material and a home-project blog are at bangordailynews.com/

thehomepage.