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I recently looked up the recommended insulation value for my area (7) and was surprised how much lower the wall insulation value was shown to be. As you can see it is almost a third of the recommended attic value. I am fairly certain that these numbers have more to do with the limited space in the typical framed wall than the actual theoretical ideal.

My question is, what is the idea ratio (can it be represented as a ratio?), or what is the calculation for the ideal spread of insulation over a house assuming you had as much room as you needed in every wall, floor, and ceiling?

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Jonathon
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No, it's not meaningful to express it as a ratio.

The best insulation is deep insulation everywhere.

You also need to consider convection losses, and your ventilation strategy.

The attic is usually targetted first, for a combination of several reasons. It's cheap, it's easy, and heat rises, so thoroughly insulating the attic cuts down a lot of conduction losses and convection losses.

What the next-easiest intervention is, will depend on the individual property. Upgrading from single-glazed windows to triple is often the next best, because not only does it cut conduction and convection losses, it brings improved security, and acoustic insulation too.

You can get very cheap thermal camera clip-ons for mobile phones now, so you could do your own thermal survey on a particularly cold, windy day, to find out where the cold's getting in (and thus where the heat's getting out).

Interventions on floors and walls tend to be expensive and disruptive, unless you have masonry cavity walls that can be injected with insulation material.

If you're going to insulate your home properly, then you're going to be doing all surfaces anyway. At this point, you'll want someone to come in, do a site survey, and offer you a full specification that treats the house as a whole system. Look for passivhaus-certified architects.

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With out taking any of the comments in consideration the OP is asking what insulating ration per area without asking what material is used. This question should be is it possible to get a 100% insulation? No, just like you cannot get a 100% reflection rate from photons from a mirrors. This does pose the question what is the best insulation material available? I would think Space.SE would be a good home fore this question. The OP said wall space was not a restriction for insulation.

My answer is that silica aerogels the best insulator in the world right now. Silica aerogels has thermal conductivities of less than 0.03 W/m*K in the atmosphere. Aerogel can prevent ice from melting on a hot plate at 80 degrees Celsius.

www.aerogeltechnologies.com

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This material would take the least space for insulation.