Blown-in insulation

[FN Phat]

The weekend before last I spent the day blowing in 49 bags of cellulose insulation into my attic and another 28 bags in my dad's attic. If you purchase more than 20 bags from Lowes, they will give you the blower to use for free (with a deposit of $250).



The existing blown-in in my attic was compressed, therefore losing any real r-value, and was very spotty. In some areas there wasn't any insulation at all. We have a nook off of the dining room that leads to the deck. There was absolutely no insulation above that area. There was zero insulation along the exterior walls. With no insulation baffles the existing blown-in could not get close enough to the exterior wall. I then installed insulation baffles...



With the baffles installed, I was able to blow the insulation to the proper depth, while still allowing the attic to "breathe" and vent properly. I added an additional 12"-16" to the existing insulation depending on the area. In the areas that was lacking insulation, I installed 18" of insulation. I have notice a considerable difference in my home retaining the heat. I am interested in what the difference will be in the summer. I am sure that I will be able to recupe my cost of $253.75 in energy savings alone. I believe you can also get a tax credit on any energy saving home improvements. I wasn't able to post before pics but I will post some after pics when I get home.

The next step in becoming more effecient with my heat is to wire my secondary (or emergency) heat strip for my heat pump. The wire is ran, now I just need to wire the unit and install a new breaker in my panel. I should have this completed this weekend, unless I don't finish my garage project.

[pellegrino]

How does that blower work? how do you get it up in the attic without getting insulation all over the house? I'm going to add insulation to my attic soon and I haven't decided how to go about it, either blowing it in or just installing batts.

[happyone]

I need to reinsulate my attic. I've noticed that the snow on my roof is melthing faster than any other home in the neighborhood

I guess that I have another home improvement project now.

[FN Phat]

You empty the bags/blocks into the hopper of the blower. It then acts like a mixer and churns and breaks up the insulation. The hoses come in 50' lengths and they supply two hoses. I set up the blower outside my garage door and ran the hose through the attic access in my garage. I was able to access all of the attic through that one opening. If you look at the pic posted in the original post you will see the man with the hose. It goes without saying that you need to stay on the joists at all times and use the proper PPE (safety glasses, mask, and proper gloves). It was relatively easy and was done with all the above in half a day, from begining to end.

[venkman]

Good call in doing that in the winter. I blew in what looks to be the same insulation last year. It was freaking 110 degrees in my attic - in May. I ended up stripping down to my skivvies sweating buckets with that insulation stuff caked all over my body - not a pretty sight.

[chrisrenrut]

I laid batted insulation in my attic (house was built in '63) in May 2007. I have equalized payments on both gas and electric bills. I have seen a reduction of about 30% on both monthly bills for both since then.

Blowing in looks like it might be easier. I was pretty beat up after hoisting big batts of pink insulation up, and then crawling around the attic for 3 hours pushing the insulation into the far corners and edges. I also had to install baffles just like yours.

I bought from Home Depot, and got a rebate from Questar, Rocky Mountain Power, and Home Depot. I only ended up spending about $200 out of pocket for over $1200 worth of insulation.

[pellegrino]

So I'm bumping this thread to ask a question and open a debate.

For a variety of reasons, I haven't put insulation in our attic yet. It basically has nothing in there (2" of compact rock wool) and in pricing it out with Lowes it's going to cost about $1200 and I'm doing all the labor, which isn't too intensive, but I'll have to build up a platform around the attic entrance so that the 18" of insulation I'll put in won't fall down and I'll need to do something to keep the insulation off of the AC unit up there. I figure I'll spend a day prepping and then half a day filling.

However, for around $3200 I can have a spray foam company come and spray foam the rafters. I don't have to do anything and it would basically insulate the whole attic, improving performance on my AC unit.

I'm interested in what everyone thinks. Would it be worth the extra money over the long hall (5-10 years) to have it spray-foamed or should I just save the money and use it elsewhere?

[FN Phat]

So I'm bumping this thread to ask a question and open a debate.

For a variety of reasons, I haven't put insulation in our attic yet. It basically has nothing in there (2" of compact rock wool) and in pricing it out with Lowes it's going to cost about $1200 and I'm doing all the labor, which isn't too intensive, but I'll have to build up a platform around the attic entrance so that the 18" of insulation I'll put in won't fall down and I'll need to do something to keep the insulation off of the AC unit up there. I figure I'll spend a day prepping and then half a day filling.

However, for around $3200 I can have a spray foam company come and spray foam the rafters. I don't have to do anything and it would basically insulate the whole attic, improving performance on my AC unit.

I'm interested in what everyone thinks. Would it be worth the extra money over the long hall (5-10 years) to have it spray-foamed or should I just save the money and use it elsewhere?

I am a DIYer out of necessity. I would do it myself and take the other 2gs and put it elsewhere in your home. Maybe even take $250 of that and have a great date with the wifey in the city.

[Katy Lied]

Prices have come up some, but insulation material in 2009 was 5 cents PSF!

Dont forget, in addition to your tax credit, you can get rebates from your gas and elec utilities. As much as 30 cents PSF. Double dipping sometimes allowed, though Chrisenrut's case no longer applies, no more double dipping between Rocky Mtn Power and Questar. (But, how would they know?) You can check for rebates at Energystar.gov but also check your local utilities.

Tax treatment: Rebates lower the effective cost of a home improvement project.

[Katy Lied]

So I'm bumping this thread to ask a question and open a debate.

For a variety of reasons, I haven't put insulation in our attic yet. It basically has nothing in there (2" of compact rock wool) and in pricing it out with Lowes it's going to cost about $1200 and I'm doing all the labor, which isn't too intensive, but I'll have to build up a platform around the attic entrance so that the 18" of insulation I'll put in won't fall down and I'll need to do something to keep the insulation off of the AC unit up there. I figure I'll spend a day prepping and then half a day filling.

However, for around $3200 I can have a spray foam company come and spray foam the rafters. I don't have to do anything and it would basically insulate the whole attic, improving performance on my AC unit.

I'm interested in what everyone thinks. Would it be worth the extra money over the long hall (5-10 years) to have it spray-foamed or should I just save the money and use it elsewhere?

1. It's expensive
2. If you ever want to do work in your attic (either a remodel or a fix), its awful to dig out from under that stuff. They just foam everything indiscriminately. You dont have a water line to an evap cooler in your attic, do you?
3. The third issue you wouldnt have a problem with. If they spray foam between your studs in a wall or floor, how can you tell they got it all? They're guessing when they apply it. In your case, you'd see it all purty'n pink plastered to your rafters.

[pellegrino]

1. It's expensive
2. If you ever want to do work in your attic (either a remodel or a fix), its awful to dig out from under that stuff. They just foam everything indiscriminately. You dont have a water line to an evap cooler in your attic, do you?
3. The third issue you wouldnt have a problem with. If they spray foam between your studs in a wall or floor, how can you tell they got it all? They're guessing when they apply it. In your case, you'd see it all purty'n pink plastered to your rafters.

So Katy, we have a standard AC condenser in the attic, it has lines that come in through the soffit. The attic will never be finished, but it can serve as storage space. Since they're spraying the rafters there's no electrical or anything that we'd have to dig out in the future.

The attic isn't ventilated like modern attics are. There is no ridge vent and no vents at the soffit either. There is a small gable vent about halfway up the back roof line. All of the contractors that have given us estimates have suggested patching the vent hole (literally a six inch triangle) and sealing off the entire attic as though it were finished space. They all seem to think that this would help the AC unit immensely because instead of operating in 120+ degree heat it would be operating in about 75-80 degree and then it would lose less as it passed through the vents. But I can't imagine that this alleged improved AC efficiency would save me $2k over the next 10 years, who knows? Is that even possible?

I wish there were a valid sprayfoam diy option. Everything I've seen costs the same or more.

[Katy Lied]

The attic isn't ventilated like modern attics are. There is no ridge vent and no vents at the soffit either. There is a small gable vent about halfway up the back roof line. All of the contractors that have given us estimates have suggested patching the vent hole (literally a six inch triangle) and sealing off the entire attic as though it were finished space. They all seem to think that this would help the AC unit immensely because instead of operating in 120+ degree heat it would be operating in about 75-80 degree and then it would lose less as it passed through the vents. But I can't imagine that this alleged improved AC efficiency would save me $2k over the next 10 years, who knows?.

How bout this (and Im just speculating):

You cut a bigger, round vent hole (assuming it is at the gable end of your roof) and you install an automatic attic ventilation fan that you set with a thermometer. When the temperature soars, the fan kicks in automatically and goes until the thermometer registers a lower temp. Cost for fan, housing, autoventilator and separate thermometer: about $120. Since you already have AC in your attic it should be an easy install.

Something like this:
+

It's so cheap I'd at least try it before I did something more drastic. Read the comments from this thread:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Air-Vent-53315-Gable-Ventilator/dp/B0009SPZ62/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_a"]Amazon.com: Air Vent #53315 Gable Attic Ventilator: Home Improvement@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4140TS8KRPL.@@AMEPARAM@@4140TS8KRPL[/ame]

[Katy Lied]

Add: you might have to install another vent elsewhere for your intake. Maybe you could cut out a small section of soffit and replace it with vented soffit? That would seem to be the least intrusive. It doesnt have to be very large.

[Surfah]

How bout this (and Im just speculating):

You cut a bigger, round vent hole (assuming it is at the gable end of your roof) and you install an automatic attic ventilation fan that you set with a thermometer. When the temperature soars, the fan kicks in automatically and goes until the thermometer registers a lower temp. Cost for fan, housing, autoventilator and separate thermometer: about $120. Since you already have AC in your attic it should be an easy install.

Something like this:
+

It's so cheap I'd at least try it before I did something more drastic. Read the comments from this thread:

Amazon.com: Air Vent #53315 Gable Attic Ventilator: Home Improvement

Attic fans are awesome and inexpensive for what they do. Roof mounted ones went in on all of the homes me and FN Phat built.

I'd do this and go for blown insulation.

[pellegrino]

Katy, I've looked long and hard at putting a fan up there, but it would be a lot of work and even though there is a small vent the space just isn't designed to be vented properly. I referred to the soffit, but that's really a misnomer as asically the roof ends at the exterior wall and the sub-fascia and fascia create a small overhang that the AC installers drilled through to get their hoses from the unit outside in. I have no gables. The roof is like that on all sides. It's slate, so putting holes in the roof is really problematic. It just wasn't designed to be vented, it's as though the little gable were an afterthought, more of an aesthetic feature than a legitimate vent.

This is a problem during the winter because if we get big snows we get ice dams and lose tiles from the roof. We have about $1k in damage from this past winter, something I'd like to avoid in the future and I'm not certain that blown in will solve the problem.