Home Insulation

[DaleT]

I am currently in the market of buying my first home. In fact, I have found one that I do like, nice lot, good size and priced right (close to a trout river but further from the lakes so that's downside). The only problem I have with it is, the primary source of heating is baseboard electric (it also has 2 gas fireplaces), with the prices of electricity on the rise and gas (propane) not looking to fall off anytime soon I'm contemplating the performance of the whole heating and insulation system. While going through the house, I took a long look into the attic, lo and behold there was no insulation. My thought is insulating the attic space would improve the efficiency of the house and lower the heating and cooling bills. The question I have is, should insulation be laid in between the joist over the drywall ceilings, attached to the underside of the roof, or some combination of the two? If so, any recommendations as to the R value I should be looking for? The home I'm looking at is roughly an hour north of Detroit and pushed back into a more wooded area, on a crawl foundation, the windows appear to be newer.

Thanks,

Dale

PS: I did not notice any venting the roof system and realize that should be added in any event.

 

[JB]

Re: Home Insulation

Ceilings? Yes. Roof? Yes. All you can get in there.

Are the walls and floor(s) insulated?? Maybe not. Check it.

Double pane windows at least. "E" glass if available.

No WB fireplace? Add a WB stove.

 

[SuzukiChopper]

Re: Home Insulation

Up here the eves are vented to the attic and insulation is laid on the ceiling (between the joists) ONLY. Not the underside of the roof. It's supposed to be a cold zone in winter and hot zone in the summer. EnerGuide might be a great resource for you, I'd start with their website. Don't know about down there but we can get EnerGuide inspections done on our homes that will rate the efficiency of the home along with recommendations to increase that number.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Home Insulation

If the home was built for electric heat "usually" it has good insulation. You can lay bats of insulation in the attic on the floor joists and R-50 sould be a good goal. As far as venting the attic ..... vents at both ends (if it is not heated) do the trick nicely.

The only time you should insulate the roof joists is if you intend on heating that space.

Take a look at these two pages http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/fig2.html

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/fig1.html

I know a hotel owner who insulated his attic then laid 2 layers of foam board across his joists and covered that with a 1/2 of OSB..... essentially creating a great storage space.

In my 150 yo home I have blown in insulation in the attic under the floor boards to fill in that area.

Electric heat usually has individual thermostats for each area allowing you to turn down the temp in an unoccupied room.

I agree with JB asking about woodburning stoves and of course the latest rage is the corn/wood pellet stoves to heat with.

 

[DaleT]

Re: Home Insulation

Thanks guys.

Not sure yet how it's going to go with getting the house, but just trying to cover all the bases before I make the commitment.

I've always loved the wood stoves, the cabin I frequent has one and is the primary source of heat during the winter months (forced air as a backup for the night), at times we have actually had the temperature of the main room to high. Bit of a learning curve I suppose. Regardless though, the idea of a renewable heating source where I can harvest the fuel myself is right up my alley. As it stands, there are a number of downed trees on the property and I have access to many more through friends and family, so the wood stove is definitely among the options I'll look into.

Thanks again,

Dale

 

[Jeff-in-PA]

Re: Home Insulation

Dale,
We have a Harman wood/coat insert that we burn coal in from Oct to Apr. We have to tend it once in the morning and again in the evening but we can keep our home at 72* very easily.

We get our chestnut sized coal dropped off by the local hardware store in one ton bags. That's a 55 gallon drum next to the bag for size comparison.

Our home was built in 1945 and we've added two layer of R30 in the attic ( on the joints NOT the roof ) and also added insulation over the front porch where the master bedroom floor is. That made a major difference.

pic of front of house to show overhang
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/JRD77VET/house-front-rs.jpg

Jeff

 

[Mike Robinson]

Re: Home Insulation

... I took a long look into the attic, lo and behold there was no insulation....

For me this would raise alarm bells. I would have the house inspected by a professional.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Home Insulation

Very interesting no insulation in the attic....did you notice if there was any vapour barrier....also check under in the crawl space see if you have any insulation under your floor......as far as the walls pull a couple of switch plates off and see if you have vapour barrier and insulation behind.....ifin no insulation on all three areas could be a BIG drop in the price.....the spray insulation kits rental or pro done work fantastic and no need for vapour barrier ....a one step application and room for more pink if desired ...extra pink you would then need vapour barrier.....also if you have room you could put in an electric furnace when the fireplaces don't cut it......