Attic insulation question.

[mikes02ls1]

I had a energy audit done on my house. A few things needed to be address to make it energy efficient. Add heat reflective film to the windows, redo the ducting, seal attic, upgrade to a modern ac unit, and attic insulation. Look at his quote and about fainted. Almost 20k if I let them do it. Back in mind thinking I would be crazy to pay this. I know and have enough friends in different work trades where I could barter and or pay for their services to help me complete my projects. So question is attic insulation, my attic is at 4-5" of cellous. **** settled a lot since the home was built in 96. I added 33 solar panels to my house, hoping this summer I could live a little easier and not pay 425 for power bills on a house that is half gas, and half electric. I need more insulation, going to Lowes to get the product since they rent the machine for free with purchase of said product. Trying to get at 15" of insulation, and while my friend is up there seal my ducts, anywhere else hot air could go from attic to inside my house. My 340lb *** isnt going to try to get in my attic may do more harm then good... lmao.. How many bag should I get to get my attic to 15"? House is a single story 1277sqft with a vaulted ceilings in the master and living room/ kitchen. I was going for spray foam, but dont want to spend 3,500 right now cause I have my second child on the way. Blown would cost almost 2,000. I'm trying to spend under 1,000 when I get my tax money. This house is a good investment, but breaking me, damn me for being a gearhead who blew thousands of dollars of vehicles in my younger years instead of putting away in savings, and buying house. So this beer budget man has to be creative when trying to be energy efficient. He is what the house looks like, and sorry for rambling on.

 

[notcmartin]

DIY cellulose is cheap if a little messy. You really need to measure the area you plan to cover then check the bag or manufacture website for coverage. My girlfriend loaded the machine in the garage and I was in the attic, just make sure both have at least a dust mask.

This is what I used, http://www.greenfiber.com/step_one_-_calculate_your_need_how_to_install.html You cant really have too much, but after ~r30 there is marginal improvement in an attic. Buy an extra bag or so just in case, you need to return the machine any way if you dont use it. I marked a few areas with my target height and had no issues. Good luck.

 

[tomroblee]

There may not be many simple answers to your questions.

The number of bags of insulation you will need depends on the size of the bag, the kind of insulation, and the area of the area where it going to be installed.

You say that your house has 1277 sq. ft. with a lot of vaulted ceilings. The roof looks to be rather low pitched. Depending on how the vaulted ceilings are made, you may or may not be able to get more insulation over them. (if the cavity between the ceiling and roof deck is only 10", you aren't going to be able to put 15" of insulation into it. You need a couple of inches of air flow under the roof decking.) You will have the same issue where the roof meets the outside walls---there may not be 15" between the ceiling and roof deck.

You can be transferring heat between the conditioned space in your home and the attic wherever there is air flow and/or little or no insulation. There are often air leaks at the tops of interior walls and wherever the ceiling is penetrated by things like canned light fixtures. Sealing the ductwork should reduce air leaks, but you may still be gaining/losing heat if your ducts aren't well insulated. Typical insulated ducts are rated at R4 to R8. You may add enough insulation so that your ceiling is R50, but think about what happens when your conditioned air is going through R8 ductwork sitting on top of the insulation. (In dry climates like Arizona you may be able to bury the ductwork under the ceiling insulation to mitigate this issue. It would not be advisable to do this in damp climates where cold ducts might cause moisture to condense and soak the insulation.)

 

[DonPowers]

Whatever you do, don't plug your vents, its vary easy to do with the blown in stuff.

 

[mikes02ls1]

Thank you guys, just want sound advice so I don't screw up when taking on projects around the house.

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[sands35]

What tomroblee said.

Air leaks in ceiling penetrations will cost you more than you get back just by adding insulation. There are pre made caps made out of cellulose or you can make them out of 1" eps foam board. Make a 5 sided box that goes over light fixtures and tape/foam them in. Use caulk and spray foam cans to seal up AC vent duct penetrations and tape up ducts that run in the attic. It's not a hard DIY job, but you are crawling around in an attic. So major PITA.

Lowes and H-D have calculators to figure out how much blown in insulation you will need given the desired and existing R values.

So in AZ, this is a winter job, not a summer job.

 

[mikes02ls1]

Talk to a architect about my attic insulation. 1277sqft is what I need to go off of for getting X many bag of insulation. John mayville stuff covers 186sqft per bag so if I get 15-20 bags that should be enough to get me 10 more inches then I currently have.