Attic Insulation

[XM_Rocks]

My wife and I purchased a home this past August and it has < 1" of insulation in the attic. yes... ~ 1 inch through the whole attic.

We put that on our list of things to do and now it has been moved up the list since we got a pretty big gas bill ($192) for last month.

Anybody on here have any suggestions for contractors/insulation companies?

How about a Garage/Attic Day... I will provide drinks and food. LOL

[sammm]

That is on my to-do list as well. I plan on going to Lowes/Home Depot and buying the blown-in cellulose insulation. They will 'rent' you the blower machine for free when you buy enough insulation.

2-man job...one in the attic and one feeding the hopper.

[XM_Rocks]

That is on my to-do list as well. I plan on going to Lowes/Home Depot and buying the blown-in cellulose insulation. They will 'rent' you the blower machine for free when you buy enough insulation.

2-man job...one in the attic and one feeding the hopper.

Is the blower on a trailer or is it small enough to fit in a Car/SUV?

Maybe between the two of us we can buy enough insulation to get the blower for free and we can help each other with both of our houses?

I live in Irving around 183 and MacArthur.

[Ataim]

I've heard on the Ticket 1310 that some insulation company has free radiant barrier if you buy insulation from them. Also I think that I also heard of getting some sort of tax break if you add more insulation.

As far as some company or someone, I dont know.

[XM_Rocks]

I've heard on the Ticket 1310 that some insulation company has free radiant barrier if you buy insulation from them. Also I think that I also heard of getting some sort of tax break if you add more insulation.

As far as some company or someone, I dont know.

You are correct... it ends 12/31/2007. They will probably renew the credit.

Tax Credit Info

Its 10% of material costs up to $500.

It will probably net me $25-$50.

[POS Racing]

My wife and I purchased a home this past August and it has < 1" of insulation in the attic. yes... ~ 1 inch through the whole attic.

We put that on our list of things to do and now it has been moved up the list since we got a pretty big gas bill ($192) for last month.

Wow that's quite a gas bill, is it a big house?? I had to look my last bill was $63, but I do need to add some insulation as well.

Let us know what ya figure out!

[riverracer]

Wow that's quite a gas bill, is it a big house?? I had to look my last bill was $63

My gas bill last month was $64 and this month was $139 I have a gas fire place and heater so I'm not surprised if I get a bigger bill when it's cold.

[sammm]

I've heard on the Ticket 1310 that some insulation company has free radiant barrier if you buy insulation from them. Also I think that I also heard of getting some sort of tax break if you add more insulation.

That's Efficient Attic Solutions (or something like that). I've looked in to the radiant barrier stuff as well. Not cheap and the tax break is a joke.

[POS Racing]

My gas bill last month was $64 and this month was $139 I have a gas fire place and heater so I'm not surprised if I get a bigger bill when it's cold.

Plus that and the fact you are an and more than likely keep the house at a nice 87 degress.

I gave up on my gas fireplace is was cheaper to just burn cash.

I have programmed our thermost to shut off (50deg.) from 8:30am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday since no one is in the house. I'm not sure if that helps, but at least durring that time the gas meter can have a chance to rest.

[riverracer]

Plus that and the fact you are an and more than likely keep the house at a nice 87 degress.

Well maybe so........But it's no worse than that "Bubble" you keep your........ 99 Sport in....

[POS Racing]

Well maybe so........But it's no worse than that "Bubble" you keep your........ 99 Sport in....

Hey there is no reason to bring the protective bubble into this post!

You are a bad bad man!

[POS Racing]

Question : My house has some tall ceilings so in the attic there are verticle walls. The builder put bat insulation on these vertical walls, but that's it.

Would foam board on those vertical surfaces be a good plan?? I figure I could extend the foam up so I could lay in more insulation on the flat surfaces. My concern is moisture retention, I don't want to create a problem.

Foam Board - http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...358&lpage=none

[XM_Rocks]

Wow that's quite a gas bill, is it a big house?? I had to look my last bill was $63, but I do need to add some insulation as well.

2650 Sq Ft, yep its pretty big.

It is also 2 Story and is 1966 construction.

[POS Racing]

Interesting stuff

http://www.ornl.gov/~roofs/Zip/ZipHome.html

Wood stud walls has an R-value of about R-1 per inch.

[XM_Rocks]

Usually retrofitting insulation into walls is not cost effective and can really muck up electrical and other things.

Your biggest bang for the buck are the attic, windows (tinting and more panes) and a better SEER of HVAC.

I can only get to the 2nd story Attic in my house so most of my house is what it is. The only way to get foam or insulation into the walls is to cut holes and pump it in.

[cam76034]

I can only get to the 2nd story Attic in my house so most of my house is what it is. The only way to get foam or insulation into the walls is to cut holes and pump it in.

I actually did this on our house when we first purchased it. Couldn't stand being downstairs and hearing every step, whisper, mousefart etc..from upstairs. We were getting new carpet anyways, so I pulled out some sections of the plywood decking and blew in a bunch of insulation into the void between 1st and 2nd story. Big improvement on the sound issues, although it did nothing for energy savings.

[POS Racing]

Usually retrofitting insulation into walls is not cost effective and can really muck up electrical and other things.

Your biggest bang for the buck are the attic, windows (tinting and more panes) and a better SEER of HVAC.

I can only get to the 2nd story Attic in my house so most of my house is what it is. The only way to get foam or insulation into the walls is to cut holes and pump it in.

I can see the vertical wall while standing in my attic, need to take some measurements tonight to see how big of a project this may be.

[XM_Rocks]

I can see the vertical wall while standing in my attic, need to take some measurements tonight to see how big of a project this may be.

Ahhh Gotcha... I thought you were talking about interior walls facing outside.

[POS Racing]

Ahhh Gotcha... I thought you were talking about interior walls facing outside.

Nah that would be silly!

[Radio-Active]

My parrents spent the money to put into the radiant barrier and didn't notice much of a difference in their utilities. The guy may have been selling them a load of . The guy spray painted the underside of the roof with, what looks like white paint. I have been told that the only real good radiant barier is the aluminum backed barrier.

They also had 12" of insulation installed at the same time. The next year they installed new vinyl windows. I left the A/C set up around 85 in the summer durring the day and 78 in the evening and night. Even when we got to nearly 100 outside, the temperature inside the house rarely got up to 85 before 4:30 in the afternoon when the A/C would kick back down to 78.