I don't have any advise for you but if you are planning on scrimping on the insulation and you are living in Texas, I'm sure any money saved will hit you in the A/C bills over 5 summers!

What does your builder provide for?

That size of house in Texas, with inadequate insulation, will cost you over 3 grand to cool in one year alone!

Hi,

Not sure that I'm "scrimping" or getting an "inadequate" amount. But, that's why I asked the question.

Got two bids and one GC said "Add 10" of fiberglass blown-in insulation except for the space above the garage" for $1,500. The other GC said, "R-30 attic insulation" for $860.

I doubled the highest price and asked for help. Hmmm....

Best regards,
T.J.

Going with a decent insulation will save you while you are there and makes a good selling point. I would go blown in cellulose if possible.

tex

I would recommend looking at blown cellulose insulation and not the blown fiberglass. The cellulose is an nice balance of performance and cost. It isn't as good as foam - but costs a lot less. It is much much better than the blown pink stuff - and the cost difference is minimal (it might even be cheaper).

I had R38 blown into the attic of our new home - R30 is minimum code. The cost for the 2+ extra inches of cellulose to go from R30 to R38 was peanuts since the product (shredded newspaper, borax, and water based adhesive) is very cheap.

In my previous house, i had blown pink stuff and I did not like it at all - we had a number of hot and cold spots. I am very pleased with the cellulose.

Hi,

Thank you very much! I'm insulation ignorant and really appreciate the knowledge & insight you shared. Sounds like as much blown cellulose as my budget can afford is the way to go. Given the $1,500 bid for 10" fiberglass, I should be able to purchase a substantial amount of cellulose for $3,000.

One person recommended rock wool since I have allergies. How is cellulose for people with allergies?

Thanks again,
T.J.

In addition let me tell you that even in a milder climate, superior attic insulation will make the temperature in your house much more consistent on the second floor. Ours was a mess with the 3.5" of loose insulation that was typical 35 years ago. I put another R30 on top of that and it made a world of difference.

I'm also insulation ignorant, but can't get over my distrust of an insulation that amounts to a thick layer of shredded newspaper being in my house. I don't care what it's treated with, it sounds very combustable.

And if the treatment is effective, does the treatment slowly disappear, eventually becoming ineffective? And how soon til we read the inevitable headline as to it's cancer causing propensity?

I'd like to hear more about the rock wool.

Terry

Terry, cellulose has been around a long time and is just that, recycled newspaper. It is close to fire proof because of an organic borac additive. You can take a torch to it and all it will do is smolder. The borac is also an insect prohibitor and the adhesives that hold it all together are water based w/ no off gassing or fumes. It's an organic product that has been around a long time. Disadvantages are settling when sprayed loose in attics, but that is off set by generally using more product or having more sprayed in after serttling. It also gets in cracks and crevises well. No cancer worries w/ cellulose.

Rock wool is the most aggressive irritant to human skin and respiratory systems you will ever find in home construction. I want to cough just thinking about it. It's only advantage, in my opinion, is fire resistance.

Blown fiberglass is the second worst irritant and a poor insulator.

I would use blown cellulose or unfaced fiberglass batts. However, I like to insulate roofs rather than attic floors. But I don't live in Texas.

I don't have any info to add, only more of my own questions. Sorry to hijack.

We are in the midst of our build (we are our own GC's) and need to decide on insulation. All along it was assumed that we would use FG Batts. Now DH decides he wants to use blown-in cellulose (Nu-wool). The literature all sounds great, "upto" a 40% savings on energy costs.

My problem is that I can't see beyond the fact that the estimate is double that of using batts ($6600 vs $13000). How many years before we actually see or feel the financial benefits.

Our home is in Massachusetts, 2x6 construction, 4000 square ft., full walk- up attic, cathedral ceilings in kitchen, bonus room with cathedral ceilings over 3 car garage. Heating sytem will be oil fueled Hydro air 3-zones and AC is central with 4 condensors. (Forgive my lack of knowledge as this area is DH's, I handle all of the design and make sure everyone gets paid)

Thanks for your help
Jenn

Jenn

The fiberglass batts do a poor job at blocking air infiltration - the cellulose does a much better job. I can't tell you the break even point - but it won't take long given the size of your home and the cost of oil. Not only would I use the cellulose - I would add extra in the attic (at least R38 if not more) given where you live. The delta cost to add a few extra inches of cellulose is peanuts (each inch of cellulose yields an R factor of 3.7).

I would also make sure that you caulk the interior of the house - all the wall seams between studs and at the floor and ceiling corners. And of course around the doors and windows. I also recommend using spray foam in the joist cavities above the wall top plates since the cellulose doesn't stick all that well in these small spaces - and that is an area where air infiltration can be quite high. We used the spray foam in the basement and first floor - again - just in the areas where the cellulose would have a hard time sticking and staying there. If you have any angled walls - use foam in the cavities where the wall segments meet (it may require drlling some holes and then filling the cavity with the foam out of a can).

Doing these things adds a little cost - but all worth every dollar spent. I just finished my house and did these things - I live in the Blueridge Mtns in VA - this is the most comfortable house I have every lived in.

You might also want to think about installing some humidifiers if that isn't already on the list. The combo of the well insulated house, with the proper humidity, makes the house very comfortable and energy efficient.

This is one time that you can listen to the DH - go with the cellulose.

jenn

one more thing if you go with the cellulose. after they spray the wall cavities, let the insulation sit for a few days. then have them come back and fill in the "smiles" which you will see after the insulation has dryed (it has a light adhesive in it) and packs in - it will sag a little.

They should come back and fill those areas in, and then you can drywall. it won't take them that long to do it - but they should include that into the bid.

Hi,

I'm confused by some of the info. on this thread. Is blown cellulose about the same price or substantially more expensive than blown fiberglass?

Thanks,
T.J.

In our area, dry blown cellulose is a diy where you can rent the blower, buy the product, and spray in the attics. Most folks use it as a topper over the existing fiberglass batts to fill in voids and to add an even layer.

Damp blown in cellulose is not diy and is typically done by an insulation contractor/installer mostly used in wall cavaties as well as rafter cavaties similar to foam where it is applied, then scraped even with the studding/ rafters leading edge. Damped blown in is considerably more dinero than batts, but the results speak for themselves when figuring air infiltration/ sealed cavity/settling issues. Damp blown in is less than foam but more than batts or even the new blown in fiberglass in our area.

Dried blown in cellulose applied by a contractor i believe is fairly close to fiberglass batts, but most choose to diy it in our area on existing homes. As part of an insulation package on a new build where it is blown in dry in the attic spaces, i believe it is fairly close blown in vs. batts, again, in our area.

Your best bet is to get real world estimates/comparisons in your area according to what is available and meets local codes.

sniffdog- Thanks for the info. I knew DH was right, but I just needed some feedback before I made a financial commitment.

Jenn

Hi Sierraeast,

Thank you for the very informative post. It's truly appreciated and helpful.

Best regards,
T.J.

Just wanted to chime in about the monthly cost savings from great insulation --

We replaced our old windows with new double-paned low-e windows and sealed around the openings, and built a special two-layer roof with an air-channel and sprayed-in foam insulation. Our electric bill for the month of August (the absolute worst here in Houston) was $250. It would have been lower except DH is very hot blooded and sets the thermostat to 65.

Our neighbors and friends have a same-sized house in the same neighborhood, but haven't made those energy-saving improvements. (They're renting.) They're much more responsible with the A/C use, but their electric bill ran $1,200!

At those prices, it doesn't take many months to pay off good insulation.
And good insulation with low utility bills is an important selling feature here in the land of humidity and A/C...

Agree with the blown cellulose crowd :-) And with the ENERGY STAR rated windows. We also sealed ( using the strippable caulking) the opening to the attic from one of the bedrooms and other leak areas.

Do check, however, if there are any grants for any kind of major energy conservation related activities..........attic insullation..........ENERGY STAR rated window replacement.......and so on, before you actually do these.

In our area, we did not know about rebates and the supplier of the attic insullation we had last year, as well as the low flow toilets we also installed last year, did not tell us about the government rebates so we lost out on over $1,000!

Each area is different. There is a really cool web site I came across which maintains energy conservation rebates from governments at all levels and untilities for all areas of the USA called DSIRE. I'll post the link to an article I wrote in our renovation blog which describes it, etc.

I ams still ticked at loosing our rebates just because we didn't know better. We had to have an energy audit performed prior to the renovations in order to qualify for the rebates. But, that was our area, yours might be different.

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Article on DSIRE