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Has anyone had spray foam insulation put in their attics. Just wondering if it would keep my home cooler in summer and warmer in winter? if so, did you notice a change in your utility bills?
Seen previous threads on adding insulation, but not on spray foam insulation.
I can't speak to spray foam. But blowing additional blown-in helped tremendously. Install a powered gable fan while you're up there. That helps a ton as well. (It's a toss up which is better. I'd actually start with the fan. If the attic space is the same temperature as outside, that's a big improvement.
I did both at the same time, so I can't tell you which of the two was more effective. The combination cut two hours of AC in both the morning AND evening. That's huge in the summer -- four extra hours of "don't need the AC."
Spray foam looks like the best thing since sliced bread, but there are numerous problems with it, ie. failure of the chemicals mixing correctly puts off noxious fumes, moisture getting trapped between foam and wood=mold, highly flammable, etc. Blown in cellulose works great, its cheap, and if you are so inclined its a DIY job. Home Depot has a rental blower, sometimes free if you buy enough cellulose, its a messy afternoon job, whomever is in the attic needs a respirator, and whomever is outside needs a hose ready to hose person in attic off when the job is done, because they will look like they have been tarred and feathered
For spray on foam insulation, you need a $200k machine. It's the best there is but not for retro-fitting. I would go with a radiant barrier stapled to the roof joists. It's like putting the house in shade. Increasing attic ventilation by increasing the amount of intake and exhaust vents also helps. You really can't over do attic ventilation.
In our first home we had insulation sprayed into the attic and it worked great. That and digital thermostats saved us a lot of money. I actually think the thermostats saved more than the insulation, but you could really tell the difference with the insulation.
Spray foam looks like the best thing since sliced bread, but there are numerous problems with it, ie. failure of the chemicals mixing correctly puts off noxious fumes, moisture getting trapped between foam and wood=mold, highly flammable, etc. Blown in cellulose works great, its cheap, and if you are so inclined its a DIY job. Home Depot has a rental blower, sometimes free if you buy enough cellulose, its a messy afternoon job, whomever is in the attic needs a respirator, and whomever is outside needs a hose ready to hose person in attic off when the job is done, because they will look like they have been tarred and feathered
That's what I would worry about, especially in the heat we have.
In our house we don't really have an attic, we have a crawl space - but I don't think a person could get in there. We have a problem with that being where the pipes are, and they are plastic. Each pipe goes to a manifold in the garage and can be shut off individually. The problem is, when they put in the insulation, they put it under the pipes instead of over them. So in the summer we wait for a loooong time for cold water, and in the winter we wait a loooong time for hot water. I've got no idea how to correct that without tearing out the ceiling.
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