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My living room has raised/vaulted ceilings, but not all the way to roof line. The living room/kitchen area is MUCH warmer than the rest of the house, but it is on the west side of the house. The rest of the house has regular 8 foot ceilings.
The home is just under 1600 square feet. How much would it cost to bring the insulation up to a R-49 or higher rating?
Should I go with the Radiant Barrier spray or foil, or both, or just the extra blown in insulation, and again, what would the cost be for those services?
Thanks!
Last edited by houstoner; 05-08-2009 at 07:13 AM..
Reason: Thread moved from Houston forum.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lanewidick
My living room has raised/vaulted ceilings, but not all the way to roof line. The living room/kitchen area is MUCH warmer than the rest of the house, but it is on the west side of the house. The rest of the house has regular 8 foot ceilings.
The home is just under 1600 square feet. How much would it cost to bring the insulation up to a R-49 or higher rating?
Should I go with the Radiant Barrier spray or foil, or both, or just the extra blown in insulation, and again, what would the cost be for those services?
Thanks!
I know a lot of people who swear that the radiant barrier paint has made a huge difference, and that may be the case, but the best thing to do is to have the radiant barrier foil installed when you re-roof.
Insulation in the attic is probably the most important in Houston. If you are handy at all or don't mind getting dirty and sweaty, you can blow insulation into your attic yourself. Home Depot will rent out the equipment and the bags of unconsolidated insulation are actually pretty cheap.
Otherwise, get several bids and select the guys you are most comfortable with. This is peak season and unfortunately labor costs will reflect how hot the attic is and how much demand there is for service.
I don't know much about your house, the layout of the attic, how difficult access is, etc. etc., but I would expect to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 for attic work right now. I could be way off in either direction, though.
Start here: Insulation Fact Sheet
These are minimum requirements for insulation by zone.
It is possible that your home already meets or exceeds these requirements. And although your vaulted ceiling is not the roofline- you may have all the insulation that the space can take. Insulation needs to be "fluffy" and loose, compacting/stuffing insulation does not increase the efficiency of the product.
Some other issues that may need to be examined- how well is the attic area ventilated? What is the efficiency of the current HVAC system? Is the house on slab or crawl space? If it's a crawl space is the floor insulated? Is there a vapor barrier on the ground?
All of these items(and more) can have an effect on the overall feel of the conditioned space.
There is a good bit of space above the vaulted portion of our ceiling and roof. I would say maybe 3-4 feet. There is a bit of insulation in the attic, but not anywhere close to the 18 inches or so that I've been told should be up there.
I was told by someone they had insulation blown in by someone for less than $1000. Is that possible, or no? Here in Houston, it does get ridiculously hot. Should I wait till the fall? We just moved in to the house, it was built in 1978, and has a slab foundation.
Since you're adding to existing I'm sure you can find a reasonable price for a "re-blow".
When you do find a contractor- make sure to ask for measuring rules to be placed throughout the attic space- this is how you can confirm the amount of insulation that was added. And you want an affidavit and certificate that states what the revised "R" value is.
Make sure that if there are no baffles at the soffit vents that they install them so as too not block your current ventilation (if you in fact have soffit vents). Also, revise your overall ventilation with the contractor- he may recommend additional ventilation techniques.
Start here: Insulation Fact Sheet
These are minimum requirements for insulation by zone.
It is possible that your home already meets or exceeds these requirements. And although your vaulted ceiling is not the roofline- you may have all the insulation that the space can take. Insulation needs to be "fluffy" and loose, compacting/stuffing insulation does not increase the efficiency of the product.
Some other issues that may need to be examined- how well is the attic area ventilated? What is the efficiency of the current HVAC system? Is the house on slab or crawl space? If it's a crawl space is the floor insulated? Is there a vapor barrier on the ground?
All of these items(and more) can have an effect on the overall feel of the conditioned space.
Everything you state is good advice except insulating under the floor in crawl space. On average only about 3% of a home's heat transfer is through the floor surface (in a house with a crawl space). If one wanted to do it though, you can insulate the interior sides of the walls in the crawl space, which would be almost as good and less expensive. Also, all crawl spaces should have a vapor barrier covering the exposed earth, to keep moisture from trying to enter the voids in the understructure/insulation.
Everything you state is good advice except insulating under the floor in crawl space. On average only about 3% of a home's heat transfer is through the floor surface (in a house with a crawl space). If one wanted to do it though, you can insulate the interior sides of the walls in the crawl space, which would be almost as good and less expensive. Also, all crawl spaces should have a vapor barrier covering the exposed earth, to keep moisture from trying to enter the voids in the understructure/insulation.
I wasn't particularly concentrating on actual numbers- if you read my post again you will see I stated, "overall feel of the conditioned space".
Replace or supplement your old insulation with ICYNENE.
Remember R-Values are not the be all and End all of staying warm and cool efficiently. It is only one factor. They government uses R value because they have noting else to measure. However heat loss involves a lot of other factors. A lower R value of Icynene will insulate far better than a higher value of other products because there is not air infiltration. If you want to go really crazy (cost wise) use a closed cell foam..Works great, costs a bundle. When I was insulating our house, ICYNENE cost three times fiberglass and closed cell foam was about ten totwelve times the cost of fibberglass
I have seen great results with radiant barrier placed like a blanket over top of the insulation. It is not cheap but some install it with a guarantee to pay for itself and it also has a life of structure guarantee. With the environmental crazy tax and spenders in Washington, DC, we consumers are going to definitely see our utilities go up as taxes and penalties are placed on big utilities due to nuclear power upgrades and coal being attacked to fuel these plants. When the carbon dioxide haters add emission taxes and penalties to all of us and the utilities they are going to get us again. Go to your utility company website and see... you can pay them so much per month to reduce your personal carbon footprint. Way over the top.. stupid!
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