Attic Insulation in Florida (North Palm Beach, Palm Beach: house, transfer, tile)

[Tujuleez1]

In Chicago, insulation in your home is a pretty big concern. There's not much you can do about adding insulation in the walls, but you can certainly add insulation in your attic.

In one home we had inspected here, I saw very little insulation in the attic. With the cost of A/C and the fact the sun beats down on the roof of homes pretty consistently here, I expected to see a well-insulated attic. The inspector claimed it was R-30 but there was no way there was 9" of insulation. But even if there was, the cost of blowing in more would seem to more than offset the savings. The inspector also seemed to be unconcerned about the amount of insulation.

My dad's house in North Palm Beach was also pretty devoid of attic insulation.

Recommendations I've seen for the PG-PC area suggest R-49 to R-60 for the attic. I realize the concept of keeping heat from rising out of a house vs keeping heat from radiating down into a house is different but keeping temperature zones separate usually requires a lot of insulation.

The other area I would think you'd see good insulation is around attic ductwork. But I didn't see that either.

Has anyone added insulation to their attic? If so, did you see a difference in your electric bill?

Has anyone wrapped additional insulation around their ductwork or had it replaced with better insulated ductwork? How did that work out?

[froglipz]

I think code is R38 in this county.

[HarborRat]

Good questions, and I'd also like to hear what people who have added more insulation have to say. I know I need more in my old house but have been putting it off for years. I will probably go the blow-in route but am a little worried I will bury all my wires and pipes and make it a pain to do any repair work up there in the future...so I may just use rolls... or rolls in the center where the pipes are and the blow in stuff where I can't reach anyway.

Also, I have zero insulation over my garage and large lanai roof....wondering if anyone added that and if it helped at all.

My ductwork does have a little factory insulation around it. The temp of the air coming out the registers is within a degree of the air coming out right at the air handler, so I don't think I need to add more there, but it can't hurt.

[03bluecoupe]

[Tujuleez1]

I did R-30 rolls with 9 inches blown on top of that in the attic of our last house. You just move the blown-in aside as you traverse the joists and do your work and fluff it back into place after you're done. As for the wires, if you have trusses, you might be able to raise them up before the blown-in is installed, so you can see them later. The problem with rolls and batts is you have to remove a large section to get to a small area.

If there's square ducting, the rigid board would work well but you'd have to use foil tape for the joints, rather than duct tape.

[mortpes]

You should have insulation blown in and re inspected every 10 years to evaluate the need for additional insulation. You should also have the A/C system including ductwork serviced every year or more frequently. Also change all filters every 90 days.

[annerk]

We have insulation plus a radiant barrier. Attic stays cooler than the garage under it.

[Seafood Junky]

What about exhaust fans or vents for the roof? (I know it can be tricky for terra cotta roofs.)

Also I was wondering about an exhaust fan for the garage (where our AC unit resides). Was thinking about installing one in the garage side door window...

Mike G

[Restrain]

Venting is very important, either turbines or ridge vents. Lets the hot air out of the attic. But you are right about tile roofs.

As to lanai roofs, Lowes and Home Depot carries heat barrier paint that you apply to the top of the roof. Thick, white, cuts the heat transfer big time. Our metal lanai roof was hot enough in the summer to burn you. I applied this stuff, cut the heat to virtually ambient temperature.

[Tujuleez1]

Originally Posted by annerk

We have insulation plus a radiant barrier. Attic stays cooler than the garage under it.

What is the radiant barrier? Is is some foil-type product? And where it installed? Under the insulation, over it or some other location?