Insulation?

[heehaw]

i hope your planning on using cellulose instead of fiberglass insulation?
heehaw

 

[slowrev]

i hope your planning on using cellulose instead of fiberglass insulation?
heehaw
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Why ? Celloulose settles in wall cavities, and have you ever had an attic with celloulose insulation and a leak ?

Ben

 

[Cowboyjg]

Here is another link you may find helpful. It talks about the various aspects of the home and provides help on making it more energy efficient.

Hope it helps.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[heehaw]

fiberglass insulation allows air to move thru the wall cavities and anywhere else its used, cellulose doesn't, so the walls/ceiling will stay warmer in the winter. air infiltration is the biggest cause of having an uncomfortable house, and cellulose stops the air, no need for a house wrap.
i have fiberglass insulation in my house, but i built it in 1986, would not use it again...i'd rather have a couple inches of uninsulated wall space at the top of the wall cavities, and the rest cellulose than have it filled with fiberglass.
heehaw

 

[johnk]

Another thing to be mindful of is makeup air. If you have too tight a house with no air infiltration, in the winter you will get negative pressure in the house and could possibly get monoxided. Happens to older people all the time that don't go outdoors and give the house a chance to get some air. Just something to think about..

 

[heehaw]

i have heard that for years, but have a local architect that travels all over the U.S. giving talks on building to save energy, he's been in the business for a long time, and i have heard people ask him about building a house to "tight", or so it can "breathe". just going by his experence and his answer, he says "breathe" is another word for leak: and he has never found a single incident of harmful effects because a house was to "tight". his web site is www.dougrye.com, i know there is a lot of ads to sell his videos etc, but he also has some info there, plus you can sign up to receive occasional energy tips, take a look.
heehaw

 

[inveresk]

Hate to disagree with a fellow architect but there is a system of construction called "breathing wall" where there is no vapour barrier designed into the outside wall construction. Whilst I haven't seen it used much in North America, it's been gaining ground in europe for some time and is often used with blown cellulose insulation. I designed a house using this system on an island off the south west coast of Ireland. The house has been completed for perhaps 3 years and feedback to date from the client is positive. Alleged major benefits of breathing wall systems are that the building is not sealed tight so can allow toxins to escape but with the blown cellulose insulation there are no draughts. Field tests suggest that the insulation acts in a dynamic way, diffusing heat from stale air moving from inside out into fresh air moving from outside in so the thermal performance is reputedlly considerably better than conventional buildings with the same u value.

 

[heehaw]

from what i understand, vapor barriers are not recommended in most of the U.S.: but they are in this area: i know i have run into some contractors that have moved here from "up north" and they had all sorts of trouble because they didn't want to use the vapor barrier: they finally learned why its used here.
heehaw

 

[inveresk]

My experience with conventional construction is that vapour barriers are mainstream in Canada, in the USA and in Europe. Otherwise there is no way to control interstitial condensation.

 

[heehaw]

you are probably right, i have never built a house north of arkansas: i was just going by the 2 contractors that moved here from somewhere up north and all the static i got from them when i was building this house in 86: one was building houses, the other was a manager for one of the local lumber yards, and they both tried to talk everyone out of vapor barriers. i know this doug rye guy says the tek shield isn't needed on the outside of the house if you use cellulose: i'm not sure about a vapor barrier on the inside? i would put one no matter what. if you weren't so far away, i'd like to share the videos i have from Mr. Rye: i always like to get other opinions.
heehaw