Your direct experience with spray foam insulation

[larryllix]

I'd have to disagree.. if spray (expanding) foam is either improperly mixed (typically done in the gun) or applied during high/low temperatures it will never cure properly and continue to off gas, possibly indefinitely.

 

 

Jon...

There is nothing for you to disagree with.  It is a fact that the customers are not disputing the integrity, quality or safety of the installation or materials.

 

The point was that these  law suits are not based on anything chemical or hazardous but rather on the potential loss of value due to public stigma.  Just a disgusting litigator tactic to gain money and fame but it can affect the saleability of your home despite being completely safe.

[larryllix]

This is a follow up to this thread. I had cellulose insulation blown in the old (South) part of my house this spring, and the results from the first day with the heaters on is pretty impressive compared to last year.

 

The runtime for the south part of the house was normally 2x of the north part of the house, even more in the really cold snaps, Its now about 1/2x of the North's runtime. I never got results anything like this last year. The other interesting note is that the wind was out of the south last night due to hurricane joaquin. Southerly winds usually made things worse for measurements on the south part of the house last winter. 

 

New InsulationResults.JPG    Old (mid last winter)   preinsulation.JPG

 

 

The insulation included the walls, attic and also foam blown around the foundation headers and joists to cut leakage.. The heat bills will be the final verdict, but early measurements are encouraging. 

 

I appreciate the help, conversation and advice I get on this forum, in this case Teken on energy/insulation and io_guy on venstar/venlink.

 

Paul

The rule of thumb years ago was that any money spent on improving insulation the break-even time was approximately two heating seasons in our neck of the woods. If you take your walls from about R1 with just plaster, air space and brick, to R8 maybe with cellulose you have divided your heat loss by a factor of 8 almost. Your studs don't count as unchanged.

 

I did my own thermal loss study for my home I built and my 1700sq. ft. only came to about 13,000 BTU per hour. Furnaces start about 60,000 BTU/hr. My home is coated in R10 2" polyurethane foam with double 2x4 walls and completely sealed. Mostly R36 plus brick, air space and drywall in the walls.

 

After you hit about R50 in your attic there isn't much to be gained. The $break even$ time would be decades to go to 25" deep of insulation if your attic would even handle it and still have some ventilation room around the eves.  Don't block your ventilation from your eves. Your attic lumber will rot with moisture seepage from the roofing, as my neighbour found out the hard way.

[paulbates]

The rule of thumb years ago was that any money spent on improving insulation the break-even time was approximately two heating seasons in our neck of the woods. If you take your walls from about R1 with just plaster, air space and brick, to R8 maybe with cellulose you have divided your heat loss by a factor of 8 almost. Your studs don't count as unchanged.

Thanks Larry, measurements continue to show that the furnace in the old part of the house's runtime is less than half of lst year's. There are 2 furnaces  and the previous owner had a 60k BTU for the newer part of the house, and an 80K for this old part. When I had them swapped out last year, I had 60s put in both parts knowing I would insulate this spring. I have really good dampers into the attic on that side of the house, I'll cover them for the winter and that should help.

 

 Don't block your ventilation from your eves. Your attic lumber will rot with moisture seepage from the roofing, as my neighbour found out the hard way.

When I bought the house, the inspector did a pretty deep dive including the attic. The new part of the attic had eves with full soffit venting, but when we inspected, it had insulation stuffed in from the top  . Also, a bath room fan was venting straight into that part of the attic   . The new part of the attic had signs of black mold. DOH. I addressed those things quickly.

 

When the roof was replaced a while back, I had them add ridge vents,and venting behind the gutters for the old part of the house in those areas that didn't have it, and then attic foam vent  channeling between each joist, from the gutter vents up into the attic.

[larryllix]

Thanks Larry, measurements continue to show that the furnace in the old part of the house's runtime is less than half of lst year's. There are 2 furnaces  and the previous owner had a 60k BTU for the newer part of the house, and an 80K for this old part. When I had them swapped out last year, I had 60s put in both parts knowing I would insulate this spring. I have really good dampers into the attic on that side of the house, I'll cover them for the winter and that should help.

 

 

When I bought the house, the inspector did a pretty deep dive including the attic. The new part of the attic had eves with full soffit venting, but when we inspected, it had insulation stuffed in from the top  . Also, a bath room fan was venting straight into that part of the attic   . The new part of the attic had signs of black mold. DOH. I addressed those things quickly.

 

When the roof was replaced a while back, I had them add ridge vents,and venting behind the gutters for the old part of the house in those areas that didn't have it, and then attic foam vent  channeling between each joist, from the gutter vents up into the attic.

Moore Vents.   Excellent! and good catch!

 

Once you get this insulated better a second furnace will not be needed, as far as BTU capacity is concerned