Insulating tips

[chainsawaddict]

This came up in another thread and I thought it might deserve its own thread. Its summertime and we are all in the midst of our home improvement lists. Does anyone have any good tips about sealing up their house or anything they do to prepare for the cold. Might be a good time to share especially with energy costs the way they are going.

As a new homeowner, I am especially interested.:greenchainsaw:

 

[perkins6354]

Insulating

Buy that expanding foam called great stuff or hilti brand and spray it in any hole you can find around your house. Check near your sill plate, around faucets, dryer vents, and up in the attic around the stack pipe, chimney, holes where wires go down the wall etc. Then make sure you have plenty of insulation in your attic at least 6-10" depending on what your setup is.

-Ben

 

[2FatGuys]

Buy that expanding foam called great stuff or hilti brand and spray it in any hole you can find around your house. Check near your sill plate, around faucets, dryer vents, and up in the attic around the stack pipe, chimney, holes where wires go down the wall etc. Then make sure you have plenty of insulation in your attic at least 6-10" depending on what your setup is.

-Ben

Be VERY careful using expanding foam. The standard stuff creates enough pressure to force things apart. Use the low expansion foam where there is risk of damage from too much pressure.

 

[mga]

i copied this from the other thread......

here's cheap window tip for those who can't replace them: buy bubble wrap that is 24 inches wide and has bubbles that are 3/4" to 1". cut pieces to fit on the windows with the bubbles against the glass. use 3M painters tape to hold this in place and to seal it around the window frame. you can buy a huge roll of this for less than $50. one roll should last a couple of years.

when it's below zero out, you can touch the bubble wrap and it won't be cold. it's a cheap way of insulating windows and it may block the view, but it works!

also, add those receptacle pads behind wall outlets and switches. those are great for stopping drafts from the walls.

foam any wiring or pipes that protrude wall plates or even thru floors.

if you want to find out where your house leaks air, put a window fan in the window blowing out. seal the fan around the window tightly. the more powerful the fan, the better it works.

close every door and window in the house and you can actually feel air leaking in because of the vacuum from different places like doors, windows, wall switches, outlets etc etc. if you do feel air, seal them with caulk, foam, pads or whatever.
__________________

NOTE: i should add that if you do try the fan method, you should turn off all gas pilots to hot water or furnace....if you have them.

 

[acer saccharum]

i copied this from the other thread......




NOTE: i should add that if you do try the fan method, you should turn off all gas pilots to hot water or furnace....if you have them.

If you try this you should also make sure your fireplace/stove damper/flues are shut. I have a whole house fan. It is nasty when it downdrafts the chimney.

If you have an attic fan/door you should look into sealing/insulating it in the winter. I built boxes insulated with foam and bubblewrap that fit over my attic fan and attic stairs.

A $25 instant read IR thermometer is also an excellent tool to find cold/hot spots in your house.

 

[Jkebxjunke]

Be VERY careful using expanding foam. The standard stuff creates enough pressure to force things apart. Use the low expansion foam where there is risk of damage from too much pressure.

good tip

 

[mga]

If you try this you should also make sure your fireplace/stove damper/flues are shut. I have a whole house fan. It is nasty when it downdrafts the chimney.

If you have an attic fan/door you should look into sealing/insulating it in the winter. I built boxes insulated with foam and bubblewrap that fit over my attic fan and attic stairs.

A $25 instant read IR thermometer is also an excellent tool to find cold/hot spots in your house.

good point.

our primary heat is hot water baseboard. when i put my central a/c in, i put the unit in the attic and ran all the duct work from up there into the ceilings.

when winter comes, i put styrofoam inserts into each feed duct, then put the grill back on to cover that. i put in 3 returns in the house to draw the air. these are where the filters are. they're 14 x 20. i also put styofoam cut-outs into those. i cut the foam the exact size of the filter.

1" styrofoam is an excellent insulation material.

this prevents the heat from the fire place from seeping into the duct work, since heat rises.

 

[fastmopar1k]

I have the blown in stuff in my attic. Over time it has setteled to about half of what it was. On top of that they installed a "floor" in the attic. Would I have to remove the "floor" to add insulation or can i just get like the attic blanket stuff and roll it out? Also if I can roll out fresh stuff, do I need a vapor barrier? Thanks for the help. I was gonna start this thread myself.

can any one help me on this? no one seems to know.

 

[MATTYB11]

FASTMOPAR

you do NOT want a vapor barrier on the new layer of insulation. The new vapor barrier which faces the heated side (facing down in the attic) would be in the middle of your overall attic insulation. This is bad because any moisture that makes it through the original vapor barrier (if said insulation even contains one) will now be trapped under the new insulation and as a result will be absorbed by the existing insulation rendering it less effective.

I think in most cases it would be recommended that you fill the attic bays where the old insulation has settled up to the top with some new loose cellose insulation. I would then run unfaced fiberglass insulation perpendicular to the ceiling joists, blanketing the whole attic. In your case if the boards to walk on are all nailed down and a real pain to get up I don't think that the air gap between the two layers will really hurt you.

if your not used to working with fiber glass especially in an enclosed area I would highly recommend a one of those 3m face masks. your lungs will thank you

 

[mga]

can any one help me on this? no one seems to know.

i told ya in an earlier reply that you do not need to add any vapor barrier...just put the new, unfaced insulation over the existing insulation.

 

[mga]

FASTMOPAR

you do NOT want a vapor barrier on the new layer of insulation. The new vapor barrier which faces the heated side (facing down in the attic) would be in the middle of your overall attic insulation. This is bad because any moisture that makes it through the original vapor barrier (if said insulation even contains one) will now be trapped under the new insulation and as a result will be absorbed by the existing insulation rendering it less effective.

I think in most cases it would be recommended that you fill the attic bays where the old insulation has settled up to the top with some new loose cellose insulation. I would then run unfaced fiberglass insulation perpendicular to the ceiling joists, blanketing the whole attic. In your case if the boards to walk on are all nailed down and a real pain to get up I don't think that the air gap between the two layers will really hurt you.
if your not used to working with fiber glass especially in an enclosed area I would highly recommend a one of those 3m face masks. your lungs will thank you

i'll concur with you there. i suggested earlier to remove them, but after reading your reply, i don't think there would be any harm if they remained in place.

 

[fastmopar1k]

MGA, I guess I missed that part of your statement in the other thread. I was not implying you didn't know. guess I need to read this in the evening rather than in the morning when I may miss things. By the way, You posted that to HUSKY455 and not me. I asked later on.

 

[A. Stanton]

I was recently at one of the big box home improvement stores. DAP is now selling a caulk that is especially made to be a temporary caulk for the winter months only. You simply seal a drafty window or door, then peel the stuff away in the spring. Looks like a handy product to use.

 

[RCR 3 EVER]

Widow insulation

Our relatively "new" windows always have condensation on them and even on the outside frame surrounding the window. I am talking about the interior side of the windows and frame. The condensation occurred even with humidifier off and humidity was too low to tolerate.
Our solution was to use 1/4" plexiglass mounted to window moulding held in place by screws and tiny pressure bars. A layer of weatherstripping foam is used on inside of plexiglass to seal it.
The windows are now free of condensation, the windows can be used to look out of, but can not be opened. The plexiglass also adds a bit of insulating factor

 

[Jkebxjunke]

Our relatively "new" windows always have condensation on them and even on the outside frame surrounding the window. I am talking about the interior side of the windows and frame. The condensation occurred even with humidifier off and humidity was too low to tolerate.
Our solution was to use 1/4" plexiglass mounted to window moulding held in place by screws and tiny pressure bars. A layer of weatherstripping foam is used on inside of plexiglass to seal it.
The windows are now free of condensation, the windows can be used to look out of, but can not be opened. The plexiglass also adds a bit of insulating factor

that don't sound right... either the windows are installed improperly or don't have anything sealing around them. or they are defective.. but I don't think you should have any condensation on them unless they are single pane.

 

[blackdoggy]

For putting up fiberglass get yourself a paper suit with a hood on it to keep from getting contaminated with all of that itchy crap.

 

[mga]

Our relatively "new" windows always have condensation on them and even on the outside frame surrounding the window. I am talking about the interior side of the windows and frame. The condensation occurred even with humidifier off and humidity was too low to tolerate.
Our solution was to use 1/4" plexiglass mounted to window moulding held in place by screws and tiny pressure bars. A layer of weatherstripping foam is used on inside of plexiglass to seal it.
The windows are now free of condensation, the windows can be used to look out of, but can not be opened. The plexiglass also adds a bit of insulating factor

just out of curiosity.....what kind of windows are they?

 

[ktm250rider]

Get an energy audit or blower door test done on your house. I built mine to energy star standards. Had the insulation inspected (and passed) before the drywall was put up. Still failed the blower door test.
The biggest issue was the attic ladder. I had to build a styrofoam shell around it to provide and air tight seal. I also had to build boxes around all my recessed lights (supposed to be air tight but aren't) and seal the joints with foam. Also found a bunch of holes from the plumber that I didnt know about.
Those little things made a huge difference and we could "feel" the difference that night.

 

[chainsawaddict]

Great ideas! I have to admit i hadnt even thought about my attic hatch yet. I looked up there the other day and noticed the previous owners "scooped" away a lot of the blown in insulation in part of the attic in order to store some stuff. I guess thats why the rooms on that side of the upstairs were cold.


keep the great ideas coming, and here's to low heating bills!! (or less wood) :greenchainsaw:

 

[mga]

i stated in another thread that using bubble wrap on windows makes an excellent cold barrier. the type with the 3/4" or 1" bubbles works the best.

cut it to the window size, lightly spray the window with water, then presss the bubbles against the glass. tape the edges to the window frame using a tape that will not pull the paint away.

when it's below zero out, touching the bubble wrap will be at room temperature, keeping the windows from radiating cold air.

the only draw back is it ruins your views, if that's important. we've used it on the back windows of the house.

you can buy huge rolls of it for less than $50 and one roll should last for years.

any pieces of flat styrofoam also makes great insulators in tight places, such as where the exterior walls meet the basement block walls...between the floor joists. you can cut it to fit...size is about 9" by 14.5" and it snugs right up in there. add caulking around the edges if you want an air tight seal. styrofoam is another excellent insulator that often just gets tossed out.

you can also cut peices, and glue them together using styrofoam glue to "box" in cieling fixture boxes in the attic. just make a box, leave the bottom open and glue it in place. make it a couple inches larger than the elctrical box.