Author Topic: New house: tips requested  (Read 4522 times)

Donovan

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New house: tips requested
« on: February 18, 2015, 08:17:38 AM »
DW and I have just purchased our first house, which is going to be fantastic for us in the long run. However, there are a few things that I need to do to it over the next few months to make it truly perfect.

1. I know that I need to add insulation to the attic. It has some standard batt insulation, but so far the house has seemed extremely hard to heat and is probably very leaky.  When we moved in, there was a 2x2 attic access in the master closet that only had a piece of drywall to cover it >.< For those who have sealed up attics before, is it easy enough to do with a caulk gun and a few cans of expanding spray foam? I'm trying to avoid doing a full spray foam layer of insulation due to the cost.  Cellulose will be going over the original batts once I've sealed up the air leaks.

2. Related above, would the fact that the upstairs rooms in the house are colder than the downstairs rooms be evidence of terrible insulation above these rooms? It's the first house I've ever been in where this is the case.

3. The lights are a mix of old incandescents and a few CFL's.  Is it worth it to go around and replace/throw out every incandescent now (with LED's most likely), or do that to only the most used rooms (kitchen, shower room, dining room) and rotate the old lights through the less used rooms until the burn out?

4. The house came with a fancy insulated garage door, which is fantastic right now considering how cold it has been. However, there is a lower attic that only covers this garage and the living room directly behind it. Is it worth while to fully insulate this entire attic, or just the part over the living room?  I'm leaning toward full attic because I plan on using the garage as a gym and workshop, so keeping it a bit more even tempered year round sounds nice. I just didn't know if going R40+ in the attic has much point if the door is ~R15 or so at most (there are no markings to tell me. It's got about 1" of hard foam insulation on it)

Thanks for any suggestions or insights :)

Greg

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2015, 09:04:57 AM »
Congrats.

1) You can pretty easily seal up your ceiling and top plate penetrations yourself with spray foam and caulk.  Look for any plumbing and wiring holes, as well as around ceiling fixtures.  Add a batt tot he top of the drywall access panel, and some closed-cell foam tape to the edge so it seals.

2) Yes and no, hot air rises so you could be losing heat through the ceiling/upper floor but it could also mean there's little air flow and therefore little heat movement to the top floor.

3) I use cfl's except in some key frequenton/off locations, and some LED's in always-on outside locations (elderly parent apartment).  Do what you can afford.

4) I would insulate the entire attic.  This will help keep heat in the garage both for comfort while you're in there, and to help lower heat loss into the garage from adjoining spaces.  Having more in the ceiling is normal.  Most rigid foam is R5 to R6.5 per inch, depends on core material and surface coating.

bzzzt

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2015, 09:12:25 AM »
Well, I'd read up about proper insulation practices, sealing duct work, and other energy efficiency upgrades while making a plan. Insulating improperly can cost you more money in the long run by causing mold, wood rot, etc. if you aren't doing it correctly.

I'm in process of air sealing and insulating the attic on my 1000 sq. ft. ranch built in '59. Right now costs are looking like , ~$300 in cellulose insulation and $500 in supporting materials (rafter baffles, spray foam, duct mastic, etc.). I've already gone through (18) 16oz cans of spray foam and that was just air sealing return ductwork, penetrations, and interior wall top plates. Air sealing and insulating is truly a PITA on older homes if you want to do it correctly.

One item that has been great to show me problem areas is an infrared temp. gun. You can shoot it at the wall and find your cold spots. These are considerably cheaper than an IR camera or hiring someone to do it.

FoundPeace

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2015, 09:28:25 AM »
I think you should get an energy audit. They do a very thorough job helping you find all the problem areas and they will help you find out what improvements are the most cost effective. These tend to be cheap or even free.

A few things they do: Thermal Imaging, Blower Door Diagnostic, Combustion Analysis, and more.

Donovan

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2015, 09:36:01 AM »
I think you should get an energy audit. They do a very thorough job helping you find all the problem areas and they will help you find out what improvements are the most cost effective. These tend to be cheap or even free.

A few things they do: Thermal Imaging, Blower Door Diagnostic, Combustion Analysis, and more.

I have discovered that our electric company provides free ones, although I don't know yet how intensive it is. Signing up soon.


2) Yes and no, hot air rises so you could be losing heat through the ceiling/upper floor but it could also mean there's little air flow and therefore little heat movement to the top floor.

This is a good point. The furnace air filter is terribly clogged (new one should be in tomorrow, it was cheaper online). This could be restricting airflow enough that the heat isn't really getting up to the second floor. I'll have to pay attention once I've swapped it out to see if this corrects to some degree.

jpo

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #5 on: February 18, 2015, 09:51:21 AM »
For those who have sealed up attics before, is it easy enough to do with a caulk gun and a few cans of expanding spray foam? I'm trying to avoid doing a full spray foam layer of insulation due to the cost.  Cellulose will be going over the original batts once I've sealed up the air leaks.
I'm pretty sure you are supposed to have ventilation to the outside in your attic... just want to make sure you aren't sealing up your soffit vents/baffles. Also beware of recessed lighting, unless specifically stated on the lighting you're supposed to have a buffer between the insulation and the light.

Donovan

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2015, 10:25:38 AM »
For those who have sealed up attics before, is it easy enough to do with a caulk gun and a few cans of expanding spray foam? I'm trying to avoid doing a full spray foam layer of insulation due to the cost.  Cellulose will be going over the original batts once I've sealed up the air leaks.
I'm pretty sure you are supposed to have ventilation to the outside in your attic... just want to make sure you aren't sealing up your soffit vents/baffles. Also beware of recessed lighting, unless specifically stated on the lighting you're supposed to have a buffer between the insulation and the light.

Haha, no I meant the various vents and cracks between the house and the attic, not the soffit and gable vents.  Luckily, we have no recessed lighting, so I expect that makes the whole job easier. I'll have to check out the various ceiling fan boxes though. Not sure how they are installed up there.

Syonyk

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2015, 11:41:58 AM »
3. The lights are a mix of old incandescents and a few CFL's.  Is it worth it to go around and replace/throw out every incandescent now (with LED's most likely), or do that to only the most used rooms (kitchen, shower room, dining room) and rotate the old lights through the less used rooms until the burn out?

CFLs are cheap enough and use enough less power that it's probably worth swapping out the incandescents.

I'd put CFLs where they're going to be on for long periods of time, and use LEDs in places that cycle more rapidly (bathrooms being a good example).

Erik v

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2015, 01:24:04 PM »
Get rid of the incandescents for sure.  CFLs are probably still a little cheaper, from a cost perspective, but take into consideration lighting quality as well.  I can get a 4-pack of CFLs for $3 or $4 at Home Depot, wherease the LEDs are more like $5-$6/bulb.  But the LEDs shine much nicer.  CFLs last about 50% of what LEDs do, and use 125% of the energy (ballpark, and from memory, so %s could be off).  My personal price point for LED is $2/bulb.  LEDs were at $15 when I made the initial decision to go with CFL.  If I had 100% incandescents to replace now, I might just go with the higher priced LED now, and not change a bulb for the next ten years.

PatStab

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2015, 10:23:03 PM »
Yes, don't seal your attic, the soffits need air, don't cover those vent holes with insulation.  Also an open ridge vent is good, if you don't have that, vents on the ends of your attics or the whirlybirds are necessary.  If you don't have enough air movement up there you will have moisture, possibly mold in your attic. 

geekette

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Re: New house: tips requested
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2015, 10:57:05 PM »


2) Yes and no, hot air rises so you could be losing heat through the ceiling/upper floor but it could also mean there's little air flow and therefore little heat movement to the top floor.

This is a good point. The furnace air filter is terribly clogged (new one should be in tomorrow, it was cheaper online). This could be restricting airflow enough that the heat isn't really getting up to the second floor. I'll have to pay attention once I've swapped it out to see if this corrects to some degree.
Also check to see if you have any dampers in your ductwork.  When we moved into our house, there was a mostly closed damper on the run to the upper floor.  Opening that made a huge difference.

 

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