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 Mobile ViewENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS ACOUSTICAL SEALANT CHOICES AIR BYPASS LEAKS AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS AIR LEAK MINIMIZATION AIR LEAK SEALING PROCEDURE AIR SEALING STRATEGIES ANIMAL ENTRY POINTS in buildings ASBESTOS-FREE INSULATION MATERIALS ASBESTOS IDENTIFICATION IN BUILDINGS ATTIC LEAKS, CONDENSATION & MOLD ATTIC VENTILATION BACKDRAFTING HEATING EQUIPMENT BASEMENT CEILING VAPOR BARRIER BASEMENT HEAT LOSS BASEMENT LEAKS, INSPECT FOR BASEMENT WATERPROOFING BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION BLOWER FAN CONTINUOUS OPERATION BLOWER FAN OPERATION & TESTING BLOWN-IN INSULATION BRICK LINED WALLS BRICK VENEER WALL INSULATION BRICK VENEER WALL Loose, Bulged BRICK WALL DRAINAGE WEEP HOLES BUILDING NOISE DIAGNOSIS & CURE CATHEDRAL CEILING INSULATION CATHEDRAL CEILING VENTILATION CEILINGS, DROP or SUSPENDED PANEL COMBUSTION AIR for TIGHT buildings CONDENSATION or SWEATING PIPES, TANKS CONDENSATION on WINDOWS & SKYLIGHTS CORROSION in ELECTRICAL PANELS CORROSION & MOISTURE SOURCES in PANELS COOLING LOAD REDUCTION by ROOF VENTS CRAWL SPACES CRAWL SPACE DRYOUT PROCEDURES CRAWL SPACE GROUND COVERS CRAWL SPACE INSULATION RETROFIT CRAWL SPACE SAFETY ADVICE CRAWL SPACE VAPOR BARRIER CRAWLSPACE MOLD ADVICE MOLD CLEANUP by MEDIA BLASTING MOLD ON DIRT FLOORS SUMP PUMPS DEHUMIDIFICATION PROBLEMS DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE ENERGY SAVINGS in buildings EXTERIOR WALL SIDING TRIM & FINISHES FIBERGLASS INSULATION FIBERGLASS HAZARDS FIBERGLASS PARTICLE CONTAMINATION TEST FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD FLAT ROOF MOISTURE & CONDENSATION FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP FOOTING & FOUNDATION DRAINS FORMALDEHYDE HAZARDS FOUNDATION BUCKLED - INSULATION? FRAMING DETAILS for BETTER INSULATION FRAMING DETAILS for DOUBLE WALL HOUSES FRAMING METAL STUD PERFORMANCE FREEZE-PROOF A BUILDING FROST HEAVES, FOUNDATION, SLAB GREEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CODES GUIDES GREENHOUSE DESIGN for SOLAR HEATING HEAT LOSS in buildings HEAT LOSS DETECTION TOOLS HEAT LOSS INDICATORS HEAT LOSS PREVENTION PRIORITIES HEAT LOSS R U & K VALUE CALCULATION HEAT TAPES & CABLES on Roofs for Ice Dams HEATING COST SAVINGS METHODS HOT ROOF DESIGNS: Un-Vented Roof Solutions HOUSE DOCTOR, how-to be HOUSEWRAP INSTALLATION DETAILS HUMIDITY LEVEL TARGET ICE DAM PREVENTION INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS INSULATION CHOICES Insulation Air & Heat Leaks INSULATION FACT SHEET- DOE INSULATION for GREENHOUSE or SOLARIUM INSULATION IDENTIFICATION GUIDE INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT INSULATION LOCATION - WHERE TO PUT IT BLOWN-IN INSULATION INSULATION CHOICES INSULATION FACT SHEET- DOE INSULATION LOCATION & QUANTITY for ATTICS INSULATION LOCATION for BASEMENT FLOORS INSULATION LOCATION for BASEMENT WALLS INSULATION LOCATION for BRICK or BLOCK WALL CAVITY INSULATION LOCATION for BRICK VENEER WALLS INSULATION LOCATION for CAPES, CRAWLSPACES INSULATION LOCATION for CATHEDRAL CEILINGS INSULATION LOCATION for GREENHOUSE or SOLARIUM INSULATION LOCATION for PASSIVE SOLAR FLOOR SLAB INSULATION LOCATION & EXTENT for SLABS INSULATION LOCATION for SOUND CONTROL INSULATION LOCATION for SUSPENDED PANELS INSULATION LOCATION for SWIMMING, INDOOR INSULATION MOLD INSULATION R-Values & Properties LEED GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION LOG HOME ENERGY EFFICIENCY LOG HOME GUIDE MOLD INFORMATION CENTER MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD MOLD APPEARANCE - WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE MOLD in FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD in FOAM INSULATION, RESISTANCE MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets MVOCs & MOLDY MUSTY ODORS MYCOPHOBIA, STAINS MISTAKEN for MOLD MYCOTOXIN EFFECTS of MOLD EXPOSURE NOISE / SOUND DIAGNOSIS & CURE NOISE CONTROL for FLOORS NOISE CONTROL for ROOFS NOISE CONTROL for WALLS NOISE, PLUMBING CHECKLIST ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE PASCAL CALCULATIONS RADIANT BARRIERS RADIANT HEAT ROT, FUNGUS, TERMITES SOUND CONTROL in BUILDINGS STAIN DIAGNOSIS on BUILDING INTERIORS SWEATING PIPES, TANKS THERMAL MASS in BUILDINGS THERMAL TRACKING & HEAT LOSS VAPOR BARRIERS & CONDENSATION in BUILDINGS VENTILATION in buildings VINYL Siding or PLASTIC Window ODORS in buildings VINYL CHLORIDE HEALTH INFO WINTERIZE A BUILDING More Information |
Attic insulation quantity guide: this article discusses the comparative benefits of placing more insulation in a building attic than in building walls, and the comparative benefits of adding ceiling versus wall insulation for cathedral-ceiling areas. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers nor with topics or services discussed at this website.Accompanying text is reprinted/adapted/excerpted with permission from Solar Age Magazine - editor Steven Bliss. Readers concerned with optimum choice and placement of insulation in buildings should see articles listed at INSULATION LOCATION - WHERE TO PUT IT and at INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. © Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website. Attic Insulation: How Even Does the Building Insulating Blanket Need to Be?
Is it Still Necessary to Insulate the Attic More than Building Walls?Question: Buildings have always had more insulation in the attic than in the walls or below ground level. This I believe is due to warm air rising. With the advent of airtight construction and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, is it still necessary to insulate the attic more than the walls? I believe that pre-fab homes imported in Sweden have equal R-value insulation around the entire building shell. This sounds like the logical way to go. -- Philip Cyr, Sunrise Technologies, Caribou ME Answer: Why We Put More Insulation in Attics than Walls of Buildings?
First, in older insulated homes, air near the ceiling may be as much as 10 degF. hotter than air at the floor. So the rate of heat loss was [and may still be] greater at the ceiling. Our photo (left) show how simply observing uneven snow melt on the roof of an older home can indicate areas of uneven building insulation, air leaks, or other causes of heat loss. The second reason is that after the first 4 to 6 inches of insulation (in 2x4 or 2x6 construction wood framed walls), it is a lot cheaper to add insulation to the ceiling (see our page top photo) than to the walls (where added framing or other tricks will be required). So up to a point, extra insulation is most cost-effective in the ceiling. In a well-insulated home, the first reason may no longer be valid [depending on how heat is distributed in the building] since there may be very little temperature difference from floor to ceiling. [This is true, at least in theory. But even a "well insulated" older home where an insulation retrofit has been extensive, may have air leaks and unexpected temperature variations. See ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY. Field measurements made during building inspections using infra-red to compare temperatures at floors, bottom of walls, center and top of walls, and ceilings, can still find surprising variations in temperatures even in some new, well-insulated homes -- DF] The second reason, though, still holds as long as you can cheaply stuff insulatin into your attic. [Just don't block attic ventilation intake at the building eaves or you may, while adding attic insulation, also create an attic moisture problem in some buildings. See ATTIC CONDENSATION CAUSE & CURE -DF]. Should we Add Insulation to a Cathedral Ceiling?
Once the space between the rafters of a cathedral ceiling has been filled with insulation [see ROOF VENTILATION SPECIFICATIONS where we warn about "hot roof" designs"] or where no more insulation can be added in a catheral ceiling without blocking its ventilation design, then the incremental cost of adding insulation to the cathedral ceiling is comparable to adding insulation to the building walls. See FRAMING DETAILS for BETTER INSULATION. Improving the R-Value of Cathedral CeilingsIn both cases, where the total R-value of the building walls or cathedral ceiling are considered inadequate, rather than costly framing changes, we often laminate a layer of 1" or 2" high-R solid foam insulation on the ceiling and/or walls, covering the new layer with drywall. But even this approach is more trouble than first meets the eye: Electrical outlets, switches, windows, doors, trim all need to be built-out to cover the edges of the new insulating material. --DF See CATHEDRAL CEILING INSULATION. For older homes with cathedral ceilings, more energy savings gain may be found by tracking and fixing air leaks. See Air Bypass Leaks, Thermal Tracking and see ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE. The question-and-answer article about the comparative benefits of adding attic insulation or cathedral ceiling insulation versus wall insulation in buildings, quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss. Questions & Answers regarding this articleQuestions & answers about how much attic insulation is needed Ask a Question or Search InspectAPediaHTML Comment Box is loading comments...
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