How to Insulate Your Attic and Save Money Year-round

Is there a conspiracy to misstate the R-value of cellulose insulation? Almost all cellulose has a rating of R-3.8 per inch. It's R-3.8 per inch whether it is "loose fill" in attics or packed tightly in walls.

If painting your roof actually cools your living area down then you clearly are in need of cellulose insulation in your attic and probably walls too.

I have recently had insulation blown into the floor joists in my attic. I am wondering ig it would be a good idea to put batting the between the joists in the roof as well, or would this trap too much heat and moisture? I only have two end gables for vents, not raised roof venting like in the newer homes. Thanks!

Just a comment on attic insulation,I have found the cheepest way
to insulate.you can go to lowes or home depot and rent a
machine(Free) with a deposit of 250.00 to blow in recycled
newspaper that it treated not to burn.a bale is about 8.00 and the
returne to you home is tremendous.we are in the process of adding 8
more inches for a cost of about $1500-2000 sf in attic.we have a
attic space of over 3000 sf floored.we also left a few inches of
air(Also a insulator) below floor.in areas where water lines run in
attic we used some fiberglass(so as to uncover it without a mess)
if we ever need to repair or add a line.we also did this over
electrical panels.we have 2x6 roof construction and on the gable
end it was suggested to us to use 2" sterform wedged between 2x6's
with a one inch air barried between outer covering.this was said to
be very effective.then with the 2" foam in the middle of 2x6 it was
suggested to add 3- 1/2 glass or paper insulation.we beleive the
r-factor will be greater useing this method.check it out.have a
blessed day.

GClark: Thank you for your kind comment. As someone who installs
foam and someone who started with soy foam, I have reservations
about the product. I was never able to get a MSDS from the company
I was buying from and started to wonder if they had actually tested
it to meet code requirements. Secondly, there is so little soy in
it, it is hard to call it "green" for tht reason. Most foams had
always had agricultural content in the form of alcohol distilled
from sugar beets.

Great job on the comment RJordan, couldn't have said it better
myself. And there are "green" spray foams made from soy so that's
even better.

A SIGNIFICANT cause of heat loss is air infiltration. Before
adding insulation to the attic, it is ESSENTIAL to seal air leaks.
Why don't articles ever mention this? R-value is like EPA MPG
figures. That is, they are determined in a laboratory and have
little to do with actual performance. Fiberglass is rated at 70
degrees. At temperatures one cares about, say 10 degrees, there is
considerable degradation in its performance. It is impossible to
seal air leaks in fiberglass. Pick up a piece in your attic and see
all of the dirt on it. This is air moving through it, carrying your
heat and filtering out the dirt. Even with air sealing, fiberglass
is a problem. The best is spray foam as it seals and insulates and
you get the full R-value. Second best is to do the preliminary work
of air sealing and then adding cellulose. Unfortunately, it takes
someone with experience to identify the leaks.

A huge factor for my building was painting the roof. We had
composition shingles, too dark, and heat is a big factor. We got
oops paint from big building supply at a quarter of the price, and
mixed it to get one color that was somewhat agreable. It will get
dirty so exact match does not matter too much. The paint made the
rooms a lot cooler. Workshop, with no ceiling was cooler than
outside whereas before painting it was much hotter, plus it
protects the shingles too. People commented that it looked good on
their own, including RE agent when I sold buildings.

When adding insulation and you live in an area that gets snow
keep in mind that the roof may not have heat escaping out of your
house. If you get extended amounts of snow you will have to watch
for snow build up on your roof. I once had the snow reach 3 feet on
my roof and had to shovel off the roof to prevent it from
collapsing on us.

you mentioned in your article that fiberglass insulation is
fireproof. Fiberglass may be fireproof but the binder resins are
quite flammable. Throw a square on your next campfire and watch it
burn.