Best home insulation?

Riley said:

I have both a heat pump, a standard ac unit, and a gas fired furnace. The heat pump cools efficiently and produces decent heat during "shoulder season", however when it gets "cold"; I switch it to emergency and run gas through the winter. With our gas v. electric costs it works out to a reduced bill. Another thing I think gets lost, is that the heat pump, while producing air temps above ambient, tend to feel cooler than gas heat. Might be perception but I prefer the real warmth of a gas or wood furnace when it's cold out.

Concerning insulation I think its a pay me now or pay me later kind of thing. There is a definite payback period then it's money in the bank.

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As I understand it the heat pump heat "feels" colder because the air is below body temperature. I'm adding a good wood fireplace for the cold months to supplement and because I love a good fire. Money in the bank later is appealing because I'll retire in about 10 years.

Air off the air handler from a heat pump is about 140° where the air off a gas or electric unit is about 20° hotter. Not hot enough to rid the A coil of bacteria growth. While we got used to the first few minutes of air being cool in our house we don't like that 'dirty sock' bacteria smell we have in the spring from switching back and forth between heating and cooling. Here's a link explaining that:
https://www.pvhvac.com/blog/has-your-house-got-dirty-sock-syndrome-heres-how-to-fix-it
I found some cakes of air freshener at Locke Supply so put one in in a return air vent every spring.

Those who have or had foam insulation, was it open cell or closed cell?

I have owned my own construction business for 25 years and have always used blown in insulation in the walls and ceilings. I looked at like the foam was about 20% better but about 80% more expensive and would rather spend the savings on nicer windows and a Super Caulk Package. Disadvantages of the foam are if you ever need to ad and outlet or IT wire in the walls you are screwed and foaming the under side of the deck makes it really difficult if there is a leak and you need to replace decking. My house is 3200 sf with high ceilings and big windows and we are on a well and aerobic system and have landscape lighting on the front and both sides and my electric bills are about 90 bucks a month except July and August may get up to $200 and I'm satisfied with that.

farmer17 said:

I have owned my own construction business for 25 years and have always used blown in insulation in the walls and ceilings. I looked at like the foam was about 20% better but about 80% more expensive and would rather spend the savings on nicer windows and a Super Caulk Package. Disadvantages of the foam are if you ever need to ad and outlet or IT wire in the walls you are screwed and foaming the under side of the deck makes it really difficult if there is a leak and you need to replace decking. My house is 3200 sf with high ceilings and big windows and we are on a well and aerobic system and have landscape lighting on the front and both sides and my electric bills are about 90 bucks a month except July and August may get up to $200 and I'm satisfied with that.

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Net & blow? How often will blown in the walls have issues with settling?

doctorjj said:

You can buy airtight reflectors and foam seals for where they meet the drywall. You don’t have to replace the actual recessed fixture with an airtight fixture. You do need to make sure they are IC rated (insulation contact) or you have to build boxes around them in your attic to prevent insulation for touching the cans. Retrofit LED’s should eliminate that as a necessity since they don’t generate nearly as much heat but I would not trust that for sure.

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I've been to doityourself.com and youtube as well as Home Depot and the "cap's or covers cost a liitle over $13.00- I have around 18 can lights and in the winter the house is cold. If I stay here and don't move I plan on buying 4X8 foam sheathing and making 12'X12" boxes, sealing them with foil tape and on the side foam over the joints. Then foam around the can light before I seat the boxes in place and cover with insulation. A tremendous amount of energy is lost through these confounded can lights.

rawhide said:

Net & blow? How often will blown in the walls have issues with settling?

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. When they do the net and blow, it is "packed in" and there is little chance it will settle. In fact, often drywallers have problems installing dry wall because of the insulation-sometimes in my particular case the drywall budged somewhat but was not noticeable.

Matt Risinger did a good video showing open-cell -vs- closed-cell foam.

It's worth a watch.
Note the water-logged open-cell foam insulation at about 4:23~ish.




The R-value of insulation (per 1" thick) is:
Fiberglass loose-fill R-2.5 – R-3.7
Fiberglass batts R-3.1 – R-4.3
Cellulose loose-fill R-3.0 - R-3.8
Open-cell polyurethane spray foam R-3.6
Closed-cell polyurethane spray foam R-5.5 – R-6.5


Notice, the open-cell foam is pretty much the same insulating R-value (per 1" thickness) compared to fiberglass and cellulose.
The increased R-value? not so much. Sure, open-cell foam will to better at 'sealing' the air gaps - but is it worth the additional costs?

Closed-cell foam is 2x (double) the R-value of fiberglass. Which is very impressive.
So a fiberglass wall thickness would need to be 2x the thickness of the close-cell foam thickness to get the same R-value.
Approximately: 3.5" thick closed-cell foam wall = 8" thick fiberglass insulation.



R-values per here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)
Go to the table (2/3 the way down), then click on "R-value per inch" to sort.

Riley said:

Concerning insulation I think its a pay me now or pay me later kind of thing. There is a definite payback period then it's money in the bank.

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Agree, it all depends on how long your going to live in the home. We are 30+ years now, so any choice we would have made would have been paid for way before now.

John6185 said:

I've been to doityourself.com and youtube as well as Home Depot and the "cap's or covers cost a liitle over $13.00- I have around 18 can lights and in the winter the house is cold. If I stay here and don't move I plan on buying 4X8 foam sheathing and making 12'X12" boxes, sealing them with foil tape and on the side foam over the joints. Then foam around the can light before I seat the boxes in place and cover with insulation. A tremendous amount of energy is lost through these confounded can lights.

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Buying these would make it a lot easier. Make sure your cans are IC rated and then just put plenty of insulation on top of them.

https://www.totalrecessedlighting.com/review/product/list/id/507/

https://www.totalrecessedlighting.com/review/product/list/id/8447/