I am trying to write a report for school on which insulation is best to use in the walls of your new home. I am pretending that it is 30X40 and that we are only insulating the exterior walls, so that would mean that the length of the walls is 140 feet and the height is 9 feet, making the square footage 1260.
The following questions are what I am going to use to determine the best type of insulation to use. Now since there are so many types out there I have narrowed my data down to 4 types: Batt, rigid, blown in and sprayed. Please answer the following questions for my research.
1. Why insulate?
2. Which type is the most energy efficient? Why?
a. Batt Insulation
b. Rigid Insulation
c. Spray foam insulation
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation
3. Which is easiest to install? Do-it-yourself?
a. Batt Insulation
b. Rigid Insulation
c. Spray foam insulation
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation
4. What is the cost of each and are they locally available?
a. Batt Insulation?
b. Rigid Insulation?
c. Spray foam insulation?
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation?
5. Is it Soundproof?
a. Batt Insulation?
b. Rigid Insulation?
c. Spray foam insulation?
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation?
6. Can it be used in the wall cavity?
a. Batt Insulation?
b. Rigid Insulation?
c. Spray foam insulation?
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation?
If there is any other questions I should ask or any suggestions please feel free to let me know. I just need to write about which type of insulation is the best. I know there is so much out there and some are used for different places....but if I could get a few different people respoding and letting me know from their experience what the best is, what is most energy efficient, what the cost might be and what it takes to install. Would be greatly appreciated.
If you have a old house with no insulation the heating bills in the winter would be very high. Also the cooling bills in the summer would be very high.
Now to insulate this old house the best way with out touching the inside walls would be with a iko foil foam board. The r value will be more then an s/m styrofoam insulation.
Then install your exterior. If you are installing stucco on your exterior then eps would be the best styrofoam to use. Because the r value for the EPs styrofoam would be less then the foil foam board, but would give you a crack resesstant stucco called Eifs stucco, the best looking finish on any home or building.
By installing a styrofoam insulation on the exterior walls, will keep a lot of drafts coming into the house through the walls, and will turn the primater walls from being very cold in the winter. To a warm wall, cost for heating or cooling will be a lot less,
Now if this old house could be insulated from the inside then insulating the walls with spray foam would be the best, but the most expensive. Spray foaming all the walls on this house would cost aproxamently $25,000.00. But it will give you the best r value, concedering it is a 3lbs not a 1/2 lbs foam. 1/2 lbs foam is a lot cheaper, but the r value is a lot less. 1/2 lbs foam is mainly used for sound proofing. So the more censalble, would be batt insulation on the walls. Spray foam on the floor joists, where it meets the concrete foundation (rim joist)
Cutting holes in the exterior walls and filling the wall cavity is never a good idea, just a waste of money.
It could never fill the full wall.
Also be spraying insulation into the attic to an r50 will help a lot will all the heat going into the attic, and the cold air affecting the ceilings of the house.
There is a lot of insulation out there, but there is a lot of diffrant areas of the house to install all the types of insulation. There are some better then others.
I hope this helps you a little.
S/m works best below grade for the basement.
Although I don't install insulation, here is what i can offer:
1. Why insulate? - Insulation helps to create a comfortable living environment within the home, keeping temperatures stable when cooled or heated, which also affects energy costs positively. Also, it's code. ;)
2. Which type is the most energy efficient? Why?
a. Batt Insulation - Stays in place due to compacting between studs but hard to fit in awkward spaces with existing wires, plumbing, etc. so you may have pockets of heat loss.
b. Rigid Insulation - same as above.
c. Spray foam insulation - creates a vapour air barrier along with the insulation value, but makes for one heck of a mess if you need to remove to renovate or if you made a mistake.
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation - although it will fill small spaces it will settle over time and you'll get pockets of heat loss at the top of the walls.
3. Which is easiest to install? Do-it-yourself?
a. Batt Insulation - First
b. Rigid Insulation - Second
c. Spray foam insulation - Fourth
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation - Third
4. What is the cost of each and are they locally available? - I'm not an expert here but my guess is...
a. Batt Insulation? $
b. Rigid Insulation? $$$
c. Spray foam insulation? $$$$
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation? $$
5. Is it Soundproof?
a. Batt Insulation? - It can be if you buy the right type, not sure about the rest what their ratings are
b. Rigid Insulation?
c. Spray foam insulation?
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation?
6. Can it be used in the wall cavity? - Yes to all
a. Batt Insulation?
b. Rigid Insulation?
c. Spray foam insulation?
d. Blown in-loose fill insulation?
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