Attic insulation question: I've seen instructions to air-seal the joints in the ceiling under the attic using small cans of spray foam... then cover this with huge amounts of cellulose/fiberglass.
If I'm going to cover with R60 anyways, what is the point of using foam as the airseal? Wouldn't plaster be simpler? It seems as though all we need under the insulation is a barrier to air leakage.
We just received our "jaarafrekening". This is the final yearly invoice sent by our energy company. They are about to pay us €252, and we will continue to pay them €5 per month next year, just like last year. i.e. overall our energy company is paying us about €200 for last year's electricity. Everything in our home is powered by electricity. No gas connection. No wood burner.
Nothing that we've done to achieve a negative energy bill was especially expensive. In particular, our installation of a air-air heat pump and a couple of extra solar panels cost far less than several of our neighbours paid for the wood burning stoves they've installed, which stink up the neighbourhood all through winter.
We also don't have to buy wood to burn.
People concerned about the cost of heating with gas buy woodburners at a higher rate than heat pumps largely because they have no idea about the relative costs. If they knew, perhaps we could have clean air.
I'll write a comprehensive blog post at the end of March about energy consumption, costs & emissions due to the heatpump vs. gas this winter. I can tell you already that we using a lot less total energy now.
To summarise: In the worst case, our CO2 emissions are reduced by 95% vs. burning gas, we have no heating bill at all any more, and our home was warmer than before.
Greenpeace installed headstones in Victoria Tower Gardens outside Parliament today and an eight-metre-long funeral wreath reading “cold homes cost lives”.
They estimate more than 70,000 excess winter deaths in the UK were linked to living in cold, damp housing conditions in the decade since the coalition government slashed support for home insulation measures. #InsulateBritain#Insulation#Austerity#Poverty#UKPolitics
I have been in the local print and broadcast media today regarding the launch of the Left Out in the Cold report for which I attended the Parliamentary reception last week.
It might be March, but the fight starts now to prepare for next winter. We can’t continue to allow people to die from cold.
Dog farted, so I opened a window, thus generating such a great pressure differential between the house and attic it pulled up the (flimsy) attic cover into the attic here!
This does indicate, however, that my air sealing of all the light cans and outlets worked, if there's such a great differential between the attic and house now. #insulation
I went to Parliament today for the launch of the report: Left Out in the Cold: The Hidden Impact of Cold Homes by Angela Donkin and Professor Sir Michael Marmot.
The report was funded by Friends of the Earth and makes the case for retrofitting homes not just for long term carbon reduction, but for the immediate alleviation of the physical, mental and economic pain of fuel poverty.
#Tories have not come anywhere near addressing the need for #insulation and #retrofit because of class snobbery.
They have no trust in local councils or tradespersons to deliver, so they micromanage them with ever more onerous reporting requirements and then wonder why no is able to spend their funds and it conveniently gets returned to the Treasury.
We are ruled by bean counters who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Local big box hardware store was awful thin on insulation this evening... Wonder if I caused a little bit of a run on supplies 😂 #insulation#weatherization
Expanding closed cell foam in a can does work for mitigating insulation issues, but is very, very (very) pricey compared with alternatives (ie. blown-in insulation or correctly installing fiberglass batts). $$
Expansion performs best at around 75F. Colder weather significantly inhibits its expansion properties. Don't try it in very cold weather! (waste of cans...)
Not all cans of foam perform well. Shake them... a lot. 2 minutes, vigorously, at least, if not more. Do not stop pressing that button as it will self harden on itself and clog.
Only would have done the work I did with a FLIR, otherwise it would be difficult (if not impossible) to determine where to inject the foam.
Better to drill two holes than one, the second hole (higher) releases air from the cavity and allows the foam to expand better. if you have a very leaky wall, not as much of a consideration.
Before/after OCD insulating spree with FLIR and expanding foam. First image shows a massive thermal hole (between the fish) against a hot South facing wall. Second image is the same hole filled with expanding foam (cooler than the rest of the wall). Very expensive vs. Fiberglass batts, but this room typically overheats badly in summer. #insulation#weatherization#disasterremodeling#remodeling#flir
It's a mystery to me why this one tiny section of wall has NO INSULATION. Will fix this with a drill and a can of expanding foam, but... why?!?! #flir#insulation#weatherization
Attic cover retrofit. AKA Styrofoam sandwich. Held together with duct tape, because Styrofoam bits are horrible. Also built a little square piece that goes above the hatch to fit this like a puzzle, it got late so I did not take a photo. #insulation#energyefficiency#retrofit#diy#energy#climate
Curse of the FLIR. Turned on the heater today and ran the FLIR (infrared detector) in the attic. Now I know my AC/heat ducts leak heat (I sealed them well a few years ago, but the thin layer of insulation is not doing much! #insulation#weatherization#energy#EnergyEfficiency
Hmm, I'm going to be walking around looking for air leaks for weeks and weeks, LOL. Now that I know what to look for. (training from the DOE available on how to detect air leaks... cool photo showing what leaks look like). #FLIR#insulation#weatherization#EnergyEfficiency
Cheap way to reduce drafts and energy usage in a home: insulating gaskets for your outlets. 18 to 20 cents each in bulk. Invisible once you install the wall plate. #insulation#diy#weatherization
FLIR before/after -- same wall, on the left before I reinsulated the wall, you can see the cold temperature (triangular, red/orange). The second image is after today's insulation work and cutting a giant hole and climbing up into the space above my front patio (about $20 worth of insulation) -- dramatic difference in thermal performance. Over time, it will be worth a LOT MORE than $20 in energy usage. #insulation#disasterremodeling#flir#weatherization