Insulation for hot climates in an older home remodel
GBA Editor
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
It is a 1844 house which has no insulation. Recommendations, please.
I need specific products and techniques for insulation in an old home in Texas. If I spray in insulation does it work better if sheetrock is completely taken down, or is it better to spray in insulation from small holes at top of sheetrock?
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Replies
Start with an energy audit from a HERS rater or Building Performance institute rater to get a base line of what your over all problems are and what the priorities and costs associated with the various items will be. Keep the whole house concept foremost in your mind. I would ask if the rater thinks it's worthwhile toperform a blower door test and a duct blaster test.
A friend here in North Carolina recently asked me this question and he had trouble getting an energy auditor to come to his house so he was just going to have a 22 SEER heat pump put on his house. The energy auditor discovered that one of his ceiling ducts was not connected to the AC boot so he had a 4 x 10 hole in the ceiling and the HVAC was conditioning the attic above the R-19 ceiling insulation. This is in NC where attics get hot and humid in the summer. With all that AC blowing out through the attic the house was sucking air in from outside through the returns. He sealed the ductwork and the crawlspace and blew some more insulation into the attic and put in a 15 SEER heat pump, much cheaper and the house is much more comfortable.
He has yet to insulate the walls or upgrade the windows as other things were more urgent and cheaper on the priority list.