Wall & Attic Insulation in Bohannon, VA
Challenge
This Bohannon home was in need of some insulation upgrades to make the home more comfortable and energy-efficient.
At the inspection, we found that there was little existing insulation in the home. In the attic, the floor had storage decking, and between the joists was minimal insulation and no air sealing. This allows any conditioned air in the living space to rise up and escape the home, making it hard to heat and cool. In summer months, there is no resistance to the heat radiating into the rooms below making them too hot to use. The attic is also home to HVAC equipment and duct lines. In the summer the duct lines that are trying to deliver cold air to rooms in the home are being exposed to sweltering temperatures, heating the conditioned air and making it harder to cool your home, the reverse is true in the winter.
Another area of concern was the exterior walls. The homeowner felt drafts and a lot of cold and hot spots. This is a result of convective looping. In winter months, the walls are cold and the heat in the conditioned air is moving to the walls, cooling the air down and causing it to drop. As this cycle continues, we tend to experience drafts in our homes.
Solution
To address these concerns, we began by adding insulation to the exterior walls of the home. This home had vinyl siding, so we were able to add Dense Packed Cellulose Insulation in the walls. We achieved this by removing a strip of siding and drilling a hole large enough to fit the insulation hose. One of our technicians then carefully pumped each wall cavity full of cellulose and plugged the hole and the strip of vinyl siding was then reinstalled.
To address the attic, the homeowner chose to insulate from the slopes. They wanted to keep their storage decking and since the attic was home to heating and cooling equipment, insulating from the slopes can also help control the environment the ducts and equipment live in. In this case, the homeowner chose to have proper vents (PVs) installed to maintain the ventilation of the roof then we installed batt fiberglass between the rafters. They then chose to have Rigid Foam Board Insulation installed on top of the rafters to increase the R-value.
Insulating from the rafters helps to mitigate the extreme temperatures in the attic in the summer and winter months. This helps protect any items the homeowner chooses to store form extreme temperatures and reduces the impact on HVAC equipment. Insulating the exterior walls and the attic will help make the homeowner more comfortable in the home and experience fewer drafts and make the home more energy-efficient.
