The lack of insulation is very noticeable in the master bedroom right now. Which is good. This means the insulation in the rest of the house is showing a difference. Tonight I will be cutting the insulation board and I will begin laying it in the first section of the attic. I will also cover the access point to section two with insulation board to minimize cold air flow to the first section.
No need to make them. They already exist. I'm building one for the pie stairs to my attic. It will be R25 like the rest of the floor. The cold air coming down those steps is awful.
I think you will definitely notice the difference. I know I sure did last year. I didn't have any insulation up in the attic. then last year put in some R-30.
Here's an image of a box that i built to go over the fold down attic stairs in a rental I was living in a couple of years ago. It's made out of scrap 3/8 plywood that I had lying around. I don't have a picture of the final product, however after putting this in place, I used PL-300 to secure foam board to the outside (2 layers of 2" on the side and 3 on top). The box sat down in the recess of the stairs and had foam weatherstripping around the edges. It significantly cut down on the heat loss to the attic and the oil bill. I think all in I spent about $60. We only lived in the house for a year, but with oil heat, it was worth it. We ended up leaving this improvement for the next renter.
A bit of an update: The first section of the attic isn't complete. I will be finishing off cutting the framework tonight and will have everything in place. Sunday I will nail everything together and have the insulated staircase block off completed as well. It will give me a final r-value of 30 in that section (insulation board, subflooring, carpet padding)which is about 20-25% of the attic. The rest of the attic is about R49. I am definitely going back up there in the Spring and making sure I have everything in the other two sections up to R60. It's still early, but we have noticed a difference in the house and I am excited to get the first section completed as there is an obvious difference between the incomplete section and the completed insulated sections of the upstairs. Also, today was 45 and windy. Wind usually kills me in this place and I always figured it was due to windows and doors. Obviously they aren't helping, but the house has stayed 60-65 degrees all day without any heat. In fact, the upstairs is a little warmer than the downstairs, and that NEVER happened before. We have a couple of colder days coming up next week and I want to test out what happens when I have the Defiant and the Encore running at the same time. I am hoping that the upstairs gets up into the 70s with little effort and can minimize the heat loss. Meaning; I wake up to a bedroom in the mid-to-upper 60s as opposed to 55-60. We won't have real winter temps for another month or so, but I hope I continue to see a difference in how this place heats and holds heat. It will be frustrating if I only see minimal changes.
do you have a picture of your staircase block-off? I'm planning to work on one when i get home.. my attic has walkup access with a staircase with a 90 degree turn and landing. I'm planning to use several layers of foam board glued to a couple pieces of thin plywood/subfloor with a pulley system to raise and lower it to stop airflow and radiant heat loss.
No pics, yet. I'm using two layers of 2" thick foam with OSB as the sub floor and 2x4's for the framing. I know OSB isn't as strong or durable, but it doesn't need to be in this case. Also, the foam board sits flush with the 2x4's so there is no give for the OSB. The blockoff for the stair case will be OSB board and two layers of foam board. Also using large gap Great Stuff throughout to seal up any areas. Also using the foam board as a blockoff to the other sections of the attic.
Nice report BBar. This sounds like it's already doing some good. The large gap stuff should work well. I went up in the attic today and used a small shop vac to suck up some of the loose vermiculite in our attic above the stove room. I think I may revise my plan, but that room will be at least R-30 by the time I'm done. Just about triple what's there. Also sealed up a good sized gap along one wall/ceiling junction. Lots more to do.
Is that the storage area of the attic? I have 10 cans of the stuff when someone had a sale last winter. I will be using it to fill any gaps around the insulation board and around the 2x4 framework. Aluminum Foil Tape to help seal up the entrance to the rest of the attic.
Nope, the storage is right near the access stairs (which also needs attention)......I have to crawl about 30' to get to the stove room area. The storage is wherever my wife cam put stuff w/o actually having to get in the attic. Needs to be better organized. Small house, so..........
Glad you are seeing a difference already. Wait until you complete the job I bet you are going to cut your wood usage considerably this year. Inadequate attic insulation can not be taken lightly. When we added R-30 on top of the r-17 we had, we made back our investment the 1st Winter. It's not cold here yet, but 40-50's day time. We haven't turned our t-stat to heat yet
Still haven't completed the first section of the attic, but it is 80% insulated and I half-assed blocked off the stairs to limit the cold air. There's a difference in terms of how the Encore heats up the area. The attic has been delayed. Probably won't be done until next weekend. But, what has been completed has shown a difference. Looking forward to it being completed and seeing what happens during a cold stretch.
The upstairs retains heat a lot better, but the first section of the attic is not complete yet, so there is still a lot of cold filtering down into the master bedroom/kitchen. Not nearly as bad as before, but it is noticeable. The two bathrooms and two other bedrooms are holding heat a lot better. I hope to have the attic complete this weekend and have the block of cover in place for the attic stair case.
It's 19 here tonight. Yeah, I have all three stoves going (still using pine at this point of the season). But, heat retention is a lot different. Upstairs is 65-70 and that is still with an unfinished first section. Previously when temps would drop like this I'd be dammed if I could get the upstairs much more than a degree or two above 60. And there is no longer a rush of cold air coming down from the second floor. Need to get that first section of the attic finished this weekend.
Thinking about redoing the staircase block off in the third section and just filling it with insulation this spring.
Glad it's forward progress Now you're gonna need less wood. That means you'll be ahead with the wood you don't burn this year. All kinds of good stuff will happen with a more efficient house
The six cords of dry pine I picked up on the cheap brought me up to just shy of 20 cords. I'm hoping I go through no more than 8 cords this winter. Cuz I have the option of picking up my usual 10 of hard wood and another 4-6 cord of cheap pine. That would bring me up to 27-28 cords. My goal is 40. I'd feel real good at 40. Then I can buy to maintain.
Nice thing about insulation and making your home more efficient It pays you back every day from here on out 40 cords would give you a five-year supply + a good place to be. It'll be good & dry too
