Conservation Mart Blog » weatherization

Attic Insulation Cover: Covering your Attic and Wallet

Jaishree Knauff — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:16:54 +0000

In most homes, attic doors are not constructed to properly insulate the attic, and only deteriorate with age. As a result, a tremendous loss of cool air is experienced during the summer, and heat loss in the attic occurs during winter. In addition to upsetting the balance of the home’s temperature, poor insulation results in more money spent on energy for heating and cooling. Previously we discussed insulating the attic with spray foam insulation kits; however, if that is not an option, consider insulating your attic with an attic insulation cover.

Attic Tent

Perhaps you have already installed fiberglass for attic insulation. Check to see if the fiberglass is dirty. If it is, that tells you it is simply filtering the air as it comes through, not sealing the attic door. The attic insulation cover, which is also referred to as an attic tent, creates an air-tight barrier between your attic and general living space to reduce the amount of air filtering out of the attic. In addition, having an attic door tent raises the air quality in a home, being that the flow of dust and other allergens is also greatly reduced. The attic tent has been proven to decrease the amount of air filtration by at least 71%.

An attic door tent is an easily installed, cost effective tool for insulating the attic. Measure your attic door to choose which attic tent would be the best fit. Once you have the tent, staple the attic door tent to the surface. Then apply a small amount of silicone caulk around the seam to create the airtight seal, and you’re finished! The attic insulation cover will cost approximately $146-$232, depending on the size of the door. While the exact amount of money saved depends largely on your climate, the attic insulation cover should not only have paid for itself by year’s end, but save you at least $145 in energy costs every year after.

Spray Foam Insulation Kits: Worth the Weight in Foam

Jaishree Knauff — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:25:57 +0000

Have you noticed during summer the temperatures in the attic and basement areas are hot enough to barbeque in (sans grill!)? Each room in the house should be inviting, but during extreme weather months entering these areas seems more like self-inflicted torture. If you are profusely shaking your head in agreement, may I suggest that now is the time to consider proper insulation? Spray foam insulation kits seal your home from this unwanted air, and with the acquired savings in heating and cooling costs; the kit pays for itself within a year.

Spray Foam Insulation Kits

Weighing in at 120 lbs. and allowing for a tax credit of up to 30% is what we like to call the spray foam insulation kit. Spray foam insulation kits are essentially two tanks of chemicals which expand up to 30 times when applied to walls and floors, which then work to close up tricky air leaks in a home. You may not realize it, but over the course of 5 years these leaks can cost up to $3,400 (Somewhere out there is an endless list of much better ways to spend that money). The spray polyurethane foam kit continues to save you money long after it has paid for itself, as you will no longer need to tamper with the heating and cooling system in your home.

When choosing to insulate a home, tackle the attic and basement areas first. Once you have used a spray foam kitto seal the largest sources of air leaks, the energy spent (and money needed to provide that energy) will noticeably decrease. As if this wasn’t good enough, the spray polyurethane foam kit also prevents molding and helps keep bugs out. The time has come for you to conquer your fear of that blazing hot room. If you feel yourself faltering, just consider how happy your wallet will be once this task is done.

Chimney Balloon… An Ideal Way to Stop Drafts from Your Chimney

Jaishree Knauff — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:22:12 +0000

When weatherizing the home, homeowners often consider sealing outlets, wall switches, windows, and doors. However, an area that is often left out of consideration when weatherizing is the chimney. Many homes have a chimney damper that is made of metal. Over time these can warp and break, allowing heat to get away, and drafts and odors to enter. Installing a chimney balloon is an efficient way to stop the drafts from entering through the chimney during the summer, and heat from escaping the home during the winter. This simple measure allows you to save energy as well as money on heating and cooling bills.

Chimney Balloon

A chimney balloon, also referred to as a chimney pillow, stops debris as well as prevents airflow and odors from coming in through the chimney. It is made from 3-ply poly membrane, and is flexible enough to close up open crevices in the flue while being able to resist the harsh setting it is in. A Chimney pillow is created to react to heat, so they it not interfere if you decide to use the fireplace. In fact, they will safely deflate in a matter of seconds, providing the opportunity for gases and smoke to leave the chimney.

Chimney balloons come in different sizes, so it is important that you measure the depth and length of the area for installation. It is best to choose a chimney damper that is at most 6” larger than each of the measurements you took. This chimney plug is installed by being held into place while inflated. Opening the tap on the chimney balloon will allow you to deflate it. This should be done before starting the next fire in the fireplace. The chimney pillow is flexible, able to sustain the chimney environment, and reusable, making it a very handy weatherization tool.

Want a Reliable Thermal Leak Detector without Spending Thousands

Jaishree Knauff — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:12:31 +0000

Black and Decker Thermal Leak Detector

Fresh air is good for any home. However, having air come in and go out at the wrong time in the wrong place can waste energy and money. Weatherizing your home can be made simple if you have the proper tools. Before sealing the house up, it’s important to know where these air leaks are coming from. We have a few options to explore: you can spend thousands of dollars on a professional thermal imaging camera, hire an expert to come in and find the leaks, or find them yourself using a Black and Decker Thermal Leak Detector.

The Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector uses infrared light to find drafts coming from windows, doors, around electrical outlets, along floor molding, and recessed lights. The infrared light should be pointed to a wall to create the reference temperature. Moving the light across surfaces, the temperature given on the Black and Decker Thermal Leak Detector will change by 10, 5, 0r 1 degree Fahrenheit from the reference

Electrical Outlet Insulation

temperature. The infrared light will then indicate a cold or hot spot with a blue or red light respectively. For instance, we pointed the Black & Decker Leak Detector on our electrical outlets and noticed that it was a major source of cold air. We removed the outlet plates and inserted electrical outlet insulation. We reran the leak detection test and viola, noticed that leak detector was no longer showing a blue light.

This winter make it a priority to save money, energy, and your home by first finding those air leaks

Calculating Board Feet with Spray Foam Insulation

Jaishree Knauff — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:06:15 +0000

When applying spray foam insulation it will tell you how much board feet it covers. e.g. two part foam kit for 200 board foot. What does that mean exactly?
Will it cover 200 feet? How do you calculate how much you would need for you job?

Board Feet has it’s origins in the lumber industry- it is a calculation of lumber volume. So 1 board foot
would cover a square 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch.

So 200 board foot spray foam insulation kit would cover 200 squares that are 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch.
Now suppose you want to calculatehow many two part foam spray kits you would need to cover 400 square feet.
The first thing you need to determine is level of thickness. So say you want to spray it on 2 inches thick.

spray foam insulation

So you would need four 200 board feet spray foam insulation kits- here’s the calculation:
two 200 board feet kits will cover 400 sq feet 1 inch thick. For 2 inch thick you double the quantity.
That is the minimum you would need and to be on the safe side- maybe add another kit because spray foam kits give the board feet coverage under optimum circumstances such as
1)applicator is a pro and knows how to apply it perfectly
2)the temperature is warm

Give that won’t always be the case, it’s better to get a little bit extra to cover the entire area properly.

Weatherize Your Home: Cheap, Cheaper & Free Ways to Insulate your Windows

Jaishree Knauff — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:13:14 +0000

In the first installment of this blog we discussed weatherizing your home, starting with checking for air leaks. Now that you’ve found the leaks, you need to cover them up. It would be great if you could do this without paying outrageous prices, right? Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s talk about weatherizing your home for less.

How to insulate your home for a good price

Interior Storm Windows

A cheap way to insulate your home is to use Interior storm windows, also called storms. Storms have a channel system and plastic spline which produce a seal in the front of a window, allowing for proper insulation. They are installed by connecting the lengths of adhesive channels around the window frame. By spreading the clear vinyl across the window face and holding it together with a plastic strip (spline) that locks into the plastic channel, installation is complete. The vinyl of the interior storm windows can be used again year after year if properly handled. Storms can be found at a fairly cheap price, costing you as little as $7.00 apiece.

How to insulate your home for an even better price

Plastic Window Film

An even cheaper insulator is the plastic window film. Using double-sided tape you seal around the glass door, window grouping, or window with the clear film made of plastic. The double-sided tape closes off crevices and cracks. In addition, it shrinks tightly to provide a wrinkle-free, clear fit. Plastic window film can be found in varying sizes for the perfect fit for your window, and are easy to install.

How to insulate your home for FREE

Bubble Wrap

Can you recall being a kid and getting more excited over the bubble wrap in the box than the toy that was in this same box? With bubble wrap, an exacto knife, and a spray bottle you can insulate one window for less than one minute. Spray water onto the window, place the bubble side against the window, and use the knife to get rid of the excess. All winter the wrap will hold to the window (without staining) with water as the only adhesive. This free insulation will reduce your home’s energy usage and brings the R value of each window to 2 – not great but wonderful for being FREE. Silly as it may seem, bubble wrap is a great way to keep the warm air in and the cold air out.

Weatherize your Home this Winter: Identify Air Leaks

Jaishree Knauff — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:57:15 +0000

Allowing air to leak into the home through crevices and cracks may not seem like such a big deal, right? Wrong. Having air leak into your home can add as much as 20% to your heating and cooling bill and bring moisture-filled air inside, increasing the chances of finding mold, condensation, and rot in certain places. While letting fresh air into the home does keep it healthy, controlling the timing as well as the entrance and exit of this air is extremely important to keeping your home free of such issues. Weatherization is your best bet on protecting your home, and in this 5 part blog series you’ll learn just how to do this. Let’s start with identifying the air leaks.

Smoke Puffer

One of the tools you can use to discover where the leaks are in your home is the smoke puffer, also known as the air current tester. Among the most efficient of these is the Retrotec Air Current Tester, which produces approximately 1,000 puffs of neutral buoyancy smoke. This smoke simplifies the task of finding invisible air leaks in thermal envelopes and duct work. This smoke puffer is packed in a storage tube that is airtight, and can be charged by simply taking the tube and folding it, eliminating the task of pouring chemicals. It can test for room pressure imbalances, air-flow direction, and pressure neutralization among many types of leaks.

Thermal Leak Detector

Another great tool is the thermal leak detector is one of the tools you can use to discover where the leaks are in your home. Using infrared light, it finds “soft spots” along floor molding, around electrical outlets, and recessed light. The detector has to determine a reference temperature, which can be found buy directing the light to a wall. The infrared light will change to blue or red to point out a cold or hot spot. The thermal leak detector weighs less than 1 pound and can cost as little as $50. This winter make sure your home is protected from unwanted air leaks, and what better way to start than to find them?

2 Part Foam Insulation- How to Work with it in Colder Temperatures?

Jaishree Knauff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:49:46 +0000

When 2 Part Foam is sprayed onto your walls, floors and ceilings, the shell of your home becomes protected. It’s this protection that blocks heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter, thus preventing dramatic temperatures changes in the home. Correctly installed, insulation delivers comfort and lower energy bills during the hottest and coldest times of the year. But working with it in the winter time is a little tricky since the core temperature should be above 70 F.

2 Part Foam Insulation comes in two tanks- A and B. The key to getting good yield and foam that actually sets up properly is an even stream between the “A” and “B” tanks.

2 part foam insulation

The way you get that is getting the foam up to temperature. The “A” chemical has the consistency of milk, the “B” chemical has the consistency of molasses. Warming up the “B” chemical thins it out considerably, so it can flow at the same rate as the “A” chemical.

Once it gets up to temperature, it will take quite a while for it to cool. But it’s critically important to get the foam up to temperature before you begin use.

Keeping it in the warmest room in the house and using an electric blanket is usually your best bet. One tip is to build a little “hot box” with rigid insulation, and drop a 40 watt incandescent light bulb between the tanks, and leave it overnight.

Exterior Door Sweeps – Cheap Way to Weatherize Your Home

Jaishree Knauff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:57:27 +0000

Those who have invested in exterior door sweeps quickly realize its advantages. They are fairly easy to install, and are placed on the bottom of the outer side of exterior doors. This weatherization item is placed there to fill the space between the door’s bottom and the floor, limiting the amount of insects, moisture, dust and uncontrolled air filtration that come into a home. In addition, exterior door sweeps are among the cheapest way to weatherize your home. You can find them for as low as $10 each. Replacement door sweeps, such as the steel door sweeps from Macklanburg-Duncan, are available if yours are old and worn out.

Macklanburg-Duncan Exterior Door Sweep

The exterior door sweeps by Macklanburg-Duncan are incredibly durable, and will not need to be replaced for years. They are heavy-duty, suitable for doors that come across smooth surfaces, such as tile or hardwood. These steel door sweeps come with screws that allow for installation on either a steel or wooden door. Its carrier is unfinished aluminum with a double flange vinyl weatherstrip, and can be painted to your choosing. In addition to all this, Macklanburg-Duncan exterior door sweeps come in 36” and 48” sizes, allowing you to find the perfect fit for your door. The 48” door sweeps cost as little as $9.25 each, and the 36” only $6.50 a piece, a bargain considering the purpose they fill as well as their ability to last for years before needing to be replaced.

Polyurethane Spray Foam For DIYers

Jaishree Knauff — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:27:06 +0000

spray foam kit

You know the world is a crazy place when anyone with a DIY-handicap can sing the praises of polyurethane spray foam insulation! Fixing drafty attics floors, basement walls, and other oddly opened areas has never been easier.

What’s in a Spray Foam Kit?

Spray foam kits for DIY projects generally consist of: foam (obviously), instructions (undoubtedly), a hose (maybe) and a spray gun (occasionally). Conservation Mart offers an excellent spray foam kit in the 2 Part Polyurethane Foam Kit 600.

Spray Foam Kit Specifications

* Spray foam has an R value that ranges anywhere between 6.2 and 7.12 per inch.
* There are different sizes and different types of polyurethane spray foam kits available.
o You can choose a standard or a standard and fire retardant kit (considering my skills with DIY projects, I’d opt for the flame proof set).
o Spray foam can be bought in an open cell or closed cell form (we learned in a previous post what the difference between the two is).

Common Places for Spray Foam

The following areas are common areas for spray foam touch-up:

* Air Ducts
* Attic Floors
* Basement Walls
* Crawl Areas
* Roofs

Benefits of Spray Foam Kits for DIY Projects

Using polyurethane spray foam kits for DIY projects are beneficial, allowing you to insulate your home:

* In an environmentally friendly way
* Inexpensively (when weighed against your long term savings on energy costs)
* Independently (it is always beneficial to learn how to properly care for your home)
* With products that efficiently insulate your home (namely, the only foam capable of air sealing, the closed cell polyurethane high density foam)

What was your experience with installing polyurethane spray foam? How has using spray foam kits transformed your home? Leave your comments below!