Insulation – Fiberglass or Celulose?
I am currently remodeling an old farmhouse in central Illinois. This house was built in 1914 and has the full six inch studs and full ten inch floor joists. I am site superintendent by profession and a carpenter by trade and I have completely removed all of the old MEP and I am installing all new including a geo-thermal HVAC system. However, I am not sure wether to go with fiberglass or spray applied cellulose insulation. The spray applied cellulose has been slow to catch on in this area but the people I have talked to that have used it in their homes are all very pleased. Does anyone have any definate oppinions?
Replies
There have been any number of opinions expressed on Breaktime on the 'glass vs cells issue. I think I am safe in saying that the preponderance of Breaktimers (sometimes rather vociferously) come down on the side of cellulose. Particularly in areas subjected to cold where fiberglass loses its R rating. One of the most common arguments for cellulose is that it blocks drafts where fiberglass does not and some will contend that cellulose does a better job of preventing flame spread in the case of a fire. Probably many more...
Thank you for the reply. Pretty sure I'm going with the cellulose, the only negatives I've heard about it have come from our local fiberglass contractor.
Thanks,
Rob
Ditto on the only negatives come from the FG contractors.
Well, I'm no FG contractor and I have a few bad things to say about cellulose insulation:
1) Cellulose deadens sounds better than FG. Now when I'm in the house I can't hear cars coming down the road in the middle of the night, nor can I hear the neighbor's kids scream or their barking dogs.
2) Sadly, cellulose does a better job at insulating than FG. Before, when it was cold out, I always knew it in my FG insulated home because it was usually cold inside as well. Now, with cellulose, it's always toasty warm indoors, so I'm never sure what the temp is outside. I hate that.
3) Is it windy outside? I always knew with FG insulation, as air blasts right through it, and I could feel the drafts indoors. But with cellulose doing such a good job of stopping air infiltration, I never know if it's a good day to fly a kite or what.
4) Cellulose will lead to your wife shopping more often. When we had FG insulation, we had to spend more money on oil to heat the house. Now that we spend so much less money heating the house due to cellulose's better insulating properties, we're spending less money on oil so my wife is shopping a lot more.
So, yeah...I'm not a FG contractor, but I can certainly see how FG has some advantages over cellulose.
Mongo, here's an easy fix for your new problems.
1,2 & 3 can be cured by installing a window. Just leave it open 24/7 & everything will be back like it was.
For problem number 4, just buy a boat. No more too much money problems.
Helpfully Joe H
so what kinda celluose do you have? dry type or was it sprayed in ? because i don't want to live in a house that has all those problems either. the guy was just out today to give me a bid for spray cellulose, i think i'll call tommorrow and tell him to refigure fg batts! larry
Oh...golly, golly, golly...
Woke up to an inbox of emails asking me, in various ways...
"Are you serious?"
No.
C'mon, guys...tilt your head back and look WAY up in the sky...that little speck you see whizzing by is my sad, pathetic sense of humor, going WAY over your heads...<g>
The previous post was tongue-in-cheek.
Cells vs FG?
Dry (about as dry as my sense of humor) dense-pack cells, hands down.
Beg to differ.
It is FG batts that encourage drafts, not the BIB dens pack. There may be slightly more air intrusion than cellulose with FG, but not noticeable.
cells will hold moisture long enough to grow mold in my experience, if it ever gets wet, while FG will drain or wick through quicker.
cellulose will definitely support fire spread more than FG though I have seen several cases in both when inappropriately installed.
And if a person might EVER need to crawl into the attic or remodel the walls, they do not want to find cellulose there. Wicked nasty! The chopped FG is more like cotton tuffts
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Robin Hood, as the others have posted, cellulose better than fg for many reasons. If it was my house, I would go with closed cell polyurethane spray foam, 1" min, backed with either cells or fg. Stopping air flow, getting best seal possible is #1 consideration for insulation performance. Paul
Closed cell foam looks good but my job (bathroom remodel) is too small for foam installer. So I intend to go with impermeable foam (pink board), extra layer of foam for thermal break, vapor barrier, green board. I plan to fill up the remainder of the stud cavity with Bonded Logic; does anyone have experience with this? It just sounds less messy than cells (though to all intents and purposes equivalent, cotton instead of paper) and not carcinogenic etc like FG.
Then the question is: should this extra padding in the cavity be between the foam and the VB, or should the BL padding be on outside of stud cavity. I am assuming on the outside, little danger of condensation, even with CAC, because of foam insulation. On the inside would effectively make the pink board be an outside vapor barrier, with it and internal VB sandwiching the BL (yikes...).
Other question: this is 1929 house therefore balloon frame, is there a trick to air-sealing the vapor barrier from the inside moisture-laden air (since AFAIK there's no plate to foam seal against).
If anything sounds stupid, hey, that's why I'm asking....