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Thinking about the coming Northern Virginia winter and life in a 40+
year old house.

The attic has old fiberglass insulation between the rafters. Some of
it has settled in spots and it looks dried out and brittle if that
makes sense. If that doesn't make sense - well, it still looks dried
out and brittle to me....

Question 1: Would I get good bang for my buck by rolling out a new
layer of R-13 over the old insulation - but at a 90 degree angle?

Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

Question 3: I have a gas burning furnace in the basement. The furnace
is in a room with the washer and dryer and in the winter, that room
gets pretty warm. The vent pipe exiting the furnace gets plenty hot.
Would insulating that pipe help keep the rest of the house warmer?

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On Sep 18, 10:58 am, wrote:
Thinking about the coming Northern Virginia winter and life in a 40+
year old house.

The attic has old fiberglass insulation between the rafters. Some of
it has settled in spots and it looks dried out and brittle if that
makes sense. If that doesn't make sense - well, it still looks dried
out and brittle to me....

Question 1: Would I get good bang for my buck by rolling out a new
layer of R-13 over the old insulation - but at a 90 degree angle?

Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

Question 3: I have a gas burning furnace in the basement. The furnace
is in a room with the washer and dryer and in the winter, that room
gets pretty warm. The vent pipe exiting the furnace gets plenty hot.
Would insulating that pipe help keep the rest of the house warmer?

Check recomended R values for your area at www.energystar.gov the
attic is the cheapest place for most to add insulation, most heat loss
rises. I would bet recommended is R35+. just go over what you have the
vapor barrier should be flt against the ceiling. If you mean the
venting pipes that circulate heated air it could help if the basement
walls are insulated

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Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

I also have a similar house in Northern Virginia. My attic has a layer of
tar paper laying on the ceiling drywall which serves as a vapor barrier.
You might check to see if you have that.

If you don't have it, it needs to be on the heated side of the house, i.e.
under the insulation.

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Buck Turgidson ) said...
[about vapor barrier]

If you don't have it, it needs to be on the heated side of the house, i.e.
under the insulation.

It needs to be on the warm side of the dewpoint. If you were to move
through the insulation from the warm side to the cold, the temperature
in the insulation drops. At some point between the two sides, the
temperature is cool enough that moisture in the warm air would condense
(and form dew). That is the dewpoint.

Ideally, that means on the warm side of the insulation, which can be done
if it were new construction or if you remove what is there.

However, if there is only about R13 there now and you were going to add
another R22 to bring it up to R35, it may be possible to place a vapor
barrier between the existing and new insulation. This would require some
research looking into the temperature extremes in your area, though a
good rule of thumb is that the vapor barrier should be no more than one
third the way between the warm and cold (1/3 maximum of the total
thickness between the warm side and the barrier - R13 of R35 exceeds this
slightly, but R13 of R40 falls within 1/3).

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"Buck Turgidson" wrote in message
...

Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

I also have a similar house in Northern Virginia. My attic has a layer of tar
paper laying on the ceiling drywall which serves as a vapor barrier. You
might check to see if you have that.


I thought the whole point of tar paper was that it passed water vapor but not
water.

Bob

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On Sep 18, 8:42 pm, "Buck Turgidson" wrote:
Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

I also have a similar house in Northern Virginia. My attic has a layer of
tar paper laying on the ceiling drywall which serves as a vapor barrier.
You might check to see if you have that.

If you don't have it, it needs to be on the heated side of the house, i.e.
under the insulation.

There's existing insulation in the attic - above the ceiling, between
the rafters. It's old. Probably original or close to it.

I believe that is does have an existing paper side to it.

So, it looks like a vapor barrier is out of the question, since I am
not taking out the old stuff.

As for the basement, it is insulated and comfortable during the
winter. The gas furnace is in a room with the laundry, and the main
duct supplying hot air to the rest of the ducts. I am thinking about
insulating this because the duct is so hot, you cannot even touch it.
That to me, says heat is escaping.

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wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 18, 8:42 pm, "Buck Turgidson" wrote:
Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

I also have a similar house in Northern Virginia. My attic has a layer of
tar paper laying on the ceiling drywall which serves as a vapor barrier.
You might check to see if you have that.

If you don't have it, it needs to be on the heated side of the house, i.e.
under the insulation.

There's existing insulation in the attic - above the ceiling, between
the rafters. It's old. Probably original or close to it.

I believe that is does have an existing paper side to it.

So, it looks like a vapor barrier is out of the question, since I am
not taking out the old stuff.

The "paper" is a vapor barrier probably.


As for the basement, it is insulated and comfortable during the
winter. The gas furnace is in a room with the laundry, and the main
duct supplying hot air to the rest of the ducts. I am thinking about
insulating this because the duct is so hot, you cannot even touch it.
That to me, says heat is escaping.

That heat will be warming the area around that duct. Is it a heated area?

If the duct is so hot you can't touch it, you are either touching the exhaust
duct, or your furnace is heating the air a lot hotter than any furnace I've
experienced. Have you cleaned or replaced the air filter recently? It could be
limiting the air flow.

Bob

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On Oct 3, 9:01 pm, "Bob F" wrote:
wrote in message

ups.com...



On Sep 18, 8:42 pm, "Buck Turgidson" wrote:
Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
the roof?

I also have a similar house in Northern Virginia. My attic has a layer of
tar paper laying on the ceiling drywall which serves as a vapor barrier.
You might check to see if you have that.

If you don't have it, it needs to be on the heated side of the house, i.e.
under the insulation.

There's existing insulation in the attic - above the ceiling, between
the rafters. It's old. Probably original or close to it.

I believe that is does have an existing paper side to it.

So, it looks like a vapor barrier is out of the question, since I am
not taking out the old stuff.

The "paper" is a vapor barrier probably.



As for the basement, it is insulated and comfortable during the
winter. The gas furnace is in a room with the laundry, and the main
duct supplying hot air to the rest of the ducts. I am thinking about
insulating this because the duct is so hot, you cannot even touch it.
That to me, says heat is escaping.

That heat will be warming the area around that duct. Is it a heated area?

If the duct is so hot you can't touch it, you are either touching the exhaust
duct, or your furnace is heating the air a lot hotter than any furnace I've
experienced. Have you cleaned or replaced the air filter recently? It could be
limiting the air flow.

Bob

The is changed regularly, I have a thermostat that also counts the
hours and has an indicator for when the filter should be changed, so,
it's not the filter...

But the exhaust duct.... hmm... let me look at that.