I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?

Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a classic case of insufficient insulation.

A. It can't hurt.
B. It won't cost much.
C. Is it air tight?
D. Sounds like you're talking walls. What's up with the ceiling?

On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 21:25:38 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a classic case of insufficient insulation.

A. It can't hurt.
B. It won't cost much.
C. Is it air tight?
D. Sounds like you're talking walls. What's up with the ceiling?

You want R60 in the "atic" or ceiling if you can.

wrote:
On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 21:25:38 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a classic case of insufficient insulation.

A. It can't hurt.
B. It won't cost much.
C. Is it air tight?
D. Sounds like you're talking walls. What's up with the ceiling?

You want R60 in the "atic" or ceiling if you can.

Anything past r49 is over kill unless you're in the tundra.

s

On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:47:02 -0500, Steve Barker
wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 21:25:38 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a classic case of insufficient insulation.

A. It can't hurt.
B. It won't cost much.
C. Is it air tight?
D. Sounds like you're talking walls. What's up with the ceiling?

You want R60 in the "atic" or ceiling if you can.

Anything past r49 is over kill unless you're in the tundra.

s
Up here in (southern) Ontario they are recommending minimum R50.

On Sep 3, 12:04*am, wrote:
...
You want R60 in the "atic" or ceiling if you can.

Well, with ~4" of fiberglass uncompressed between studs I have ~R16
right now so adding seems good. My thought is to roll out 6"
fiberglass horizontally (that is, parallel to the floor), stapling the
top edge to the studs.

On Sep 2, 10:25*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. *It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. *The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. *(The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) *I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. *The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. *Any thoughts?

Sounds like a classic case of insufficient insulation.

A. It can't hurt.

I figured.

B. It won't cost much.

True.

C. Is it air tight?

The area I'm insulating? It has some ventilation.

D. Sounds like you're talking walls. What's up with the ceiling?

Yes, I have ready access to the walls. Part of the ceiling is sloped
along the roof and some is flat. I can't easily get above the flat
ceiling. It doesn't look well insulated. The only way to do that, I
think, is to pull down the ceiling, put up insulation bats, and put
the ceiling back up. Probably a good payback but more work than I
want to do right now. I can get to one end and might blow insulation
in but that wouldn't be easy either.

On Sep 2, 8:46*pm, Christopher Nelson wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. *It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. *The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. *(The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) *I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. *The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. *Any thoughts?

Where are you, what Zone.

On Sep 2, 11:10*pm, ransley wrote:
...
Where are you, what Zone.

Near Albany, NY. No idea what zone that is.

On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:46:19 -0700 (PDT), Christopher Nelson
wrote:

I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. (The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. Any thoughts?


I put 2X the recommended insulation in my attic. It lowered my
cooling/heating bills. The best thing was that I did it 18 years ago.

On Sep 3, 6:56*am, Phisherman wrote:
On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:46:19 -0700 (PDT), Christopher Nelson

wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. *It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. *The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. *(The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) *I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. *The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. *Any thoughts?

I put 2X the recommended insulation in my attic. *It lowered my
cooling/heating bills. *The best thing was that I did it 18 years ago.

You don't say if there is any ventilation in the spaces around the
bedroom that you are proposing to insulate

On Sep 3, 11:54*am, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
On Sep 3, 6:56*am, Phisherman wrote:





On Wed, 2 Sep 2009 18:46:19 -0700 (PDT), Christopher Nelson

wrote:
I have a split level house with a bedroom on the top-most floor. *It
might have been "attic" space when the house was built but was
finished when I bought it. *The room is cold in the winter and hot in
the summer even though it's straight above the furnace with a fairly
straight duct leading to it. *(The kitchen is on the first floor,
above the furnace and below the bedroom.) *I imagine part of that is
bad air return but the walls that run parallel to the ridge line are
around 4' high and are 2x4 construction with one layer of pink
fiberglass insulation. *The outside of those walls (near the eaves) is
fairly easily accessible and I wonder if it's worth adding 4" or 6" of
fiberglass. *Any thoughts?

I put 2X the recommended insulation in my attic. *It lowered my
cooling/heating bills. *The best thing was that I did it 18 years ago..

You don't say if there is any ventilation in the spaces around the
bedroom that you are proposing to insulate- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Also worth noting is that fiberglass insulation only works to the
intended R value if it is uncompressed. Trying to stuff 10 lbs of
crap into a 5 lb space doesn't work. The insulation value is based
on the trapped air contained in uncompressed insulation.