Why Insulation is a Good Investment

Investing in products to make homes more energy efficient pays
significant dividends over a lifetime — with none of the wild
fluctuations of Wall Street. Insulation contributes to:

- Greater comfort
- Even temperature distribution
- Improved acoustics
- Better moisture control, which can reduce floor squeaks, drywall
cracks, structure damage and condensation
- Potential for increased resale value: Installing proper insulation
levels can also make your home more attractive to potential buyers.
In fact, most buyers list energy-efficiency as a prime consideration.
The reason? Buyers know they can buy a more expensive home if heating
and cooling bills can be kept down.
- A more environmentally friendly home
- Lower energy bills* Unless your home was constructed with special
attention to energy efficiency, adding insulation will probably reduce
your utility bills.
- 60% of the existing homes in the United States are not insulated to
the best level.
- According toa study done by Harvard University's School of Public
Health, 60% of the exising homes are likely to use more energy than
newer homes, leading to very high heating and air-conditioning bills.
- Even if you own a new home, adding insulation may save enough money
in reduced utility bills to pay for itself within a few years and will
continue to save you money for as long as you own the home.*

Source: http://www.simplyinsulate.com/content/why/benefits.html

On Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:26:00 +0200, Sjouke Burry
wrote:

...... wrote:
Why Insulation is a Good Investment

Investing in products to make homes more energy efficient pays
significant dividends over a lifetime €” with none of the wild
fluctuations of Wall Street. Insulation contributes to:

- Greater comfort
- Even temperature distribution
- Improved acoustics
- Better moisture control, which can reduce floor squeaks, drywall
cracks,
cut
Hmm, in my country there are lots of problems with insulated
houses, mostly in the new ones.
People get what they call the office syndrome, coming from
fungi and bacteria loving those nice ventilation systems that
cant be cleaned inside,and all the dead spaces without ventilation.
Some new houses are without windows you can open, because that
interferes with those modern ventilation systems.
Also problems with too low or too high moisture, stuffy
atmosphere, and other ailments which have no simple cause.

So your statements seem to me a bit optimistic.
In my (old, 1935) house the double glazing was the best thing
in comfort improvement(and it saves me money .
But I have not started to hunt for small leaks, they make sure
that the atmosphere stays healthy.
house
Insulation in itself does NOT reduce the air change rate of a house
significantly - unless it is sprayed foam or similar. Making a house
TOO tight can definitely cause problems - but a reasonably well
insulated house IS more comfortable, due to better temperature
distribution and can definitely help reduce damp related issues by
keeping moisture from condensing on abnormally cold surfaces.

It also reduces both heating and cooling costs and makes the house
quieter.

The most important insulation is what you put in the attic/roof area.
Even if you don't insulate the walls, insulate the attic.

Sjouke Burry wrote:
...... wrote:
Why Insulation is a Good Investment

Investing in products to make homes more energy efficient pays
significant dividends over a lifetime — with none of the wild
fluctuations of Wall Street. Insulation contributes to:

- Greater comfort
- Even temperature distribution
- Improved acoustics
- Better moisture control, which can reduce floor squeaks, drywall
cracks,
cut
Hmm, in my country there are lots of problems with insulated
houses, mostly in the new ones.
People get what they call the office syndrome, coming from
fungi and bacteria loving those nice ventilation systems that
cant be cleaned inside,and all the dead spaces without ventilation.
Some new houses are without windows you can open, because that
interferes with those modern ventilation systems.
Also problems with too low or too high moisture, stuffy
atmosphere, and other ailments which have no simple cause.

So your statements seem to me a bit optimistic.
In my (old, 1935) house the double glazing was the best thing
in comfort improvement(and it saves me money .
But I have not started to hunt for small leaks, they make sure
that the atmosphere stays healthy.
house

You'd have to be REALLY good, or really bad at insulation and sealing to cause
problems on a 1935 house.

Bob F wrote:
Sjouke Burry wrote:
...... wrote:
Why Insulation is a Good Investment

Investing in products to make homes more energy efficient pays
significant dividends over a lifetime — with none of the wild
fluctuations of Wall Street. Insulation contributes to:

- Greater comfort
- Even temperature distribution
- Improved acoustics
- Better moisture control, which can reduce floor squeaks, drywall
cracks,
cut
Hmm, in my country there are lots of problems with insulated
houses, mostly in the new ones.
People get what they call the office syndrome, coming from
fungi and bacteria loving those nice ventilation systems that
cant be cleaned inside,and all the dead spaces without ventilation.
Some new houses are without windows you can open, because that
interferes with those modern ventilation systems.
Also problems with too low or too high moisture, stuffy
atmosphere, and other ailments which have no simple cause.

So your statements seem to me a bit optimistic.
In my (old, 1935) house the double glazing was the best thing
in comfort improvement(and it saves me money .
But I have not started to hunt for small leaks, they make sure
that the atmosphere stays healthy.
house

You'd have to be REALLY good, or really bad at insulation and sealing to cause
problems on a 1935 house.


Yabbut, its so much nicer to live in.
I hate the new ones, hundreds of houses
all the same, you have to count houses and
streets to find yours.
Besides, all houses here are double walled brick,
(almost)no single/halve brick or wooden walls here.(NL)

On 9/8/2010 9:01 PM, Sjouke Burry wrote:
Bob F wrote:

You'd have to be REALLY good, or really bad at insulation and sealing
to cause problems on a 1935 house.

Yabbut, its so much nicer to live in.
I hate the new ones, hundreds of houses
all the same, you have to count houses and
streets to find yours.
Besides, all houses here are double walled brick,
(almost)no single/halve brick or wooden walls here.(NL)

I think what Bob means is that a 1935 structure won't likely have the
problem of being sealed too tightly. I'd be curious to see a pic.
--
Uno

Uno wrote:
On 9/8/2010 9:01 PM, Sjouke Burry wrote:
Bob F wrote:

You'd have to be REALLY good, or really bad at insulation and sealing
to cause problems on a 1935 house.

Yabbut, its so much nicer to live in.
I hate the new ones, hundreds of houses
all the same, you have to count houses and
streets to find yours.
Besides, all houses here are double walled brick,
(almost)no single/halve brick or wooden walls here.(NL)

I think what Bob means is that a 1935 structure won't likely have the
problem of being sealed too tightly. I'd be curious to see a pic.

Sorry, only a google view:
http://home.planet.nl/~burry004/googleview.jpg

No electonic pic or google street view.