Insulation Question

[Phisherman]

Lay the batts on top of the existing insulation. Do not force or compress the insulation. Make sure there is adequate ventilation for the attic to breath. In theory the more insulation, the better, but there is practical limit. In the end, you'll save a lot of heating/cooling costs.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

Watch going over R-40 because of you will start to store heat after it cools off or warms up outside.

TURTLE

[default]

Well... yes, but that's what windows are for.

[nicksanspam]

Come now. Do you really believe a company could sell insulation with that restriction? :-)

I did that, and spoke with a Lowe's employee, and looked at their celluose insulation web site:

I'm afraid not. Here's a quote:

U.S. GreenFiber - Product Specifications - Fact Sheet - Fire Safety Cocoon insulation enhances fire resistance and is guaranteed to retain its fire retardant characteristics for the life of the structure. Cocoon is treated with fire retardants, has a Class 1 fire rating and is nonflammable when tested for smoldering combustion.

Alternative to Fire Blocking

Cocoon can also be used as an alternative to traditional building code fire blocking measures. Fire rated walls filled with Cocoon will meet building code provisions for adequate protection around non-combustible through penetrations. The ICC Evaluation Report #2833, section 2.5 Fire Blocking, states ?Cocoon insulations are permitted as fire blocking under Section

708.2.1, item 1 of the UBC and are permitted to be used as alternates to the fire blocking in Section 602.7.1, item 1 of the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code.?

Normally, membrane penetrations for such things as wall receptacles require a separation of at least 24? on opposite sides of a fire rated wall. However, if the wall is filled with Cocoon insulation, the horizontal separation need only be equal to the wall?s thickness.

Outperforms Other Materials

THE BIG BURN, a home fire demonstration, was performed in 1998 at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute under the supervision of both The Code Consortium, Inc. and Steven Winter Associates. The results of this demonstration correspond closely with the results achieved by the National Fire Laboratory of the National Research Council Canada. The cellulose structure maintained its structural integrity, for a total time of 68:08 minutes, in excess of 24 minutes longer than the fiberglass structure, translating to an increased fire resistance of 57% as compared to the 55% improvement achieved in the laboratory study.

Surface Burning Characteristics

Cocoon has a flame-spread index rating of 10 and a smoke developed index of

0, exceeding the standard flame-spread index of not more than 25 and a smoke-developed index of not more than 50 as tested in accordance with ASTM E 84. Cocoon meets the ASTM C 739 requirement for Smoldering Combustion and Critical Radiant Flux. UL has classified the U370 wall for a 2-hour fire resistance rating according to ASTM E119.

GreenFiber has UL approval for the use of Cocoon insulation for many construction designs listed in their Fire Resistance Directory.

U.S. GreenFiber, LLC

809 West Hill Street Ste A |Charlotte, NC 28208-9924 Phone: [phone] | Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

How does the chemical "wear off" inside an attic or wall? :-)

The Lowe's web site also recommends very tight house air sealing, with links to DOE web sites...

Nick

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

You might have left out one thing here. Here is Louisiana we may run the heat in the morning to get a chill out of the house but sometimes it will go to 80ºF to

90ºF by mid-day. When you have to go from heat to cool and a temperature change like this. You will store up heat in the insulation to still be coming into the house 3 to 8 hours later. You can get in contact with insulation manufactors and they will tell you about the over insulation point of their business. So there is a point where you can over insulate a house to cause a cost problem to take care of stored up heat.

TURTLE

[Benign Vanilla]

I wish that was a problem up here, but it's not. Sounds like a good problem to have.

BV.