What kind of insulation should I use on a new house?
Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at
3:01 pm
I am building a house and I have 2" x 4" exterior walls. What kind of insulation should I use and what kind of insulation will give me the highest R value? I am in North East Ohio.
Filed under: Wind Power
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I would not advise fiberglass insulation becase it is inefficient, it can loose R Value over time, and it can mold and mildew if it collects moisture. You can get more efficient products without spending a lot of money.
There are several types of insulation that are more efficient than fiberglass, don’t loose their R Value and don’t have a moisture problem, like Icynene spray foam and Tempshield bubble just to name a couple. Fiberglass insulation only has about an R 1 per inch. You can get your R 13 in about 3 inches of Icynene (R 3.6 per inch) or 1 to 2 layers of Tempshield (R15 to R8 per inch depending on how it is installed). See the links for more info.
The advantages of Icynene is that it is the easiest to install and you are guaranteed the R Value no matter what. Tempshield typicall has a higher R Value and actually reflects away radiant heat, but it requires an air space and must be installed in a specific way. I’m not necessarily saying you have to go with these insulation companies specifically, but these types of insulation, in my opinion, are the most efficient.
Fiberglass insulation. Owens corning makes a R-13 and that’s about as good as it gets in a 2X4 wall.