Insulation Ideas to Share

Now that you have fired up your coal stove, don't forget about keeping out the cold and keep that heat in your house! Here's a tactic I have been using for a couple of years! My house was built in 1971 and even though it has double pain glass with storm windows, these are the biggest heat losers. I have replaced the front door, garage door and sliding doors down stairs and the Utility room window.Added an nattic blanket also R25. Down the road when resources are available I plan to start replacing windows. But until then I came up with a work around. I went and picked up a couple of sheets of 4x8 hard foam insulation R6 I think, sliver reflect on one side. I took and cut these to fit in the windows'Inside' on the north side of the house at first! Started usiing them when it got real cold at first, and eventally left some up all the time til spring. Others I pull out to let the sun in and replace after it sets. I found this really helped to keep the living area alot warmer while saving on fuel! This might be a hard sell for those of you married guys , but for us that are still recovering from the Big 'D' you gotta do what you gotta do to make ends meet.

Yes, I agree,

I have also tried the smaller bubble wrap too as window insulation, it lets light thru, but kinda makes a vapor barrier on the single pane windows.....seemed to help a bit too.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation ... lewrap.htm

I have since replaced (past year) 23 windows and opted for the Low-E and Argon in all of them. It Definitely makes a difference vs. 100+ year old wavey glass single pane windows....

I put insulation on the attic floor, in between the floor joists is 12" or more of blanket insulation and that made a big difference. Now the snow stays on the roof so it must be working. I put weatherstripping around the doors too, it's easy to do. Last winter I went around and wherever cold air was coming in I added some felt. The next step for me it to insulate the crawlspaces, the kitchen and bathroom were added on over a 2' crawlspace and the floors get pretty cold. First I have to go through the junk I have stored under there when I first moved in so that project is still on hold. Coal is actually cheaper than insulation in the short term.

My next insulation project is the unfinished part of the basement where the stove is. I'm going with "Half wall insulation with fire rated foam sheathing" which the way I understand it is the 1 1/2" foil covered foam board. I like the fact that I can do half now & the rest of the wall later if I finish it off.

Good attachmnet CoalBin, I redid the downstairs half under/ half above ground a couple of years ago. Wish I had read sometime like that first. At least I used hard foam. Still have a corner that gets moist so I'm gonna have to redo down the road.

The bubble wrap looks interesting, I wonder if it is better that the air tight shink wrap stuff. Have used that in the past, On the big picture window. Got tired of the cat putting holes in that stuff!

Here is some insulation, which I used on my field stone basement foundation wall. (I don't know if it's the exact brand or not, however I believe it is) http://www.tigerfoam.com/?gclid=CKy16dqxtZACFQEuHgodUzIVFQ



When doing an old stone foundation wall, the bottom shouldn't be insulated too heavily, as the heat was intended to escape, to some extent, to keep the ground from freezing and pushing the foundation.

Any insulation project has to be carefully evaluated, as their can be negative results.

Tom,

Nice basement insulation job.
How much of a difference have you noticed in warmth ?

Eric

Thanks! They supply two different type nozzles ... a fan pattern and a round. I think, the round would have made a better appearance.
I believe, it made quite a difference. It used to be pretty chilly and damp down there, due to the exposed field stone above grade. The oil furnace is down there, but that's not the same as an old coal boiler. But, it's decent now.

I believe, this the product, which I used. http://www.fomofoam.com/

Resurrecting an old topic...

Finished first year of burning and now looking for improving on it for next year.

I was wondering if anyone witnessed a large heating improvement on upper floors by insulating the basement? This winter is the first that I didn't have snow up against the entire perimeter of the house. Ground stayed soft all the way around. Figured I should insulate to send that heat up instead of out.

I've read the attachment from CoalBin...thanks by the way!...and have started planning to do my basement (it's on my list of 2,346 things I have to do this summer).

Any basement insulation tips, hints, stories, successes, etc???

Just remember don't over insulate, the house still needs to breathe and so do you. Cutting off every avenue of air is not a good thing.