You pay the bills full time don't you? Being solar, they will run whether you are here or not. When the sun shines they run. We have 2 and it STILL gets very hot in our attic. I know they have got to be helping some though.

feedback
 

Abshier Insulation done mine.I am very pleased with the differance in my elec. bill WOW should have done this long ago.Their number is 352-245-0285..Hope this helps...

Mr.Smith

In 1994 I had a house built in Palm Beach county. Prior to the drywall being hung I had a radiant barrier installed for, I think, $600. I did some research prior to the installation that was done by UF. My builder tried to discourage me from installing it saying, it will burn up my shingles in a couple years. We sold the home 15 years later and the shingles (asphalt) still looked good.

I have also seen the ads for the radiant barrier in the Villages. I am seriously considering having some more blown-in insulation. Mainly because I don't want anybody crawling around my attic possibly damaging anything up there. As far as helping with A/C costs, I think insulation will work better.

One insulation contractor told me to look up in the new home construction and see for myself!

They hang the AC ducts very close to the roof. All that heat from the roof causes poor AC performance. He repositions the AC ducts as low as possible when installing a Radiant Foil against the rafters.

Makes sense as heat moves from Hot to Cold. I would think that the ducts laying on the blankets and then covered with additional blow in insulation might be the ticket.

And then again I could be wrong?

Herv

That's how mine are. Over half covered in additional insulation. Also, just after I bought my house I was climbing around up there and felt a blast of cold in a few places. discovered a few cuts in the flexible ductwork.....:22yikes: I patched them.....don't need to pay for cooling non-living space....

Frank

This is just my opinion and how I would tackle this issue.

If you look at the cost of a radiant barrier vs the cost of insulation, the cost to hire someone to install it if you choose not to do it yourself, there is no comparison. Insulation wins every time. And extra insulation helps with summer cooling and winter heating. And insulation savings beat a Radiant Barrier by a huge margin. So take the attic insulation over the entire home including the garage to a minimum of R-34 or even to R-40 before spending anything on a Radiant Barrier. The cost is usually lower and the payback is always much faster. If your insulation is already at that level and you want to save a little more, insulate the garage door. Very easy to DIY. Next step is to use a smoke pencil and seal every crack, outlet and switch cover, door and window. Eliminate every leak possible. Even with that done your air will still change 3 times a day in the home. After doing all of this, and you still need to save a few pennies at the cost of $$$, consider a Radiant Barrier.

I CAN tell you that according to some builders and contractors (and roofers) those barriers actually cause the roof shingles to wear a bit faster than the lifetime warranty of a shingle suggests. Apparently, the barrier put in the attic contains the heat as it's supposed to ... but it winds up reflecting that heat back out before being absorbed in the attic, which causes the shingles to actually "bake" on both sides ... effectively causing them to get more brittle as time goes on. So, you resolve one issue and create another in long run.

Roof
 

I have heard that roofs might be effected.

Frank sent us a statement from a web site that delt with roofing, claiming no adverse effects.

I wounder if it all comes down to the installation of the barrier? Does the air flow still get moved from the lower vents transfering hot air trapped between the reflective barrier and the roof itself to the top ?

It makes me think that solar or electric or turbin fans must be working to help keep that hot air moving up and out?

I have read that the home construction is a gamble. We the payee and future owners have no chance to sit down and " Bond " with our contractor-

Like buying a car out of a web site thru a sales tech that says well it could be built by 6 different manufactures but hey they are all good!

I have been informed we are at the mercy of the " Selective Village Rotational Contractor selection process?" .

The placement quality and square area of the top ridge vents is very important. As I drove around looking at homes I can see that some new construction is using more ridge vents.

Thank you for your feed back. Much appreciated.

Herv

As far as roof venting goes, I prefer just a good quality ridge vent and good soffit vents. Turbine vents look ugly, and down the road are prone to bearing failure.
Solar vents are more expensive and can stop working. Power vents can be good, but then again you are disrupting the natural flow of heat rising, etc. While they are not bad at all, and can help, power venting should not be really needed if passive venting is properly designed and installed. Just my humble opinion...certainly not the only opinion.

Frank

Good Call Faithful frank..I agree with your statements.....especially the.."if passive venting is PROPERLY installed......As an aside.........many people who have DEEP insulation installed will find out that the installer CHEAPED OUT and DID NOT install the "soffit chutes" properly...(if at all)....IMHO.

So how does the owner know it the contractor did install them right? Or does it come down to, I'm the village Contractor- I said they are installed right got it!

The main problem one sees is that when they blow in the insulation, they can cover up the air path from the soffits into the attic, thus stopping the needed air flow.
To prevent this, you use either cardboard, plastic or foam baffles to insure this does not happen. When doing this one should make sure you get them long enough so if years later they add more insulation they will not be covered up.

A good builder will staple ruler like guides around the ceiling joists to insure that when the insulation is blown you get even coverage to the correct amount you are paying for.

In older homes where the soffit was originally wood, then covered with perforated vinyl or aluminum soffit one needs to check that the wood was removed or at least cut into first to make sure you DO have air flow. I have seen nice looking perforated soffit installed over solid wood, you you THINK you have air flow, when you do not.

I like to see a ratio of 1 square foot of ventilation space for each 150 foot of attic. One should also note that it is VERY common in Florida to see decorative side vents installed over solid wall sheathing. You THINK you have ventilation there when you only have a decoration.

Frank

Good Info
 

I'm going to have a independant insulation and a independant contractor inspect my home attic before closing. I have seen the cardboard rulers installed always wondered what for now I know

Frank you interested!

H

Herv,
Sadly, I first have to sell my NY home and get down there......hopefully soon!

Frank

I am so confused by all this but I did manage to understand that I should not do foil but rather the regular insulation. I would like to know who does this that is really good so they don't fall into any of the traps everyone is mentioning. Any idea what it costs?