Yesterday my brother and I blew in 44 bales of cellulose insulation into the boys house. This should bring the attic R value up to almost 60. I need a minimum of R50 to get the ecoenergy grants from the federal and provincial gov'ts totaling $750. The total cost of renting the blower and the 44 bales of cellulose was $459.
The job was pretty easy to do too. Plug the machine in and point the hose where you want it to go. It takes two people to do it with one feeding in the cellulose into the hopper on the blower and the other spraying in the attic. One hint for trouble free operation: don't load the machine with a whole bale before turning it on or it jams it up. We lost about a half hour and the better part of one bale when we had to clean it all out and un-jam it. Reading the instructions first always helps too...!
We did the whole job in about 8 hours including picking up and returning the blower; building a damn around the attic hatch and insulating the back of the attic hatches. There are two separate attics in the kids house so that probably took us longer than a single attic house would.
Cellulose insulation is one of the greenest insulation you can get (apparently denim is the best) as it is made from recycled paper. It is treated with borax to make it fire proof and taste nasty to the critters. It's been in use for many decades. I can't see why anyone would use anything else in their attic. It is easy to install; environmentally friendly; has a higher R value per inch compared to firbreglass and isn't deadly itchy or to inhale. Fibreglass is toxic when it burns as well.
Now the kids will have a warmer house that uses significantly less energy and costs less to heat with the gevernment program paying for the whole thing! Not bad for a days work!
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