Adding insulation to your attic is a great way to reduce heat loss during the winter. Heat rises, and when an attic is poorly insulated, a lot of that heat escapes through the roof. Whether you are using batt or cellulose, the most critical thing to consider when adding insulation to an attic is the ventilation. Without proper ventilation, frost and condensation can form on the underside of the roof causing substantial damage. Free flowing air must be able to come up through the soffits and leave either through a ridge vent or any type of roof vent such as a gable vent. See drawing below illustrating proper ventilation while using batt insulation.
By using thermal convection, outside air is continually being exchanged with the air in the attic. This allows no moisture to stay in the attic and cause damage. By adding insulation to your attic, with proper ventilation, you will decrease your chance of water damage; decrease the amount of wasted heat, therefore, decreasing the amount of energy used to heat your house.
Nice looking graphic jenny. Have you thought of including something about the different types of insulation? such as blown-in? also i found some more information on this through the CMHC website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/enefcosa/enefcosa_002.cfm
I hope this will help.
Thanks Bert! I will be addressing different types of insulation in my final report, I just chose batt for the graphic. Thanks for the website!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennie,
ReplyDeleteRecently I hired this guy to to an energy audit on our house and I was impressed. He happens to be a building technologist and now full-time Energy Advisor endorsed by Natural Resources Canada, and a friendly person:
Ian Rice
Certified Energy Advisor
Amerispec Home Inspection Service
Kamloops, British Columbia,
mail: irice@telus.net
www.amerispec.ca
This guy has all the info you need about where to spend money for best return on investment in older homes like mine.
Cheers,
Tony.
Wow thanks Tony! I will definitely be contacting him! Do you mind me asking how much the energy audit cost?
ReplyDeleteHi Jennie,
ReplyDeleteI have another name for you if you are considdering a an energy audit. I don't know if she has a thermal imaging camera, but she is a super nice lady and worked with us on the dream home.
Heather Lamar
RU Green consulting
email: rugreen@shaw.ca
Good Luck!
Thanks Jody.
ReplyDeleteIf you find a thermal camera let me know, maybe we can split the cost of renting one perhaps? I don't even know if you can rent one, but am looking for one. I was thinking maybe the science building might have one?
No problem Jennie:
ReplyDeleteThe cost for an energy audit is $300.00 - $150 for the first visit and blower door test, and another $150 for the second visit (and second blower door test) to evaluate the improvements that have been made.
Originally you had up to 18 months in between the two visits to get your work done, but it looks like NRCan's rebate program ends in 2011, so it's a shorter time frame to do the renovations in time to get the rebates associated with insulation upgrades, building envelope improvements, etc.
-Tony B.