DIY Network

Keeping Warm From "Best Built Home" episode DBBH-102F

A big part of being comfortable in a new house is having good insulation, and in this third "comfort" segment, DIY travels to Colorado to see how builders are using old phone books and newspaper as an alternative insulation to the traditional fiberglass batt insulation. It's called Damp Spray Cellulose Insulation and is made from old newspaper and other recycled paper products, which produce an insulating value (or R-value) that's 25-percent greater than that of fiberglass. The insulation also acts as an air barrier because it's blown in moist and fills any cracks or crevices in the framing. It completely surrounds electrical outlets and switches. Fiberglass insulation, on the other hand, is cut around plugs leaving large gaps for drafts and moisture infiltration. The material is also treated to make it fire retardant. The insulation is so dense it also provides sound deadening qualities to the home's construction. A warm quiet home is a comfortable home.

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	The Vargo home in Colorado.
	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

The comfort and efficiency of their well-built house is apparent to homeowners Rob and Amanda Vargo of Colorado. "I noticed right away that our heater wasn't having to work as hard as it did in our apartment," Amanda said. "The electric bill here and gas bill should be much higher, but it's only like $30 more." (The apartment was 1,000 square feet smaller!) "We're very impressed with the efficiency," Amanda said. (For more information on the Vargo home, click here for Episode DBBH-101 of the Best Built Home workshop.)

Both the efficiency and comfort are greatly impacted by the way the house is insulated. "We use what's called a cellulose insulation, which is a slightly damped, recycled material (figure A) -- papers and things like that." Donald Carpenter, director of product management for Oakwood Homes, said.

The newspapers and other recycled paper products are formulated into a dense material that's put in-between the wall studs and ceilings of a new house (figure B). The insulation is blown into the walls and covered with drywall. This new material is superior to the fiberglass insulation that has been utilized previously. The R-value, which refers to resistance, and air-infiltration grading are excellent.

Note: The higher the R-value of insulation the better quality it's considered to be.

Rob is in the building industry and he was impressed with the R-value of the cellulose insulation. "I looked at the R-values that Oakwood provided with this type of insulation, and it's a fully-filled wall system," he said. "And it gives a high R-value in the walls between 12 to 14, and the roof as well is filled (figure C) and has a R-value of like R-32. The floors are well insulated as well. So it gave me a rating that was a higher standard than I was seeing out of many of the other builders."

Robert Lyman of Allied Insulation says that cellulose insulation performs 25-percent better than traditional fiberglass insulation. "The advantage of cellulose insulation over fiberglass insulation is the elimination of transfer through a wall cavity," he said. "Cellulose insulation will fill all the voids that a fiberglass batt can not fill."

Any wires, pipes, fans or anything in a wall that fiberglass batt can't get around -- cellulose can, clogging the cavity tight. This can happen because the new insulation is applied as a damp spray. A machine is loaded with the recycled paper products, and moisture is added inside the machine and is sprayed onto the interior framing of the house with little or "no" waste.

Soundproofing is another benefit of cellulose insulation. Sound can transfer through the material, but due to the density of the material it lowers the sound as it goes through. This insulation also has a safety benefit because it's treated with a fire-retardant solution, making it 22- to 55-percent more fire resistant than fiberglass. It's a fire-resistant product but not a fireproof product. It will impede a fire going through a wall system.

Most homeowners don't pay much attention to what's behind the walls, but Amanda and Rob can attest to the results.

In the final on-air segment host Lynda Lyday heads out to the building science laboratory of Build IQ to meet with Michael Dickens to discuss how the body physically "feels" comfort.

RESOURCES :

Oakwood Homes
Phone: 303-486-8500
Website: www.MoreHouseLessMoney.com

Hedgewood Properties
E-mail: sales@hedgewoodhomes.com
Website: www.hedgewoodhomes.com

D.R. Horton
Home Builder
Phone: 916-965-2200
Website: www.drhorton.com
Sacramento Website: www.sacramento.drhorton.com

GUESTS :

Michael Dickens
CEO, BuildIQ
Website: www.buildiq.com

George Del Valle
Insulation Contractor
AC Insulation
Phone: 770-787-1065
E-mail: ACInslation@yahoo.com

Robert Lynman
Supervisor of Cellulose Insulation
Allied Insulation
Phone: 303-289-3326

Rob Johnson
Energy Efficiency Consultant
EarthCraft House
Website: www.earthcrafthouse.com