attic insulation question

after some remodel work,i think i might need some more insulation the the attic. ’83 built spilt entry, 1000sqft attic space. there is batts and some blowen in up there right now. can i just add a few inches of the rake in type??? can you have too much insulation???

You can add more cellulose. You just need to make sure you have plenty of ventilation when you are done.

I blew in an additional 3″ of insulation and now I only burn 3 cords of wood to heat my entire house all winter. I have propane stove and a furnace but have not filled my tank in three years. I still have 60% left in my tank. The added insulation has saved me hundreds of $ so add to what you have and reap the benefits.

Heat may rise but a poorly insulated floor will suck heat out of the room too. Dont overlook that if you dont have a basement.

If you want to do it right, go with spray foam insulation. That’s the most energy efficient, heat and money saving solution.

Go see Chuck or Doug at Isle Lumber. I have used their blower twice now and it is a cake walk to blow in. If you need or want some help PM me, I’d be more than happy to help.

Too much, no. But you can prevent air flow in some instances that sometime can cause problems.

After you get over about R58, you don’t get much more of a return.
As mentioned, ventilation is a huge part of controlling the envelope. If you blow in or rake in more, make sure you don’t cover your vent breathers. If you have a very low slope, you may need to extend them.
Also, and possibly more important, seal any air leaks. Older style recess lights, standard light opening, smoke detectors,….all have penetrations in your envelope. Its mind boggling that most builders do such a crappy job of sealing them up. Here, the code calls for a dab of caulk and done. If you peel back insulation and see black or dark streaks, usually a point of air leak.
While your up there, check your bath fans. Bath fans leaking to attic space is a horrible thing!
Another common spot for air leaks is around masonry. Here’s an example of an air leak that condensates in the insulation next to the wood. Because it never dried, the wood rotted out. It should have been separated from contact by min 1″ from the stone, or better yet, closed cell foam!

Finally, for those in areas with potential ice dams. Controlled air in the ventilation prevents most ice dams. Warm air leaks up to the roof deck and and melts snow ice, it runs down and re-freezes. By nature, ice expands and pushes back up the roof under the shingles or flashing. Watch for potential areas like compressed insulation above a wall, lack of insulation, air leaks….The house I had to gut out last years was well over $16K in ice damage. Could have been easily prevented with vent sleeves.
Also, NEVER install an attic thermal blanket that doesn’t permeate. This homeowner spent something like $2,500 on this just to have trapped moisture and mold!

thanks for the replies. cieling penatrations are good, no ice dams, the wife thinks we need more insulation because some of the blowen in insulation was lost when replacing some of the cieling sheetrock when i remodeled. our heat bills are not out of line compaired to friends/family homes of similer size.

Attic ventilation is very important. Even having the propper amount of insulation you have to watch out for moisture freezeing in the attic from the bathroom or kitchen vents.

I know a guy that checked out some leaks in a roof during the winter. Everybody thought the roof was leaking water down into the house, through the ceiling. The reason was the attic had a thick frost buildup on the plywood and the rafters. He did what he could right then and vented the bathroom vent outside instead of it being vented into the attic and put ventilation troughs between the rafters down into the soffits and by spring when he came back to redo the roof, the frost buildup was gone due to evaporation and the owners didn’t have too redo the roof.

when i bought the place, i found the bath vent and the vent hood over the stove were both vented to just the attic. i have fixed most of everything in the house over the last 9 years, i removed walls and opened the house up like a lake home should be. new roof and vents. attic ventiliation is good, just want to add a few more R’s to account for what was lost during the remodel, running wire, installing reccessed lights and some sheetrock where needed.