I would like to remind everyone here to check their attic insulation before it starts getting REAL cold outside!

I just poked my head around the attic of a woman with a 1500sq.ft. house.  She is using about 500 gallons of oil a year with old style stand-up radiators, and oil fired hot water.

I noted that the insulation in the attic was very old, about 1" thick, and in pretty poor shape.  After a quick comment about the advantages of going to the R-30 that would easily fit into the cavity, I noticed one GLARING PROBLEM.

The Rafters of the roof were insulated, and the floor was not.  The Roof had a GABLE VENT on either end!

The poor insulation that was installed was doing nothing.  The only appreciable attic insulation this house has right now is the drywall on the ceiling!


This is a message to all home-owners out there!  Check your attic insulation!

Along those same lines, even if your home is newer it never hurts to take a look. A friend of mine with about a 10 year old house wanted to add an outlet and data jack in a bedroom. So I went up in the attic (he had nice boards up above the blown in) and walked to the far North end and guess what I saw. All the blown in insulation was piled up towards the center and I could see the ceiling sheet rock about a foot from the north and west wall. Apparently the strong winds had pushed it all away from the edges. It made getting the wire in a snap, but then we put up cardboard at the edges and soffit vents to up above the insulation and rented a blower and put in more insulation. He said that bedroom (office) had been colder than the other rooms in winter and warmer in summer, now we know why.

Thanks for the reminders about the attics folks. It's sure not hard to overlook attic inspections since we don't notice a problem very often. Our foundation as well. Seems they can become quite the problem if not inspected and repairs handled promptly. My folks just dealt with a huge problem with theirs. Although their house is some old, if they had noticed the problem sooner, it wouldn't have been as big a job.
Linda ... bellingham real estate

Good point!  Heat rises so the top of your living space is a priority.  Keep in mind that leaks, insulation voids, and insulation compression create a situation where the "effective R-value" is significantly lower than the published R-value of the insulation (20%-50% is a reasonable estimate). 

1.  Seal penetrations and holes. 
2.  Insulate pull-down stairs (attic tent, or other)
3.  Don't compress insulation (with plywood, etc.)