Pink fiberglass blow in insulation

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AU_Prospector

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Guys,

My new home has about 12 inches of pink blown in fiberglass insulation in the attic. I live in Georgia so I guess this is "okay" but I wish there were more. My question is there are a few areas in the attic where there are "divots" in the insulation that I think should be filled in. Rather than rent a blower I feel I could probably fill them in by hand. I intend to purchase a bale of Owens Corning pink blow in and just walk the attic joists and "do it". I think one bale will be suffecient. Anyone see a problem with this? Also the home is "Can Light" crazy with most all of the can recessed lights completely covered by insulation. Is this a fire hazard? Okay to cover recessed lights with fiberglass? No way I would consider cellulose, but fiberglass is okay to cover cans, right?

Thanks for all your help on this.
Prospector
 
AU_Prospector said:
Guys,

.......... Okay to cover recessed lights with fiberglass? No way I would consider cellulose, but fiberglass is okay to cover cans, right?

Thanks for all your help on this.
Prospector
Click to expand...

Two problems, I think. Recessed lights can overheat (if not rated to be covered) and they are notorious for leaking air into the attic. Fiberglass does not stop air flow. Look for dirty streaks as telltale of leaks. See link below.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,212235,00.html
 
Fiberglass in really not better than cellulose for fire. The cellulose is treated and wil not burn. Fiberglass can melt and be useless. Cellulose is also beeter for insulation.
 
I try to be green when it makes sense, but in the interest of uniformity in that pink fiberglass is already installed, I am sticking with pink. Also I have received advice that the cellulose fire retardant isnt always evenly distributed in that insulation and can degrade over time which leads me back to pink.

Back to my question,,, is it suffecient to hand spread the loose pink fiberglass to fill in the holes or am I wasting my time because it wont help.

thanks~
 
I try to be green when it makes sense, but in the interest of uniformity in that pink fiberglass is already installed, I am sticking with pink. Also I have received advice that the cellulose fire retardant isnt always evenly distributed in that insulation and can degrade over time which leads me back to pink.

Back to my questions,,, is it suffecient to hand spread the loose pink fiberglass to fill in the holes or am I wasting my time because it wont help. Also there are 24plus cans which are accessable to the open attic space. All of which come into contact with insulation and all but 2 are completely covered by a few inches of insulation. The two which are not covered I uncovered myself to see if there were any meaningful markings which I didnt see any. I rarely use these cans, I think at most I had the living room on for 5 hours straight. They use way too much electricity. The home is only 5 years old, I dont know the builder and I am the second owner.

thanks~
 
Your cans are fine. They make cans for insulated ceiling and unless your builder is an complete idiot you have them and have nothing to worry about.. and the cans should be covered with insulation..


As far as adding more insulation im a little confused. if you had 12'' of insulation you would not be able to see your ceiling joists. You probably have 6'' or 8'' floor joists so you shouldnt be able to see the joists. 12" of insulation is great. 6'' to 8'' is still good.

If you can see your joists to walk on the add all the insulation you want by hand. but it you have to wad through the insulation then your wasting your time.
 
every case is different, but I thought my house needed more insulation in the attic also, until I did a home energy audit.

the inspector said, 'sure, you could add more insulation, but for the same money you can improve other areas and get better bang for the buck'

just something to mull over
 
You should look into flourescent bulbs. Technology has come a long way. They make them to look identical to the standard bulbs now. Just make sure you get the bulb covers, or housings, these allow you to screw in the corkscrew flourescents, makes it a little cheaper when changing them. You could run all 24 for about 1/4 the cost.... Good luck.
 
You need to immediately move all loose fill insulation off from the recessed lights. It should be at least 6 inches away from the fixtures in all directions.

Jerry
DIYtoday.net
 
Please look at your canisters. There are different types.

you need IC rated for Insulation contact.

See this:
http://www.terrylove.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10506

If they are IC rated, they are meant to be covered. As for sprinkling the Insulation, That is probably the cheapest way to go about filling in. Unless you pay someone to do the same thing. Watch you footing. You may want to run some boards across your trusses.
 
the feds recommend r49 for all but very southern georgia and its still r38 there, you probably average 11-12inches which is just a around the new home requirements of r30, some retailers where you get the "pink stuff" will let you borrow the machine with insulation purchase, you will need 10-12 bags per 1000ft2 im gonna guess 300$ worth, you need the machine to fluff the insulation otherwise the r value will suck, if your gonna track the existing insulation to add a bag your probably gonna end up worse off then ya started. before you do all of this check for air leaks in your ceiling by looking for dirty spots, and make sure it is properly ventilated...........just spend the 300-400 bucks per 1000ft2 and youll probably get it back in the first year or two.... answer in the small version..... no dont buy a bag of loosefill and throw it in, it probably says not to and why on the bag
 
Its an old topic but i think that it needs to be addressed that unless you aggitate the loose-fill fiberglass, it wont achieve its r-value. Also a comment on fiberglass not having good r-value?? Not true, you can blow r-60 fiberglass. And dont be sure about cellulose being fireproof, its is fire retarding, which is different, basically meaning it will smolder for so long and then, POOF
 
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