Comments on: Passive Solar: How to save big when Installing Solar Panels.

By: Jason

Jason — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:47:26 +0000

I am curious as to whether you looked into a radiant barrier system. I understand that it is a heat barrier, and that it would be best to use insulation plus the radiant barrier to maximize energy savings for hot and cool seasons.

By: Mario

Mario — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 01:45:12 +0000

Have you done a comparison of using open cell spray foam in the attic instead of traditional insulation?

By: Nils Davis

Nils Davis — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Scott – thanks for the reply – very informative. I’m a bit concerned about the monkey bar approach, as our attic has very small vertical space, but the plywood sheet approach seems like it would work, especially if you can just “fluff up” the insulation afterwards.

By: sblackb

sblackb — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:00:43 +0000

Nils,

I spent a couple weeks in the attic getting all my wiring done, fixing ductwork, and wrapping metal collars around my non-ic recessed lights. I also replaced a lot of the recessed lights with IC air tite (insulation contact) type so I could improve the envelop of the house. Let’s face it, why do all the insulation and other energy conserving improvements if you leave holes directly into the attic. But the sad reality is that I still ran out of time before the insulation appointment and I still have the cans left to replace.

I recently bought a hood for the range that requires a 6 inch duct it into the attic and out the side of the house. This proved to be an interesting challenge with all the insulation, but I managed to locate two of the ceiling joists and wander down them to get to the spot I needed to work on. I brought a 20 x 48 x1/4″ piece of plywood and laid that down on the insulation. That seemed to spread my weight out enough and let me work a bit cleaner. I wont say it’s easy, but it’s much nicer having the insulation. When you are done, just fluff up the area that’s compressed and work your way back out.

We had a roof leak (new roof) in one of the big monsoon storms and I needed to get to the far side of the attic to see where. I ended up swinging from the roof joists like I was on a set of monkey bars. I guess all that training as a kid finally paid off I know that strategy wont work for everyone, but if you can swing it, it’s quicker than trying to find a safe place to step.

One last thought. Make sure you put a collar around the attic hatch if you have multiple attic access points. The guys that did our insulation blew right over the attic hatch and now I need to go clean that out before we can use it again.

By: Nils Davis

Nils Davis — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:36:23 +0000

Scott – Another great article! I do have some questions for you:
1. How do you walk around in your attic now (i.e., to do more wiring)? I’ve been thinking of doing something like this, but I’m concerned about how attic access will work when there’s 14″ of insulation everywhere.
2. Did you have to do anything special to your recessed lights? We have something like 28 recessed lights in our ceiling (plus a lot of wiring running around up there) and I want to make sure it remains safe.

Thanks,

Nils