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Posted by Joseph Meehan on September 18, 2007, 8:13 pm
> Thinking about the coming Northern Virginia winter and life in a 40+
> year old house.
>
> The attic has old fiberglass insulation between the rafters. Some of
> it has settled in spots and it looks dried out and brittle if that
> makes sense. If that doesn't make sense - well, it still looks dried
> out and brittle to me....
>
> Question 1: Would I get good bang for my buck by rolling out a new
> layer of R-13 over the old insulation - but at a 90 degree angle?
Any additional insulation is good.
>
> Question 2: Would a vapor barrier make sense in the attic? Would it be
> most effective under the insulation? Over the insulation? Or against
> the roof?
Any vapor barrier should be on the warm side, that usually means next to
the ceiling below, which would be under the existing insulation. Is there
one under that insulation. If so leave it there. Don't choose insulation
with an attached vapor barrier when you are adding insulation.
>
> Question 3: I have a gas burning furnace in the basement. The furnace
> is in a room with the washer and dryer and in the winter, that room
> gets pretty warm. The vent pipe exiting the furnace gets plenty hot.
> Would insulating that pipe help keep the rest of the house warmer?
If you mean the exhaust pipe, then no do not insulate it. If you mean
the ducts supplying warm air to the rest of the house, yes go ahead and add
some insulation, but don't expect much. Since heat rises most of that heat
that is now in your basement finds its way up to the living areas.
Insulating the ducts would increase this some and reduce the temperature of
the basement.
--
Joseph Meehan
Dia 's Muire duit
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