Cellulose is more difficult to cheat than fiberglass.
Is my attic insulation is cellulose or fiberglass.
In addition to its great r value cellulose also provides sounds insulation by providing mass and dampening.
Assuming your current attic insulation is made from fiberglass and has a value of r 13 you d have to add roughly 10 inches of additional fiberglass to hit r 38.
The trapped air molecules in the insulation are pulled up through the insulation into the colder attic air.
The two main least expensive and most commonly used residential insulation materials is cellulose and fibreglass.
Sources many fiberglass installers fluff the fiber with extra air so you don t get as much insulation as you re supposed to.
Or 7 inches of cellulose.
Cellulose has 38 better air infiltration than fiberglass.
Loose fill fiberglass seems to dominate attic insulation in new construction homes and has an r value of approximately 2 5 per inch.
When comparing blown in insulation both fiberglass and cellulose are nearly identical in price both costing around 0 70to 0 80per square foot for 6 inches of insulation.
You can get to the same place with either material.
Pros and cons of loose fill fiberglass attic insulation.
This problem has been successfully solved by installing fiberglass batt insulation over the top of loose fill or blown insulation.
This keeps the air from moving within the insulation and from penetrations between the air conditioned space and the attic.
Cellulose forms a dense continuous mat of insulation in your attic.
Cellulose provides better sound insulation than fiberglass i e homes are less noisy with it.
Inspecting your attic insulation.
This allows the insulation to get into the small pockets and crevices that fiberglass wouldn t be able to.
Fiberglass is a suspected carcinogen.
Fiberglass batts however are less expensive costing on average 0 30to 0 40a square foot for 6 inches of insulation.
Like cellulose you need a big machine to blow it in.
Unless you opt for spray foam then the insulation choices normally come down to cellulose and fibreglass.
First things first you need to go up into your attic inspect the condition of the insulation and calculate the current level of insulation.
The bottom line is that cellulose can burn but fiberglass will not support combustion.
Cellulose cellulose insulation offers many advantages to your home such as its r value of r 2 6 per 100mm metric which is better than glass wool or rock wool.
Thus creating a more energy efficient home.