put in more insulation

but I’m giving up for now, until I have an energy audit and find out for sure it I need it.

I suppose I should mention, while I was on a roll to get this done back in the fall, it has been put on the back burner. I didn’t just forget about it 4 months ago, or quit.
I had a couple other house emergancies in the mean time that have eaten up my home improvment budget (both finanacially and motivationally). Insulation will have to come after the new kitchen floor, and it will probably be less expensive in the summer anyway.

A coworked suggested that I do this myself instead of hiring someone to do it. He said it isn’t very hard.

• much less expensive, about 1/2 the price
• Does not depelete my entire house maintanace/emergancy fund
• Can use the cellulose stuff, which is my first choice.

• can’t be done in the rain (which is not supposed to stop until round about April at which time I’ll have gone the whole winter with cold showers. OK so thats an exageration, but it will certainly limit my options.)
• need at least two people
• An all day job and needs to be done in a single day, if there are unexpected things, it could get ugly (because of rental equipment, rental truck…)
• Professionals will obviously do a better job
• I can’t seem to figure out if its OK for me to install cellulose insulation over the top of my current blown-in fiberglass. I’m thinking it isn’t OK.

I got an estimate. This is going to be much more expensive than I’d been lead to believe.

If it cuts my gas bill by 25%, which is a reasonable assumption, it will take nearly 6 years to get a return on that investment.

I have to remember that this isn’t just about money. Its about the carbon dioxide savings from burning less gas. Its about taking hot showers, even in the winter, and about not freezing in the mornings!

This should have been done as part of my “make my home more energy efficent (last) winter” goal. At that time I’d asked the furnace repairman if the insulation was enough when he was in the attic and he said it was just fine. Also, when I bought the house the inspector told me it was just fine. This weekend my dad told me it is not fine, that it is at the minimum amount needed to be up to code. He recomeneded getting another 8 inches blown in. Hopefully it will save on heating next winter and keep things a bit cooler in the summer too.