Radiant Barrier and Insulation

Hello N.,My name is Don Kennedy and I know about all that you are asking about. You can contact me at ###-###-#### or email me ____@____.com.

IDK how much radiant barrier costs - it was never something we considered. In order of cheapest (and easiest to do yourself) to most expensive, though -

1. Get a spray can of expanding foam and make sure you have no gaps around electrical outlets (esp on outside walls) and switches, behind your door trim (on outside walls) and window trim (on outside walls).

2. Caulk around your windows, and weatherstrip your doors.

3. They sell thermoreflective coating for windows - tinted or not - treat the western facing windows. (you can have this done, but the kit makes it fairly easy at about 25% of the price). If you already have double paned windows with the new gas in the middle, this may not be worth it.

4. Put your outside HVAC unit in the shade with a 4-6 foot lattice fence. Make sure you can still get to the unit either by leaving 1 foot between the house and the 3 sided fence, or by including a gate. You will be shocked at what this does to your electric bill. Leave 2 feet of clearance around the unit and make sure that there are no weeds growing around / up into the unit. For appearance sake, put some vines up it. This increases the shade too.

5. Climb in your attic and make sure the connections between HVAC lines are tight. Also make sure that ducts leading to particularly uncomfortable rooms haven't been crushed. Check for rodent feeding. Seal the ones that aren't, or pay someone to.

6. Home Depot offers free use of a blower if you buy 8 bags (or so) of blow in insulation. It's not hard to do yourself, and knocked 25% off of our summer utility bill (gas heat - winter didn't go down as much). Paid for itself in 3 months.

I think #6 qualifies for a tax rebate too.

Oh - I forgot, assuming none of your family has problems with seizures, dyslexia, migraines, or ADD - as a bulb burns out, replace it with a CFL. They're expensive at first, but do pay for themselves within 6 months in electricity savings - and last a couple of years each, if not more.

An electric thermostat costs less than $40 and lets you program when you want your unit to come on - same thing, about 30 minutes before you need it until you leave.. you can program it to be warmer in the day before you come home (85 or so) and drop it to 75 right before you come home - then back up to 77 (or down to 72) for bed time in the summer. Then in the winter, you can program it to hover at 60 while your gone, come up to 70 right before you come home, and drop back to 65 - 68 at night for bed - then warm up 30 minutes before it's time to wake up. I loved my electric thermostat.

And plug in your tv, chargers, vcr and stuff to a power strip - when they're off, turn the strip off - that will knock another 10-20% off your bill.

If you have an electric hot water heater, look into a timer and a HWH blanket. You can set the timer to turn the water heater on 30 minutes before you need hot water to 30 minutes after - and the blanket helps reduce the energy required to keep it there during that time. Be warned - outside of when you time it to be hot, it gets COLD.

I implemented one of these every month or two in our old house (1500 square feet - built in 1963) - from August 2006 to August 2008 our electric bill went from 513 to 276 for non averaged billing. Keep in mind that there was a big price hike in May 2008. Otherwise, I think it would have been closer to $200.

My next step was going to be to replace the HVAC unit with a higher seer - which should have cut my summer bills by 50% again, and maybe gotten a tankless hotwater heater.

Good luck.

S.

Last year my hubby laid about $1500 worth of insulation in our attic and we can tell a world of difference.

We built this house in 2000, a little over 4000 sq ft and before we ripped out the builder AC/Heating, Furnace and wiring and upgraded with high quality products, our highest electric bill in summer was around $700.

Last summer was the first summer with the insulation and our bills never went over $400. We are not stingy with the thermostat.....we keep comfy and I am sometimes cold in here.

We could tell the most and best difference in the areas where he installed the insulation. Our bedrooms are much more comfortable now and the air flow is more evened out.

We thought about radiant barrier and would not rule that out as something else to do if we need to.

GOod luck

I agree with another poster saying that you should check the ducts, etc in your attic first. We had a 1600 sq ft house about 10 yrs ago, our bills were over $400 the first summer. We had an inspection done on the house before our 1 yr warranty expired and one of the large silver duct things was not attached where it should be. It was sucking in HOT attic air. Plus the vents were not right up there so no hot air was escaping.

As for cell phones not working . . . we just recently put a contract on a house in Plano with radiant barrier already done (in 2006 I think) and our realtor used his cell phone several times inside the house and it worked fine, I also used mine once or twice and had no problems.

Yes! In December of 07 my husband installed it himself in our atic. He researched it on the web and found out that the best way is to use the sheets NOT THE SPRAYED ON. He ordered it himself over the internet and it was less than $300. Our home is 2300 sq. feet and our highest bill in the summer had gotten to $578 (August 07). Last summer (2008) after the Radient Barrier, our highest bill was $234 (August)! During the winter now, they're note over $140. Radientguard.com is where he orded his from. I think he ordered about 3 rolls for our house. Then, each roll was less than $100 a pc. He and our teenage son installed it. It's a lot cheaper than having it done and sprayed on. Research it and read about how to install it yourself!
OH, and we've never had any trouble with smell or our cell phones!

N.,

Backtracking - I came back to the top to apologize for how long this got!

I'm a little late in responding - I was in the hospital for surgery.

My husband researched radiant barrier and decided to do it himself over the winter. He ordered about 5 to 6 rolls of the foil insulation (foil/plastic bubble layer/foil - about 1/4 inch thick) and did it himself. He stapled it to the bottom of the rafters (am I getting this right? I'm not the engineer - he is) and left the area between the rafters as a passageway for the hot air to get out of the attic. Now the inside of the attic looks very high tech. (Email me if you want to know more detail on how he did this. Your DH might want to talk to my DH)

He also redistributed some of the very very poorly distributed blown in insulation. The last two feet around the perimeter of the house (where a normal person wouldn't be able to see it from the attic entrances) didn't have any insulation at all. No wonder the south facing master would get so hot in the winter and the two bedrooms on the north would be freezing!

While he was up in the attic he found two vents that were poorly connected so the air was leaking into the attic. Also, he found a leak near the chimney - it was not properly flashed in one spot. Huh!

After he put in the RB we hardly had to run the heater the rest of the winter.

Here's more info that goes beyond the RB. Skip it if you don't have time to read...

He also researched geothermal heatpumps. And we bought one on ebay and he had 5 wells drilled and is in the process of hooking it up to the house. He will be improving the ridiculous duct system (looks like a drunk octopus right now). (We have 2 1/2 acres, so had room for the welldiggers to get in there and mess around in the dirt)

The old AC/heater system will go out in the shop and be used sporadically when we do shop type things. DH says that the AC is filthy and he's surprised we're not all sicker than dogs all the time. We are also installing an electrostatic air cleaner to help with my allergies.

We've definitely overspent our budget on this house! Hope we don't have to move soon so the savings in energy costs can help us recoup some of this money! LOL

Other dreams and plans: we upped the capacity of the heating/cooling system since we enclosed the back porch and vented into the garage so we can use it as a workshop. Also, we got a hot tub from a family member and we're going to heat that with the heat pump also.

We dream on...

This is way more than you asked for, but sometimes it's fun to know what others are doing.

Oh, one of the things that I did last summer before all the upgrading started is I bought some insulated drapes from WalMart. They sell them for about $17 or $25 depending on the width you buy.

Feel free to respond and ask about specific price. My DH has that all in the files.

A.

Yes, radiant barriers do work. They block the radiant heat from the sun and help keep the attic cool when paired with appropriate ventilation. The best kind of barrier is the type where the foil is mounted directly to the boards on the underside of the deck; this is used on new construction and re-builds. There is also a spray-on radiant barrier for existing homes. This product is not as effective as the first, but will work to a lesser degree. It's a coin toss on where to spend your energy dollars - spray-on barrier or more insulation. Both will help, but there is no way to know which is most effective. The energy tax credit is pro-rated based on income.

I have a house that's 4000 sq ft. We had radiant barrier installed summer before last. My husband said it made a HUGE difference in the bills. The one summer before that when we had 20+ days with 100+ temperatures, if we didn't have balanced billing, we'd have had over an $800 electric bill! that's with keeping the thermostat on 78 degrees or higher. One other thing we did was contact a company called Texas Solar Screens and had them come do solar screens on our windows that received DIRECT sunlight... and TO ME... THAT made ALL the difference in the world! I could FEEL that the interior of our house was cooler. We have a front door that has the decorative windows to either side of it and also one of those half circle windows above it... our formal living room has three windows that go from floor to a cathedral height ceiling that faced the sun... so when you walk into my home, and the curved staircase was right there taking a beating from the windows by the front door... the upstairs was ALWAYS hot because of this. After we had the solar screens installed... it's literally like night and day! If you can afford it, I'd do BOTH! Texas Solar Screens did 90 days same as cash for us so we paid it off over 3 months. The radiant barrier -- it STINKS when you first get it. Not in a literal sense, in a PHYSICAL sense. It smelled like kitty litter (I'm not a cat person) so if you're someone that is affected by odors -- you may want to stay elsewhere until you get the smell done and over with through your house.

We have been looking at different kinds of insulation, and the guys at Home Depot said that it really isn't worth the money and it doesn't insulate as well as it is advertised. They recommended the spray in insulation. Home Depot sells Radiant Barrier, so I believe the guy we talked with. Good luck with the insulation.

Good morning, N.,
We had a radiant barrier installed in our home about 18 months ago. Last summer was the first summer we had it and we definitely noticed a reduction in our electric usage. Our cell phones work fine in the house and we use them a lot. My best suggestion is to be sure to have a reliable company do it and not try to save bucks by having a neighbor or relative do it. Professional installation does make a big difference.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

We had this installed BUT be sure they install on the rafters, next to the roof. Ours was simply laid on top of insulation and doesn't do the same job. We did not see a substantial decrease in our utilities but have been told the improper installation is the issue. We plan to invest in another application of the same product but applied correctly. We purchased this several years ago when it first was popular. It is pricey but I don't remember the amount ~$3k. I have a 3800 sq ft 2 story. We just replaced 2 energy efficient new AC units so we're anxious to see the difference. We also replaced just the glass in our windows with energy efficient rated glass and that made a huge difference.

Hi N..
I don't have experience with radiant barrier (sorry! no help here!) but I have really high bills too, even higher in the winter. I always thought they'd be lower. I called my electric company, I called the public electricity commission, and I finally called an energy efficiency company. They told me that my heater does not have a Heat pump and so we have these little electricity "strips" that require a ton more electricity than a heat pump would.

So, I know I didn't really answer your question but I wanted to help if you were maybe like me and couldn't figure out why your winter bills would be high. I kinda expect my summer bills to be high, but not winter.

Also, I just switched to Cirro Energy and they gave me the Texas Smart Lock rate which is 10.7 cents per kwH. Hope that info helps.

We were going to do a radiant barrier until we had our roof replaced from the hail storm last summer. We upgraded our roof and got the 30% credit. The roof covers gutter to gutter. the attic barrier only covers the attic so you still are losing air. Also, I hear if it cracks, the whole thing needs to be reprayed. It wasn't as great as I thought. There are companies that do energy assessments to see where you are losing air. I would ck them all including your AC unit. Sounds like you have several things that you could address to make your house more efficient. Address them all. Filters all clean, no leaks in AC unit. My house is much larger and Im not paying $400/month.

*Also we switched energy carriers to a cheaper one. Stream Energy.

We have been considering the radiant barrier as well, just have not decided what is the best one yet. I would suggest that you consider having window film or solar screens put on your windows. It will help out in several ways. Both reflect the heat out before it has a chance to get into your house. The film will also get you UV protection. We own a company that does both. Give us a call and we would be happy to come out and give you a free estimate and show you some samples. Teck's Window Tinting ###-###-####

Might try installing an energy sufficent hotwater heater. We replaced ours and the electric bill has gone down! Also, replace your light bulbs with energy bulbs... and whatever you are not using, unplug. I have been doing this for the last five months... unplugging the television system, computer, coffee pot, non-answering machine telephones... think about the energy that a dvd player or computer utilizes if not being used? there's a little light still on both systems... A few helpful hints. Good luck.

I highly recommend Radiant Barrier. We had it in our house for about 5 years. When we moved a year & a half ago my husband had it installed before we even moved in. EAS (efficient attic systems) did it. We have had no problems with cell phone coverage whatsoever.

I have heard it really makes a diffference, but let me warn you that your cell phone won't work in the house with Radiant Barrier. I talked to my contractor when I redid my home about it and they said if you relied on your cell phone it was not a good choice.

Hi, N.! Get all the info you can FIRST about rebate qualifications. We just put in a new HVAC kit and kaboodle and it does not qualify for the rebate. You have to buy the most expensive pieces to qualify - the HVAC guy said the rebates are a joke because the government has used standards that are not in line with the research.

We have a same sized house as you and had the same sized bills - and I walk around all day turning lights out and keeping the A/C at 75. The HVAC guys switched around our ductwork to put the hardest pressure air into the west facing rooms - that has helped so much I can't even tell you - those two rooms were 5-7 degrees hotter than the living and master. It was the cheapest repair, less than $100. The other thing they did was seal the connections in the attic at the boots and 'y's of the ductwork. We had huge gaps because these thrown up neighborhoods (ours is only 10 yrs old) were made so poorly. Our system was pulling in a ton of attic hot air while trying to cool the house.

These may be cheaper for you to explore before you get pulled in by a salesman in an industry that is hurting right now along with the rest of the country. Have someone check the depth of your insulation, too. Another trend is to cut corners on the thickness of insulation by an inch or two and that apparently makes a huge difference.

Let me know how you decide - I'm curious to see if anyone actually saves money with the radiant barrier - if houses were made like the good old days, we wouldn't need all this technology!

Blessings to you,
L.
____@____.com
www.lizsmith.myarbonne.com

My husband and I did a ton of research on this topic. We live in a 30 year old house and our electric bills are $400+. We decided to have blown in insulation first. Our attic is 2400 square feet and they blew 11 inches of insulation in for $600. It is also eligible for a tax credit and a discount from your electric company. So I would check to see how much insulation you have first before spending a small fortune on a radiant barrier. The company we used was KMD Insulation based in Ft. Worth. I found the company on an internet service called Service Magic. They would also be a great resource for you to find good estimates on companies offering Radiant Barriers.

We have the kind that rolls out like perferated aluminum foil that is quilted. You can tell when you walk in my house in the summer where it starts and stops in the attic. Our house is 2400sf and our bills run about 300 per month. I like it on 71 at night in the summer, about 76 daytime and in the winter about 73 daytime, 65 at night. This might give you an idea. Also, you can caulk around your windows and doors for leaks, etc. WE did it ourselves.
The new silver spray they come and put on the ceiling of your attic is supposed to be very efficient also.

We did the spray on radiant barrier 2 years ago. We also had all the insulation sucked out & new stuff sprayed in. It was about $4500 for 1610 sq. ft. house built in the late 70's. I think the insulation was the best. Our house definately does not get as hot as fast. If I could do it over again I would do the foam vs the radiant barrier.

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