Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Attic "crawlspace" insulation

1st off, I live in New Hampshire. I have a 3 level townhouse with a loft overlooking the master bedroom. From the loft there is a little door that goes into a "crawlspace" which I use for storage. There are no roof vents (I am a middle unit). I do have the eaves vents (at the bottom of the roof, the overhang part). Currently there is some insulation only on the knee wall which is the back wall of the loft. There is NO insulation on the roof in the rafters. There is some insulation stuffed down at the overhang by the eaves vents - where I can see light coming in.

My questions are: should I install some insulation in the roof rafters? This space is FRIGID in the winter and SCORCHING HOT in the summer. It transfers heat and cold to the loft. Right now it is 92 degrees up here!!! For comparison, the outside temp here today was 94 degrees!!! It's like a sauna on the 3rd floor of my house.

I understand I would need to get the styrofoam baffle things that go in between the rafters and then get some of "the pink panther stuff". I also saw a product called Reflectix. Is that something I could use?

Should I add more insulation to the knee wall?

I know that I lose a lot of heat through this space in the winter, and as a result my heating bills tend to be verrrry high. I also was reading about tax incentives for making the home more energy efficient....that seems like a bonus.

Thanks in advance for your help. I have gotten some really nice advice from this site.

Lynn

Are you sure there isn't insulation already there? What some houses have is a storage area like yours but the floor and inside walls are insulated already.

The "floor" of that space is plywood, and I HOPE there is insulation under that. The side walls (which are very small, and they are walls that are shared with the units on both sides of me) do not have any insulation in between the studs (it is all open with studs showing). The knee wall does have some insulation between the studs (I can see it, it is not covered with wallboard or anything), but I think it could maybe use more.

The roof rafters, which I can see clearly are bare, are my main concern.

I have done a lot of improvements to my house and have come to learn that when the buildings were built back in 1984 - there were a LOT of corners cut with very shoddy workmanship. It's just terrible!!!! Case in point, I have a north facing wall (the whole front facade of the house, which is brick) and there is NO insulation between the inside wallboard and the outside bricks. Basically there is AIR between the studs. Air = not a good insulator. :)

As long as there is insulation on the side walls and knee walls(any walls/ that are against heated space) then you are OK. It doesn't matter if the roof rafters are insulated in the storage area, just as long as the heated walls are insulated.

I find it hard to believe that insulating between the roof rafters wouldn't make a difference with my heating/cooling bills. It was 93 degrees in the loft yesterday and at least 120-130 degrees in that crawlspace. The door to that space is HOT to the touch.

Is the door to the crawl space insulated? This might be part of the problem. Its most likely a hollow core interior cut down door. You can put some rigid insulation on the back side of the door.

Test your ceiling to see if insulation was missed or not. If you go around and rap with your knuckles on the ceiling it should sound solid. If it sounds very "hollow" then insulation may be missing from that area.

Heat rises, so it makes sense that the hottest part of the house is the highest part also. You may try installing a ceiling fan to help stir the air a little. Ceiling fans are everywhere in the south because of the heat (I have 3 of them).

Where is your thermostat located? Sometime thermostats are located in areas the heat up or cool down faster than other areas. When the thermostat get to the preset temp, it shuts the system down, regardless if the rest of the house is ready or not.

You can also try to balancing your Heating and Air Conditioning Ducts. Selectively opening and closing register vents (assuming you have a forced air system) throughout the house will cause better cooling in areas that need additional help. Sometimes the ducts in the basement have dampers installed in them that you can manipulate. For Instance: Heat rises, so only heat the first 2 levels and let radiant heat take care of the Loft. Conversly, cold air sinks, so you send most of the air conditioning to the Loft and let it flow down toward the first 2 floors. Determine the optimal settings for both the heating and cooling seasons.

Hi Czizzi:

I do have rigid insulation on the attic side of the little door. I also have added a strip of one of the weather-seal rubbery things to the bottom of the door.

I don't really want to take apart the loft ceiling to add insulation to it! Although it is quite possible that it could be missing some insulation (the rest of the house certainly is!)

I had considered a ceiling fan but can't do that for 2 reasons. 1) the ceiling in the loft itself is way too low and I would end up decapitated, which would really suck, and 2) the ceiling to the bedroom right below the loft is a cathedral ceiling with no access to get wiring up that high without taking apart the whole house. Not an option. :(

The thermostat is on the 2nd floor in the back bedroom. Unfortunately I don't have central air conditioning. There are no heat registers up in the loft, so all the heat in the winter comes from radiating up from the 2nd floor. I have multiple fans going to keep the air circulating as best I can through the bedroom with the loft.

I've been reading up on insulation and I think I am going to get some of the styrofoam spacer things and put those between the rafters in the crawl space (for the air space) and then get the batts of fiberglass insulation and put those between the rafters. I also think I am going to add some insulation to the knee wall. I can't do it for another couple months because it is waaay too hot right now to do anything but have a sauna in there. Hey, maybe that's what I can do...might be nice to have a sauna.

I assume then that you have window air conditioning units. If not, then it would be stretching to ask to cool anything when the outside temp is in the mid 90's.

Are the knee walls "hot" like the door is in the loft? If not, then additional insulation will not be of any use. You can double or triple up on the rigid insulation on the door. Test the door for leaks....Hold a candle and put it near the seals around the door. Any leaks will make the flame on the candle "wave". Go all the way around and see if you have any leaks.

Do you have any roof vents? Ridge vents?

Do you have a light in your cathedral ceiling that can be retro-fitted for a ceiling fan?

In the winter, leave your bedroom door open to get some of the cold air in your bedroom to sink to other levels and allow additional heat to filter in. Close the vents in the bedroom with the thermostat to promote a longer heating session out of your furnace to get heat into your bedroom.

I'll just keep asking questions until we figure this out or someone else chimes in.