Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Stimulus help??

Hello All,

While I realize this isn't really a how to question, I figured this might be a good place to ask the following question:

I've heard in the news that the Stimulus that President Obama signed has funds to winterizing homes. Does anyone have a details on how a homeowner can tap into the funds?

I'd love to get any help I could in paying to insulate my attic..

Thanks!

Michael

I have not heard about that stimulus, the one I heard about was going to be an extra 20+ dollars being in your paycheck or something?? Instead of a 700 dollar check its going to be less taxes taken out.

What you do, is insulate your attic. When tax season arrives, you put that in the deductions section, you can claim up to so much. I have done this for the past 3 yrs. I have added some type of insulation so I claim it. You get a percentage back, not the whole amount!

Have you checked with your local utilities? Many have an office with information on rebates and available programs. There may also be state assistance, depending on your income level.

As was stated, many of the programs provide tax deductions...not actual cash to you in the form of a check or rebate.

If you have a relationship with a CPA you should have a conversation with them to discuss your personal specifics regarding this.

My CPA,a personal friend,has often told me of the constant training and retraining,classes and so forth they take to keep up to date on tax rules and regulations.Often these various deductions etc have taxable income level requirements or are impacted by that as well as other elements of your personal situation.

If you do plan on trying to take advantage of this type of thing I'd strongly suggest you involve a CPA in your tax preparation next year as you will need that level of expertise to make sure all is done correctly and no red flags turn up on your return.

Go to energystar.gov and the bottem left corner has a small icon that says 1040 tax credits for energy efficiency. Click on it and click insulation and it will tell you everything you need to know.

Short synapsis: keep your receipts and you can get a tax credit of UP TO 1500.00 no more than 30% of the cost of the material. This is money that comes right off your total tax liability so it reduces the amount of tax that you owe. It is available until Dec. 31, 2010. So if necessary do some in 2009 and the rest in 2010 that way you can deduct some in each year. Do some digging at the website. You will be supprised what you can deduct.

Thank you everyone.. I did some research on my own and it pretty much agrees with what has been said here.. deductions on taxes is way it works.. Not bad, but I was hoping for up front help..

The attic won 't be too bad.. Maybe 500 dollars if I do it myself, which I plan on doing.. It's the exterior walls.. They are for the most part empty and that's a much more expensive project, even if I do that myself.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Or Evacuation Day.. If your in Boston, MA :)

Michael

It's the exterior walls.. They are for the most part empty and that's a much more expensive project, even if I do that myself.

Are you going to use cellulose?? I highly recommend it, especially when adding insulation to an older home. I did my ext. walls and trust me, it wasn't hard and didn't cost much! I got a quote and that was almost 2400 dollars. I have a 2 story and living space is 1600 sq ft.

I bought 30 bags of cellulose at 9 dollars a bag at the time. Its now 10.32 at lowes. The machine is free if you buy more than 10 bags, which you will. It all depends on what type of exterior you have, is it vinyl/wood/aluminum?? I have wood lap siding. I tore a section off, drilled 1 5/8" holes, blew in insulation, used a dowel cut about 2 inches long and put caulking on the dowel, plugged the holes and put the siding back up! Worked out great. Now if you have vinyl or something like that, I am not sure how you could do it, but its worth looking into!! If you got the time, and patience do it yourself.!!

GOOD LUCK

I bought 30 bags of cellulose at 9 dollars a bag at the time. Its now 10.32 at lowes. The machine is free if you buy more than 10 bags, which you will. It all depends on what type of exterior you have, is it vinyl/wood/aluminum?? I have wood lap siding. I tore a section off, drilled 1 5/8" holes, blew in insulation, used a dowel cut about 2 inches long and put caulking on the dowel, plugged the holes and put the siding back up! Worked out great. Now if you have vinyl or something like that, I am not sure how you could do it, but its worth looking into!! If you got the time, and patience do it yourself.!!

This is a point of interest for me and frankly, I am horrible at math so bear with me..

The area of the house is 1350 sqft. There is a North facing back side of the house that is the largest continuous section of the home (just two windows, on the first floor level). This section is about 44ft long and about 14ft high.. I'm unsure how much cellulose I would use to fill those walls. It is wood plank siding and I understand and have no problem with the drilling and plugging after.

My question is this.. how many bags would it take? 30 bags seems low to me, but I'm not really sure. If anyone has tips on how to get a better handle on this I'd be appreciative.

Thanks!

Michael

Are your exterior walls framed with 2x4's or 2x6's? 2x4's are most frequently used.

Cellulose at Lowe's comes in 16 cu. ft. bags. The wall you mentioned which is 44 ft. x 14 ft. would require about 11 bags. These figures are based on a 3.5 in. wall cavity.(2x4's)

Are your exterior walls framed with 2x4's or 2x6's? 2x4's are most frequently used.

Cellulose at Lowe's comes in 16 cu. ft. bags. The wall you mentioned which is 44 ft. x 14 ft. would require about 11 bags. These figures are based on a 3.5 in. wall cavity.(2x4's)

Hey Wirepuller38 (or anyone else that's done it): I've read that the machines you get from Lowes or HomeDepot are usually ok for attic installs but might not be powerful enough for exterior walls. Have you run into similar problems?

Also, What's a reasonable expectation for how far this puppy can blow insulation? What I mean is dragging that machine into the house might not be the best option, but I'm wondering if I could have someone feed it down in the driveway and have it feed all the way up into the attic... about 20 feet up and away..

Thanks!

Michael

It's been more than thirty years since I insulated a house with blown-in cellulose but maybe my experience can help.

The main difference between the blowing machines loaned by the insulation sellers and the better machines was that the better machines had an agitator in the hopper that would better break down the clumps as you added the insulation from the bales. The big clumps will not pass through the blower and into the hose. I found that agitator machines were available from rent-a-tool places and the price was reasonable, about $20 a day back then, when considering how much time was saved and how much better a job the blower performed.

The machines don't really "blow" the insulation that far, it's more of a regurgitation from the hose end. What the "blower" part consists of is really a non-clogging (wide vane) industrial vacuum cleaner hooked up backwards to suck from the hopper and blow through a long flexible hose. What you can do to reach far places in the attic is to affix the end of the hose to a long stick or broom handle or something to allow you to push the hose farther away from you. Most machines can easily blow through 100 feet of hose so it won't be necessary to bring the machine inside the house. In fact, the adding of insulation to the hopper will raise quite a cloud of dust so the person adding the insulation needs a dust mask as much as the person who is manipulating the hose end.

Remember that you need to baffle any soffit vents in the attic and not enclose them with insulation. The ventilation of the attic above the insulation layer is vital to prevent condensation in the attic and in the insulation. You may want to add more ventilation to the attic.

Blowing into the wall cavities is done using a rubber cone that fits on the end of the hose. The cone has an outlet about an inch in diameter and fits snugly into a hole drilled into the siding (outside) or drywall. It is necessary to drill holes near the top of the stud bay and if there is any blocking in the wall then of course you also need to drill a hole below the blocking. You know when the stud bay is full because the insulation will "blow back" from the leakage between the cone and the edge of the hole; also you can see the insulation moving through the clear hose and when the bay is full it stops moving.

In the machine I used it had separate power cords for the blower and the agitator. I found that using a remote control on the blower made it much easier to control the blowing operation. Otherwise you need a good communication system between the person at the hose outlet and the person feeding the hopper.