We plan to add some insulation to our attic and want to purchase the new plastic wrapped insulation called "freindly feel" so you dont have to worry about getting fiberglass in your hands....where can i purchase this ? Also, do lowes or home depot carry it? Thanks
I just spent a little bit trying to find the insulation you were talking about but couldn't. I saw a ad for it on the TV before but I don't remember who makes it. However, just remember that(from what I understant) it will still have gaps between each peice, which means air leaks. You might want to consider putting a layer of cellulose on top of it to fill up the gaps and slow down the leaks and to add extra R-value. The R-value of insulation doesn't mean anything if the air goes right through or around it.
Well, that's not exactly true...wherever there is insulation, the R-value will be as advertised, and where there are gaps, the R-value will be, of course, much lower, and the resulting total R-value of the assembly will be a weighted average of the two.
The "R" stands for "resistance" to heat flow, and the insulation has whatever resistance the manufacturer claims. The gaps do not affect it. It's like a window in a wall which has R-19 insulation...the window has an R value of about 3, but that doesn't mean the rest of the wall is made worthless. It's still R-19. If the window is 10% of the wall, the average R-value for the entire wall is about 17.4, the weighted average of the two.
The gaps may have a smaller R-value, but it probably isn't zero.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2477 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
My mistake. I didn't mean to make it seem that if there are gaps, then the R-value of all the insulation is zero. I was just stating that the gaps will cause heat loss so it would be good to add a layer of blown-in insulation over it(cellulose controls air infiltration better than fiberglass) to prevent some of the leakage that the gaps will have. Better to do everything the best you can the first time than to fix it a few years down the road. Sorry for the confusion.
I would also assume that since the product is in a plastic wrap, it would make the gaps worse since its plastic to plastic and not fiberglass to fiberglass. I haven't actually seen it in person so I'm not positive but thats how it seems on TV when I saw it.
Also, when I say gaps, I'm taking about small ones not big ones.
