How Much Roof Insulation Is Too Much

This presentation was given at the summer 2012 doe building america meeting on july 25 2012 and addressed the question how much insulation is too muich created date 8 2 2012 8 22 05 am.

How much roof insulation is too much. This wall for a passive house in seattle will hold about a foot of insulation. How much insulation is too much. Even with grid supplied resistance heating that s perhaps 10 15. Nola sweats posted in energy efficiency and durability on september 26 2019 05 10pm i m in climate zone 2a where the general code is r 38 for ceilings but many state local codes accept r 20 spray foam in a sealed attic as acceptable based on performance.

The passive house standard requires a peak heating load of no more than 3 17 btu hr per sq. Most leading energy experts today recommend installing a lot more insulation than is common practice. Where you live different climates require different insulation r values. This is oddly enough a question that needs to be addressed also is it even possible to install too much insulation in a home.

How much insulation should you install. Most leading energy experts today recommend installing a lot more insulation than is common practice. I realize the focus was on too much insulation and found it very interesting and instructive that for example increasing roof r from 60 to 90 yielded a measly 89 kwh savings. Without proper ventilation a home can build up too much moisture especially in the attic warm air rises which can cause mold problems and overall lower indoor air quality.

The amount of insulation recommended for your home will vary depending on a number of factors. How much insulation is too much. You will need a higher r value of insulation if you live in the northeast than if you live in southern california. When it comes to insulating your homes attic there are usually no safety concerns regarding having too much.

This is not to say that if you have mold in your home too much insulation is the culprit. So yes it is possible to over insulate your house. Insulation generally helps you prevent heat from escaping and since preventing heat loss is the main goal here then clearly it is a good thing. The energy savings that would flow from hitting this target are too low to justify the extremely high cost of the insulation needed to achieve it.