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I have read a lot lately about a ceramic additive for paint that is both relatively inexpensive, and is supposed to cut energy bills by up to 20%. In fact, I just saw an article in the newspaper, which tends to add a slight degree of legitimacy as far as I'm concerned.
This product, which costs somewhere in the range of $10 for enough to treat a gallon of paint, is a ceramic additive that supposedly adds a moderately significant insulating factor.
Has anyone used this on their homes, and if so, did you realize much, if any, in energy savings?
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I've never heard of the stuff but it sounds fishy. So I did some checking and found a product called Insuladd on the HGTV website from an I Want That episode. HGTV didn't provide any information other than marketing fluff so I did some googling and found some information at the EnergyIdeas Clearinghouse. Here's some info on the EnergyIdeas background: Quote:
About the EnergyIdeas Clearinghouse
Since 1990 the EnergyIdeas Clearinghouse has been the most comprehensive, technical resource that Pacific Northwest business, industry, government and utilities use to implement energy technologies and practices. EnergyIdeas is operated and managed by the Washington State University Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. Funding is provided by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (Alliance).
Here is the link to a PDF of their testing results and research on the product:
http://www.energyideas.org/documents/Factsheets/PTR/Insuladd.pdf
From their analysis I would think that it may be a short term help, but the long term benefits are questionable. Additionally, any benefits that may be seen are entirely dependent on the weather conditions and the amount of sun exposure for your situation.
E. Turner - Always Remembered
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Do you think your house is underinsulated or were you going to paint anyway and just thought this might be an added bonus?
yebat' Putin
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Both. I have done very little to the upstairs ..... and every little bit helps.
I am probably going to hav blown in insulation done into the attic. (which will be a pain, because the previous owners closed off attic access) From what I understand though, I can have it blown in through the vents in the side of the house under the gables.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Good idea. You can do blown insulation in the walls too with minimal damage if it's bad. Also, a caulk gun and a couple tubes of caulk to hit around windows, outlets, etc can work wonders.
yebat' Putin
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Fortunately, I have newer windows in most of the house, and can't find much, if any air flow through any of them. (It was a really cold and windy day when I first looked at this house)
I want to do a new, high efficiency furnace ..... but I think that the blown in insulation will provide a bigger bang for the buck, as well as being less expensive to do. A friend of mine gave me a quick "heat efficiancy" overview, and said that the 3 biggest areas of heat loss are through the roof, out the windows, and furnace inefficiency.
I am going to spray foam the base interior of the foundation next week. Older house .... settling .... I figure it's cheap and can't hurt. I'm also going to insulate the furnace vent pipes in the basement. No sense letting heat bleed into an unfinished basement.
I figure that if I do several little things, I might get a better return than a high dollar expenditure like a $4000 -$5000 furnace/AC. (and I really want to hold off spending that much right now)
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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I seriously thought the title said "insulting" paint when I opened this. I thought "what, you put it on and it reads 'screw you' or something?". Oye, I need a day off. 
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Quote:
I seriously thought the title said "insulting" paint when I opened this. I thought "what, you put it on and it reads 'screw you' or something?".
It only does that if you use ..........
loud colors. 
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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Quote:
Oye, I need a day off.
It's talk like a Pirate day Jules... not talk like a Jewish banker...
yebat' Putin
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Quote:
I want to do a new, high efficiency furnace ..... but I think that the blown in insulation will provide a bigger bang for the buck, as well as being less expensive to do. A friend of mine gave me a quick "heat efficiancy" overview, and said that the 3 biggest areas of heat loss are through the roof, out the windows, and furnace inefficiency.
I've fixed issues with all three areas you mentioned in my house by replacing the windows, replacing the furnace with a high efficiency unit, and improving the attic ventilation (has enough insulation). The biggest impact in my situation was definitely the furnace replacement, but I went from a 60% efficient to a 93% efficient two stage furnace and I have seen a 25% - 30% reduction in my heating costs because of this. This was a side benefit though, I was adding central air and decided to replace the furnace for re-sale value (it only added ~$1,000 to the quote for just adding the air conditioning).
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I'm also going to insulate the furnace vent pipes in the basement. No sense letting heat bleed into an unfinished basement.
You probably won't see any impact from this. Any heat loss through the pipe itself is very small and as long as you don't have holes to the outside in the basement, the heat in the basement will still rise to the house.
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but I think that the blown in insulation will provide a bigger bang for the buck, as well as being less expensive to do.
My parents did the blown insulation in some of the walls of their house ~15 years ago (rented the machine and my dad and I did the work). By targeting the "coldest" rooms they were able to significantly lower their heating costs and it definitely made those rooms warmer with the thermostat set to the same temperature. It was definitely worth the cost and the labor (it really wasn't hard to do).
E. Turner - Always Remembered
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I wondered about that, because there is a place that rents the blow in machine, and the insulation itself seems to be pretty inexpensive. I would think that I could rent a ladder tall enough to reach the gables, pull the grate, and blast away from there ... then do from the other side. I already have really good (looking) attic ventilation, with the grates in the gables, and 3 roof vents.
I also bought a programable thermostat for the furnace. I just have to get to work pulling the old one and getting the new one in. With working 11-12 hour days, I should be able to realize some savings by dropping the heat back when I'm away, and having it kick back on when I'm on my way home. I don't think my dog will mind. lol
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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He was talking about blowing insulation into the walls... You could probably do the attic yourself, it ain't rocket science.. it would probably be uneven and all, but you could do it... You'll need help, somebody to feed the insulation into the machine, you won't want to have to come down all the time....
But you could blow it into some of the exterior walls too... that's not hard either, hardest part is patching a bunch of little drywall holes.
yebat' Putin
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Or lath and plaster holes ..... in the case of my house.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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2nd String
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Quote:
I have read a lot lately about a ceramic additive for paint that is both relatively inexpensive, and is supposed to cut energy bills by up to 20%. In fact, I just saw an article in the newspaper, which tends to add a slight degree of legitimacy as far as I'm concerned.
This product, which costs somewhere in the range of $10 for enough to treat a gallon of paint, is a ceramic additive that supposedly adds a moderately significant insulating factor.
Has anyone used this on their homes, and if so, did you realize much, if any, in energy savings?
If your looking to save money take your garden hose and let it run all day in your backyard, peel off the grass and then take the mud slap it up against your house and it will also do the same thing only this way you can call your house an Adobe house, and the earthtone colors are very popular now.
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I would say that I am qualified to answer this.
Insulating paint would have little if any R value for consideration.
ChargerDawg, Chemical Engineer. (Youngstown State University)
Welcome back, Joe, we missed you!
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Quote:
hardest part is patching a bunch of little drywall holes.
That's why I haven't done it with my house. You really need 2 - 3 holes for every gap between the studs and for some rooms this can be a lot of holes to patch. For just plain drywall (or the lath / plaster combo) and a room needing paint anyway it wouldn't be bad; but for any textured walls where you need to match the surrounding texture it takes someone with more experience doing that than I have.
On the attic insulation; you will be better served to recreate the attic access that the previous owners removed than trying to blow from the gables. Blowing insulation this way will lead to a very uneven layer of insulation and it will not be nearly as effective as it should be. Installing attic access will also give you the option of rolling fiberglass insulation instead and you can make a decision based on cost / insulation value.
Here's a link from This Old House on enlarging / adding attic access:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,216414,00.html
E. Turner - Always Remembered
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Dawg Talker
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Quote:
Both. I have done very little to the upstairs ..... and every little bit helps.
I am probably going to hav blown in insulation done into the attic. (which will be a pain, because the previous owners closed off attic access) From what I understand though, I can have it blown in through the vents in the side of the house under the gables.
Make sure you don't over-insulate. You're house has to "breathe" and circulate air or all kinds of things go wrong. I've seen houses where they blew in so much insulation that all the gables and vents were choked.
It can cause your roof to age 10 times faster, moisture problems, mold problems, and even warp vinyl siding. Just make sure you deal with someone who knows how to keep to the good air flowing 
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Quote:
I seriously thought the title said "insulting" paint when I opened this. I thought "what, you put it on and it reads 'screw you' or something?". Oye, I need a day off.
Thats so weird lol i thought the same...
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Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Has anyone used "insulating"
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