Bigger stove or more Insulation

[Qvist]

Hello,
Just looking for opinions on this. I currently have a smallish wood stove (Waterford Ashling) 1.4cuft box 41000btu in the basement of a small house 900sqft upstairs 700sqft basement. The walls are blown with cellulose the attic has an average of r10-15 insulation in batts with air leaks. Basement is uninsulated other than in between foor joists and rim joists. The stove has trouble heating the house and takes hours to heat up the basement to a degree that it heats upstairs (uninsulated floors) and stairwell. Other than this issue I am happy with the stove. Is this grounds for a larger stove or more insulation in the attic? Just for reference home is in northern virginia area. (Rarely gets below 15-20 degrees) and home at one time was heated with a Franklin Stove. Thank You

 

[bholler]

Hello,
Just looking for opinions on this. I currently have a smallish wood stove (Waterford Ashling) 1.4cuft box 41000btu in the basement of a small house 900sqft upstairs 700sqft basement. The walls are blown with cellulose the attic has an average of r10-15 insulation in batts with air leaks. Basement is uninsulated other than in between foor joists and rim joists. The stove has trouble heating the house and takes hours to heat up the basement to a degree that it heats upstairs (uninsulated floors) and stairwell. Other than this issue I am happy with the stove. Is this grounds for a larger stove or more insulation in the attic? Just for reference home is in northern virginia area. (Rarely gets below 15-20 degrees) and home at one time was heated with a Franklin Stove. Thank You

Absolutely more insulation. Start in the basement then the attic. You can be sending as much as a third of your heat out through the basement walls

 

[carg3]

Insulation helps not only in the winter, but in the summer as well. You'll save on AC as well as heating costs. I would start in the attic, which is woefully under insulated. If you have an attic hatch, go buy unfaced R-21 or even R-30. Lay it perpendicular to the bottom chord of your trusses, each piece tucked tightly to the next. If your eaves are vented, you need to staple styrofoam vent pieces to the bottom side of the roof before beginning, so as not to block air flow. The attic needs to breathe. They should know about this at your local big box. Also, when was your house built? Blown in cellulose settles considerably over time.

 

[Qvist]

The house is was built in the late 50s, but the walls were blown recently. The fiberglass batts are as old as the house some are only 2 inches thick others 8inches.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Another vote for insulation.

 

[maple1]

Basement insulation and attic air sealing.

 

[carg3]

Fiberglass insulation comes in either rolls or 8' batts. Get the batts and start in the attic. Work from both eaves toward your hatch, but don't choke off your eave vents. The vents I mentioned are 3' foam pieces.....really cheap but very important. Fluff the insulation up to its fullest for best results. You don't get the full R-value if you stuff it under wires, pipes, etc. The best part of this is you can do it as you have the money. Every little bit helps. Oh, and try not to put a leg through the ceiling!

 

[EbS-P]

I am debating whether or not to up the amount of insulation in the attic and how best to finish and insulate the basement. Insulation is the only thing that will pay for itself over time. R38 is attic code now where I live. We use the attic for storage and I’m wondering if I should raise the the decking to fit more insulation or not. I probably will/might / maybe/it’s a thought, take out all the old insulation and seal everything up. Then blow back in to r38 ish.
Is the basement unfinished? My guess it’s that it’s cheaper to insulate the attic than the basement.
I probably will insulate both but the upfront cost makes me grit my teeth.

 

[ABMax24]

I'd pull up all insulation in the attic and then apply a layer of spray foam. This will make an incredible difference in air sealing. I would then blow in cellulose or fiberglass over top of this. I'd be aiming for R-40 at least, it will make a huge difference in heat loss.

 

[bholler]

I'd pull up all insulation in the attic and then apply a layer of spray foam. This will make an incredible difference in air sealing. I would then blow in cellulose or fiberglass over top of this. I'd be aiming for R-40 at least, it will make a huge difference in heat loss.

Also a huge increase in price. I agree it is a great solution but the cost is an issue for many

 

[ABMax24]

Also a huge increase in price. I agree it is a great solution but the cost is an issue for many

Pricing can be a concern, but if air sealing is an issue it can definitely be one of the simplest solutions.

I'm always a believer in paying more to do it right the first time. If you couldn't afford to do it once you definitely couldn't afford to do it twice.

 

[carg3]

Closed cell spray foam here in upstate NY is $3.50 /sf. You can buy R-30 fiberglass for fifty cents/sf. and do it yourself.

 

[Grizzerbear]

Yea i looked at doing my whole house when building and it was going to be about 9 grand for closed cell open cell is cheaper but still pretty high i believe....1400sqft. Its for sure the way to go if budget permits but for me it was just too much of a expense. My guess is if your attic is currently r 15 you will notice quite a improvement to simply air seal and replace with r38.

 

[ABMax24]

Closed cell spray foam here in upstate NY is $3.50 /sf. You can buy R-30 fiberglass for fifty cents/sf. and do it yourself.

That's insane. I can buy the spray foam kit to do 1 inch of spray foam, and enough blow in fiberglass on top to get R-60 for about $2.50/sqft.

 

[Qvist]

I was leaning toward r19 Batts over the r10 or blown cellulose which should get me to r29. But maybe this isnt sufficient? I have insulated some of the areas that originally had r0 (nothing) before with just 1 layer of r19. Access is of concern as the peak is only 4ft high all work will be on hands and knees. This leads me to blowing it but access in attic would then be very difficult. Batts are difficult but probably a better option?

 

[Qvist]

I have also done some air sealing but not enough. Would blow it will cellulose over the batts if going that direction.

 

[EbS-P]

Batts are easy enough to pull up seal what needs sealed and then lay back down. Two joists a week or till your can of foam is empty, staple up The baffling, it’s done before it get hot out and then hire it blown in or head back up with batts. I have loose fiberglass but higher roof. Either way not a job I’d do my self from April to September here in the south.

 

[ABMax24]

If you are doing blow in many stores will give you a days rent for free on the blower if you buy over a certain numbers of bags.

 

[snaple4]

Definitely air seal (both walls and ceiling) and insulate. Air seal first b/c it is harder after you insulate.

 

[kennyp2339]

There was a member some time ago i think "Don" in the pellet section that did a full detail of air sealing and insulating his house. Basically he went around with the small cans of spray foam and sealing all the joints along his rafters in the attic, then did his own blown in insulation, made a few Styrofoam walking paths to get to his gable vents which he covered in the winter with Styrofoam boxes, job came out really nice (by the pics) and he said it made heating much easier / better. All work was done by him and he was a novice at the beginning of the job.
Also remember when heating from an uninsulated basement or having a stove that is surrounded by uninsulated concrete up to 1/3 of the heat produced gets lost into the concrete, so if you burn 3 cords a year 1 cord's worth of heat can be lost.

 

[Simonkenton]

The money best spent will be to insulate that attic.

 

[begreen]

If the basement ceiling has insulation, remove it if possible. Then insulate the basement walls. This will make a notable improvement.

 

[bholler]

The money best spent will be to insulate that attic.

Normally I agree 100% but when heating from the basement with a stove I think the basement walls are more important to start off.

 

[Qvist]

In the meantime (till I can get it insulated) how hot would you think I can run the Waterford. At the moment I try to run with stovetop/cooktop temps 550-600F Im hesitant of going much higher as I just rebuilt the stove. The floor is not insulated, and unfortunetly the stairwell is not centered in the house. I may try a fan in the stairwell. Will try to seal up basement door better that portion of the basement is cold.

 

[Qvist]

Attic normally is 50 degrees when its 20 outside will probably start there. There is also an attic fan pulling a vacume as the roof has condensation problems due to the warm air hitting cold on the roof decking.