Insulating Walls with Dense Packed Cellulose

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Dr. Energy Saver is On The Job again...this time to help a local homeowner make his home a more comfortable and energy efficient building by improving wall insulation.
This house, like many others in the U.S., had its exterior walls insulated with fiberglass batts when it was originally constructed. In this case, Larry Janesky, owner and founder of Dr. Energy Saver, demonstrates and explains why the fiberglass insulation wasn't doing a good job of insulating the wall cavity.
Using a borescope, a diagnostic device consisting of a camera attached to a long flexible tube with a lens at the end, Larry shows us the big gap between the facing of the 2-inch thick fiberglass batt and the drywall, in this 3.5-inch thick exterior wall.
Fiberglass insulation, even when properly installed, doesn't stop air flow and, in this case, the gap within the wall cavity left plenty of room for air to flow in and out of the living space. With the fiberglass insulation heat is consistently lost through the exterior walls during the winter, and gained during the summer, making this house very difficult and expensive to heat and cool.
For this home, dense packing cellulose insulation on top of the existing fiberglass insulation was the chosen method. Cellulose is an environmentally friendly insulating material made with shredded paper and also a powerful fire retardant - giving cellulose insulation one of the highest fire safety ratings among all insulation materials. The paper is treated with borate -- a harmless, antiseptic used in eye washes and similar household applications -- to inhibit mold growth and deter pests.
To install the insulation and reduce the amount of dust, powerful, high pressure blowers are used to pack the cellulose in wall cavities. To minimize disruption for the homeowner, the wall cavities are usually accessed from the outside, by drilling holes under the siding. This particular home was scheduled to get brand new siding so the holes were drilled straight through the existing cedar siding.
A surprisingly large amount of cellulose is normally used to dense pack walls, even in these walls where they were already insulated with fiberglass. From the inside of the home and during installation, Larry explains how dense packing cellulose will help stop both air flow and conductive heat transfers through the exterior walls.
With exterior walls properly insulated and air sealed, this home is now easier to heat and cool, year round - making the energy bills much more affordable. Among the many homeowners we help every day, all across the US, this is one more satisfied customer! We would love to help you too.
Visit our website or give us a call for a comprehensive home energy evaluation!

[@SummitSoon]

I've been a proponent of dense pack cellulose insulation for many years now -- a Jim Fitzgerald disciple -- and I believe this is one of the best video explanations of dense packing I have seen. Thank you.

[@brianhayes4865]

I will join the chorus of platitudes for this video!! As someone who is literally on the fence with regard to a decision on this method for improving the insulation of our home, this video has given me all the info I need to move forward with dense packing our exterior walls. Thank you!!!

[@seanxphillips]

Hope you did it best decision we ever made house way more comfortable year round.Only problem now was house was made air tight and had to bring in fresh air but even still it’s tempered and house smells and feels so much fresher wish we been did it

[@lukeskywalker354]

I like your videos but would like to see more infrared pictures before and after on a cold day or hot day depending on the season you do it. People these days love to see proof that it really dose work, not that I’m saying it doesn’t but would like to see how much of an improved it did. Thanks again for the video.

[@JusBrewIT]

This is one of the best explanation/demos on KZbin I've seen. I have a machine and see so many videos leaving to many questions. A 2x6x8' wall should take 18-20lbs of cellulose. Or 3.5lbs per cubic foot. Great video!

[@VideoNOLA]

Nobody ever talks about best practices for closing up all those holes drilled in the home's exterior siding!? Seems like a very important step! I like that you took the trouble to first remove the actual cladding material before drilling, and replacing it after work is done.

[@savagerandy8244]

This guy explains this so perfectly, that I almost feel dumb... But informed, very well. Thanks perfect!

[@jasonHadley420]

We use the same Machine.. But our hose is 1 inch so its Real easy to Shove up and down the wall cavity ..

[@jjs777fzr]

Great video - can you tell us what diameter clear flex tube you are using ? The largest I found was 2" at the local box stores. I'd like to duct tape clear flex at the end of the included hose to aid my project. Thank You.

[@adamUDavies]

How well does this blown in insulation for all brick outside walls and some older insulation in the walls ?

[@N_AUD1]

Great video

[@bingobongo445]

What if your home has 3 layers of siding clapboard,asphalt,and aluminum siding.Can you still do blown in insulation.

[@bingobongo445]

I have an 1890s balloon frame home can the insulation be blown in through the top of the wall cavities in the attic.

[@marctannenbaum672]

The tube starts at 4" and is reduced down to 1" at the end where the cellulose is dense packed into the walls. The tube was supplied by the cellulose blowing equipment maker.

[@rickwest2818]

How does this compare to wet cellulose as might be applied before drywall?

[@snidelywhiplash6889]

I hear this is the best to use for sound between apartment common walls. Is this true?

[@sirvayr]

9:37 Little Girl - WTF are all those holes in my house?

[@desperado77760]

are these videos seam to be about heating. Is it just as important to do the air sealing on an old home that is in a very hot region like Alabama? What is the cost per sq ft on average to air seal an attic? How much to blow in insulation into the walls on a brick home?

[@jomangeee9180]

how much Cellulose would a 180 feet single story home wall need?

[@pamelaharris3479]

Any tips on how to reduce the tube from 3" to 1" so it doesn't clog where you join them together. Also, does the green fiber machine that they rent at Lowe's/Home Depot have enough air pressure to dense pack?

[@tsr2s219]

You reduce the hose in half-inch increments. So you would go from a 3" to a 2 1/2" to a 2" to a 1 1/2" dense pack hose. And no the rented machines don't produce enough air pressure for dense packing. A dense packing insulation blower is an expensive item, which is why it is so specialized. A machine that is capable of dense packing has 80" water column or about 3PSI.

[@RyanSchmidt624]

What is the pricing on a 1700 sq foot, 3-story home built in 1911 be?

[@311mdub]

@drenergysaver is there a rule of thumb to show you how deep the attic cellulose should be per the area you live in? I’m in Utah, cold winters, usually hot summers.. I’ve noticed last company that blew insulation in my home covered my soffit vents. So I’m getting new hvac, High efficiency furnace, high efficiency AC compressor.. need to seal off all can light areas to make top floor air tight so I don’t let ac/heat escape outside. Also when I’ve installed new fans and canless LeD’s, most areas were maybe 6-8” thick, no where near the 17” you said.. I’ll be adding soffit vent protectors so vents dont get blocked again, preventing proper airflow in the attic

[@mtierney8394]

They should have slid insulation baffles down into the soffits from the attic so as not to block the airflow. They effectively stopped your attic from venting properly!

[@paragg7859]

I read INSULTING WALLS and clicked on this video, oh Lord please save me.

[@bschaf01]

Or stucco?

[@FakeNewsHunter]

Is the fire retardant in the cellulose not poisionous?

[@CaseAgainstFaith1]

Looks tremendously better than that tripolymer injection foam crap. Still, how can you know the entire chamber is fully dense-packed to each corner? Also, what about brick?

[@ryanroberts1104]

If you miss a little spot it's still a hell of a lot better than it was when they started.

[@desperado77760]

is there an easy way to install dense pack insulation when You are installing new drywall?

[@DanielRichards644]

install house wrap to the studs, ill the cavity then install your drywall.

[@rhdtv2002]

Very cool but not sure why this can be done on the inside. Is it because of the drywall repair?

[@angryscot17]

Rich Lo 5:34

[@pwrouzaud]

Lots of good info, but it provokes a question, after years of settling, how does one 'top off' this kind of cellulose insulation application? Seems it would settle and cover the holes. Isn't it true blowing from the top just causes a backflow issue?

[@seanxphillips]

It’s densed packed and won’t move or settle like fiberglass it fills all voids

[@nancyodette6587]

How do you carry out installing insulation to exterior walls on a brick home?

[@PortPowerRower]

+Nancy ODette They probably do it through the drywall inside in that case.

[@nancyodette6587]

Good to know. Thanks for the information.

[@FakeNewsHunter]

How can you know or assure that the cellulose will reach and fill any gaps? You can not look into.

[@tsr2s219]

You keep track of your bag count, which establishes the final r-value. You can also use an infrared camera to check for insulation voids in walls.

[@chrischurch4551]

Wouldn't densely packing it reduce the r value?

[@CaseAgainstFaith1]

Others have said that the R-value of dense pack is not great, but the air sealing it does makes it worthwhile.

[@seanxphillips]

A small trade off R value is in a lab and properly installed without settling/moving in real world this hardly happens.The comfortable levels of dense packed is better than R value

[@CCCC-tq8yo]

Dr energy in our area is out of business

[@bhstone1]

What is the R-value per inch of dense packed cellulose?

[@JusBrewIT]

The R value isn't that great but it's the stop of air transferring through the wall that is the biggest advantage

[@imzjustplayin]

R-3.3-3.5 for dense pack. R-value goes up as the temperature drops. The air sealing benefits makes cellulose good for old construction renovation.

[@frankenmuth1]

Doesn't cellulose settle with time

[@imzjustplayin]

that's why they're doing dense pack.

[@tsr2s219]

That's why it's dense-packed at 3.5 pounds per cubic foot, it doesn't allow for settling. However, it will settle if it's not properly blown.

[@noway2708]

i was gonna say,

[@311mdub]

lol dudes just laughing blowing it into the dudes back yard in his fresh cut grass 😂.. that cellulose will be there for months and months, gonna probably kill the grass and weeds where he let it fly..