Yankee Ingenuity Dear Suzy,
Now that it’s cool enough to get in the attic, I need some practical
information about radiant barriers. Can one be put up with an electric staple
gun? How many people does it take to put it up? What is the best and/or
cheapest brand? Does it come in rolls or sheets? Since I don’t have soffit or
ridge vents or central air, is it worth the trouble?
— Gail M.
Dear Gail,
If it’s good enough for NASA space ships, radiant foil is good enough for our
earth-bound homes. Or even, simply, earth. In wacko states like Maine, they’ve
been known to lay reflective insulation over their ski runs — in winter, when
you’d want to ski — and then pull it off come August so they can ski in their
bathing suits — when they ought to be exercising on the beach. (Judging from
the photograph of scantily clad, porky skiers on Sugar Loaf Mountain I’m
looking at, these folks must eat a lot more lobster in drawn butter than they
export.)
The most widely available radiant barriers come in four-foot wide rolls which
cover 1,000-square feet. You don’t even need an electric staple gun for the
job, although it would probably help prevent the palm-cramp that normally
accompanies several hours of using a manual stapler. You could install it all
alone, but it would be better to share the misery with someone whose friendship
you’ve tired of. Prices range from 13-30cents per square foot, with Home Depot
offering the least expensive.
Your final question is tricky enough to stump even the NASA scientist and
certainly a rotund Yankee skier. It’s the variables that tangle the issue.
Do you currently have an conventional cellulose or fiberglass insulation in
your attic? If not, forget the foil and put your money towards more R-value,
especially since you don’t have central air or attic vents. We put radiant foil
on the underside of our roof rafters in our house. I know it keeps the attic
cooler, but only because we also have continuous ridge vents and soffits vents
to let the scorching summer heat out. Because it is so inexpensive, radiant
barrier is a wonderful energy saving product when used in addition to the standard vents and insulation. Since, in our neck of the woods, it’s the
summer heat we battle most ferociously, you’d be better off making sure you get
that attic vented — a couple of gable-end vents and as many soffit vents as
you can stand to punch into your overhang or into your rafter blocks would make
a world of difference to keep you cooler in August.
Or you could simply chuck it all and spend the summer skiing up north. n
Are you sure you want my advice? Then e-mail your questions to me
at: Suzebe@aol.com or snail mail ’em to: The Austin Chronicle, PO
Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765.
This article appears in February 28 • 1997 and February 28 • 1997 (Cover).