Adding insulation to the attic?

[Tractorman]

Just bought a house about 3 months ago. It's in great shape, and I'm looking for areas to get more energy efficient. I was thinking about adding more insulation to the attic. It currently has blown in insulation, about 6 inches worth roughly.

Should I add more blown in insulation, or go with rolls of insulation? I like the ease of the blown in, and it appears cheaper, but are the rolls more efficient?

Also, can I have some info on any tax credits?

Thanks

 

[lowflyn]

If you choose to go with a blown insulation look into that is treated with boric acid or something similar to take care of any pest problems in the attic. It's not much more expensive than normal blown insulation.

 

[FordSVTFan]

Blown-in insulation for an attic is great as it hits all the small crevices.

 

[FL-Orange]

If your attic is vented at the soffits make sure there are guards in place to keep the existing and any new blown-in insulation from blocking the soffit vents.

I personally like the sprayed insulation on the bottom of the roof deck, that will drop attic temperatures and then with typical above ceiling insualtion your house will be well insulated. Get multiple quotes with a somewhat detailed explanaition of what's appropriate in your area.

In colder climates insulated (double or triple pane) glass works very well. For heat rejection look at low-E window film or tinting.

This site seems to have decent info on tax credits for Colorado: DSIRE: Incentives/Policies by State: Colorado: Incentives/Policies for Renewables & Efficiency

 

[oilwell1415]

My recommendation is to get some kind of UV barrier to put in the rafters just under the roof, then cover it with rolled insulation. I did this to my unfinished upstairs room and it made a huge difference in temps even though I don't have the HVAC working yet. The UV barrier will reflect the energy from the roof in summer time and the layer of insulation will create an air pocket between the two layers of insulation that also helps a little bit. My cousin Mitch built this house and it has something similar in it. The power company actually pays them once in a while.

 

[Domingo]

When I moved into my house we only had about 3 inches left of blown in. We had them put in 11 inches (for a total of 14) and it lowered the power bill quite a bit over the people before us.

For the ~$300 it cost us to have it put in, I'm sure we've saved an equal amount already (1.5 years in the house).