Appliances and Insulation

But can it type?

Yesterday was the Friends and Family Sale at Sears, so I took this opportunity to purchase a refrigerator and stove for delivery through the Alpena store on or about December 15th.  Oh, my!  An Easy Bake Oven would have been so much more economical!  In any case, I'm now the proud, if poorer, owner of a slide-in smooth top electric stove and a bottom-freezer fridge, both Kenmore products.  The front-loading washer and dryer I have chosen were not available.  Sears is holding those products for their Black Friday sale.  I must also acquire a dishwasher.  Ka-ka-ka-ching!!!  Now I have to see if an energy tax credit is available.

Or do windows?

Construction has slipped into neutral while my contractors and their subs are off hunting.  I wish them all a safe and successful culling of the herd.  Hap and Doug will work on siding later this week, but the rest of the project will wait a few days.  My special order windows are supposed to arrive at Rycenga Building Center in Grand Haven this Thursday the 18th, and at the house site on Monday the 22nd.  Once these windows are installed, the building inspector will be asked to sign off on the electrical, plumbing, and heating rough-in.  Then it's time for insulation.

Ever wonder what happens to those newspapers you recycle?  (You are recycling your newspapers, aren't you?  It takes so little effort and it's good for the planet.)  Quite possibly your Sunday New York Times will end up in my walls.  If that strikes you as odd, remember that when the walls of "this old house" are stripped for renovation, it's not unusual to find that the original builders stuffed wall cavities with newspaper.  They did this to cut down on drafts.  Wet cellulose insulation is an updated version of that venerable practice.  This product is about 80% post-consumer, damp, ground up newspaper (paper pulp) which is blown in under pressure so it fills the spaces between the studs in a frame house.

Most people are more familiar with fiberglass batt insulation, but wet cellulose is at least 25% (and some claim up to 40%) more effective than batts.  Because it's applied under pressure, this product fills in around electrical boxes and reaches nooks and crannies missed with batt insulation.  Wet cellulose is considered the best route when you are doing 2x4 framing.  In my case, the exterior walls are 2x6, so there will be an additional two inches of insulation, plus the SIPs (structural insulated panels) on the outside.  This, plus a heavily insulated roof, will create an unusually tight envelope.

The primary downside is that it will take a few days for the moisture to come out of the wet cellulose.  Only after the product has dried sufficiently can we begin drywalling.  Patience, patience.

Newspaper burns, so is this insulation a fire hazard?  No, because it's treated with borax.  If you're in my age group, you may remember a youthful Ronnie Reagan on TV's Death Valley Days, flacking for the 20 Mule Team Borax beloved of so many American housewives.  Borax not only cleans your floors, but it also ends up in detergents, cosmetics, enamel glazes, and some foods (although in the U.S. it's banned as a food additive).  Borax is also a fire retardant.  Moreover, once it dries, wet cellulose is so dense that it reduces the oxygen a fire needs.  (That same density makes it a good sound insulator.)  As for bugs, critters, and noxious growths, borax kills ants, fleas, and cockroaches, lights up a "no vacancy" sign for mice, and inhibits the growth of fungus and mold.

Wet cellulose is a key part of the "tight envelope" design for this building.  While more expensive to install than batt insulation, that cost difference should be erased in short order by savings on heat.  Remember that my fossil-fuel-of-necessity is propane, because natural gas is not available in my area.  So this "tight envelope" is good for the planet and for my wallet.  So, how tight is your envelope?  I well remember people at St. John's, Grand Haven, commenting on how much warmer the parish house was after their new windows were installed.  Most energy efficiency upgrades will pay for themselves in a few years.  There, now, I'm preaching again.  Sorry about that.  •••