Attic Insulation Batts Vs Blown

You ve probably got batts in your attic walls and crawlspace right now.

Attic insulation batts vs blown.

Batts offer a slight advantage. The answer is it depends. Sometimes loose fill insulation is referred to as blown in insulation because an installer literally blows it into your home with a special machine. The photo above shows an attic insulated with blown cellulose.

That s because blown insulation is great at filling the gaps and giving you a good complete layer of insulation. Notice how you don t see any of the ceiling framing down at the ceiling level. It is sold in bags and made of materials that are of varying degrees of recycled. We use both blown in and batt insulation depending on the situation at hand.

Loose fill or batt the common term for blanket insulation. Current energy standards recommend the installation of a first layer of craft faced moisture barrier fiberglass batt. You can hire a contractor carrying relevant business insurance and using skilled and trained workers to install your batt insulation much more quickly than a batt insulation install might take. With this method the insulation is simply blown onto the attic floor and no matter what type of joists studs or wiring that may be in play the blown insulation will naturally form itself tight around any of these creating a layer of strong insulation.

This will lead to non uniform r values. When a home is fully finished the scales of batt vs. Once you ve decided which type is best for you examine the material options and prices to home in on the right product. When insulating an attic space many homeowners ask us which is better blown in or batt insulation.

Blown in varieties however typically reach a peak of around a 2 8 r factor. In short there is less chance of error with blown insulation as compared to batts. It comes in rolls and has paper backing on one side. The r factor of blown in fiberglass is usually 2 3 to 2 8 per inch of material.

Very common very problematic. Blown in insulation clearly lean toward using blown in insulation. Blown in insulation thickness can vary in an attic space. Once installed and expanded to the uniform manufactured thickness batts offer a known r factor.

You also don t see any gaps that allow you to see all the way down to the ceiling drywall. The first difference in blown in vs. Compared to blown in insulation batts can reach a resistance rating r factor of over 3 1. You can usually obtain an r factor of 3 1 to 4 2 or slightly higher per inch of material with batts.

Batt insulation is that it is a form of loose fill insulation as opposed to a flexible blanket. The maximum rating of batt insulation is around 4 2. For diy attic insulation you ve got two choices. Both can be added to uninsulated attics or layered over existing material.