SDI

We had a company come out and blow in the insulation for our 
walls a couple of years ago. It was SDI Insulation and their phone 
number is 650 875 1628 or you can email them at 
mailto:[email protected] (from Heidy M.)

Summary of Insulation Advice from the Neighborhood

In general, the order of effectiveness for insulating your house seems to go as follows: roof, walls, windows, then floor. The order of cost, from least expensive to most, is: walls, roof, windows (not enough info on floors)

Roof: If it's not already insulated, start there. Several people felt a HUGE improvement in winter warmth and summer cool when they insulated their roof. Foam roofing is the favorite insulating choice.

Walls: It seems to depend on what you're starting with, but assuming you don't have thick walls without air leaks anywhere, blown-in insulation or insulated batting makes a big difference. One family insulated interior walls as well and had added benefits of sound deadening and mold reduction (insulation prevented condensation from forming in the walls.)

Windows: Replacing old single-pane with double-pane windows helps significantly, although it's quite pricey. One way to save cost is to buy the windows yourself and pay someone just to install them. There are also less expensive options for single-pane windows like insulated window treatments that make a noticeable difference. The effectiveness of replacing windows will obviously depend on how many windows you have. Some houses in the neighborhood have lots of big windows so this might be more helpful than wall insulation in those cases.

Floors: No one who responded has insulated floors. Heat does rise so it seems like the least likely place for heat loss, unless you have actual air leaks over a basement or crawlspace. Floor insulation tends to be pricey (not really worth the benefit it provides) and makes more sense on new construction rather than as an add-on to an existing structure.

(from Alice on Dell, posted 10-20-08)