Most noticeable difference in house post insulation

[EatenByLimestone]

Last summer I had cellulose packed into my walls and followed up by adding new storm doors. The one in back faces directly south so I ordered low E glass for it.

I'm thrilled with how cool the house stays. I wish I'd had the work done years ago.

The largest difference is on the back door where the sun used to beat down and really heat the house interior up. The low E glass must really reflect a lot of heat/light back. Just inside the back door used to be hot. Now it remains the same temp as the rest of the house.

Interestingly enough, when I open the main door and grab the handle of the storm door, the handle has surprised me with the temperature. It gets hot! But the heat never makes it inside. Maybe it seals so much better that the little bit of heat that gets in can't escape?

I'm not sure what to make of it, but the area directly inside the big door (house interior) used to get hot. Now it doesn't.

 

[begreen]

I keep telling folks hesitating to insulate to go for it. It will pay back year round for the life of the house. I'll bet the house is not only more comfortable, but quieter too.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The quiet was the 1st thing we noticed last year. The windows are now the weak point. They're fairly new and R3, but compared to the rest of the wall...

Even without the relatively short payback, it only cost 1700 to have the company come in to blow the cellulose (1500 initial and 200 to get some spots they missed) the house is much more pleasant to live in. I've had auto repair bills more than that and other bills are lowered by the insulation job. Costs are less to heat and cool. Wife doesn't complain she's cold as much in the winter... Priceless.

 

[blades]

was that installed from exterior or interior?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

was that installed from exterior or interior?

All work was done from the exterior.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Low E glass should be illegal north of the mason Dixon line. Yes it helps keep cooler, but if you have more heating months than cooling you are screwing yourself. Pre low E heat was on from thanksgiving to Easter. Post low E heat on from before Halloween to june. Damn windows prevent more heat gain than heat loss.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Only thing that I know is low e is that storm door. It leads to an unheated space off the kitchen so it doesn't really affect the heat bill. I can see where it could make a difference though.

This year, during a run of almost 90 degree weather I installed a 6k btu air conditioner in the kitchen window. It held the ~900 sq ft downstairs on energy saver mode. I'm really impressed with the insulation job.

 

[woodgeek]

Low E glass should be illegal north of the mason Dixon line. Yes it helps keep cooler, but if you have more heating months than cooling you are screwing yourself. Pre low E heat was on from thanksgiving to Easter. Post low E heat on from before Halloween to june. Damn windows prevent more heat gain than heat loss.

Maybe in Colorado. But in New England, it is hard to make up the decreased heat loss from low-E in Dec-Mar (when the solar input is low) with the decreased solar gains in the shoulder seasons. Your observations are possible, but you need to do an annual model. They DO have different version of low-E, and the deep south they have glass with even lower solar gain.

 

[brenndatomu]

Low E glass should be illegal north of the mason Dixon line. Yes it helps keep cooler, but if you have more heating months than cooling you are screwing yourself. Pre low E heat was on from thanksgiving to Easter. Post low E heat on from before Halloween to june. Damn windows prevent more heat gain than heat loss.

Thank you! My thoughts exactly.
I replaced my old wood/metal framed Pella insulated windows in 2010 I think it was, (when there was a $1500 tax credit) The old windows were OK except I was tired of painting them and there was quite a bit of moisture in between the panes, looked really bad. I had to go low E due to the tax credit...hate 'em, well, don't get me wrong, love the windows, hate the low E glass! I lived here 12 years before the windows were changed out, low E added at least 2 months to my active heating season. And not really a lot of difference as far as cooling goes.
Dan is correct, no low E above M/D line! Recently bought materials to build myself a hot air solar heater panel to make up for the loss in solar heating...

Before I did the windows I was gonna replace the roof, use the tax credit for that, I found out the tax credit was only good if you used light colored "gubmint approved" shingles, reflect the sun and all. Well, I was smart enough to know that was a mistake here in NE Ohio, I mean I can feel the house heat up once the attic gets warm, but I really only use the AC on any kind of regular basis, about 3 months of the year. Heating season is 5 months (well, 7 now) Who the heck are the MORONS writing the rules for this stuff!? They must never pull their heads outta their rear ends long enough to realize that about 1/2 of the country needs heat more than AC...'course most of us is just "fly over" country...

 

[woodgeek]

Not all low-E is the same. Need to look for high-SHGC.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/all-about-glazing-options

 

[Ashful]

Low-E glass works two ways, no? Decreased solar gain during short winter days, but also decreased radiant heat loss during longer winter nights. We heat our house 24/7, not just during daylight hours.

 

[brenndatomu]

Not all low-E is the same. Need to look for high-SHGC.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/all-about-glazing-options

I need to go back to your link and study it a bit to see where my windows fall in the line up. I did pull the file to see what the specs are on the glass, 0.29 U factor and 0.23 SHGC...all I know is they didn't seem to make a huge difference holding heat in, but I definitely lost solar heating in the spring and fall.
Sorry, not trying to take over OPs thread here...

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Don't be sorry. I always learn from these things. I thought low e was polarization of some sort... Let light in when the source was low and reflected when it was high.

 

[woodgeek]

I looked up my own 2013 low-E storms over 55 yo single pane wood windows. Manufacturer is 'QuantaPanel'

U = 0.36 (verified by my measurement)
SHGC = 0.48

with regular storms:
U = 0.5
SHGC = 0.56

so, almost R-3 versus R-2 window, solar gain is 14% lower. I am prob coming out well ahead.

 

[laynes69]

We put low-e argon filled windows in our addition. Where the sun hits the floor, it's cool to the touch. Even though there is little heat gain in the winter, those winows are significantly warmer to the touch than the old double pane windows we have in the rest of the house.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I am happy with my windows in the winter and at night. That is the argon filling and closed seems. You can get nice gas filled insulating windows without low E and they are cheaper. I just never thought of the solar gain at that time. My second floor still has 1988 andersons. In October 2nd floor could be 78* while the 1st floor is 62* at 5 pm. I realized the event when I saw the dog lying on the floor but not in the sun spot.