I find a lot of missing insulation, air leaks, and thermal bridges when doing energy audits. There are many things in a home that can be installed wrong that lead to poor thermal performance (uncomfortable rooms). I find air leaking around light switches, doors, window trim, and attic access points. There are lots of things that you can correct in a house to make it more energy-efficient. The most unfortunate is when I find insulation that has been installed in the wrong location – meaning someone paid for it and it does not work as intended.
This crawl space should be encapsulated to start instead of having insulation in the floor. You can see the moisture levels are high leading to the insulation being pulled like cotton candy away from the surface it is intended to heat and cool. This high moisture level would be avoided if the walls were insulated and the floor had a vapor barrier installed.
This attic does not have enough insulation to start with to meet minimum energy code standards. That is compounded with construction debris that has been left on top of the insulation smashing it down to further diminish performance. This insulation’s condition leads me to believe the person installing it did not care about the quality of construction they were providing to this home owner. The performance of this insulation could not possibly meet current code requirements.
This insulation looks good and is installed to a good depth for the age of the house. It has the proper vent baffles installed to keep the insulation in the right places. However, this insulation still allows for heat to move through the blown fibers. It is not air tight therefore does not perform as well as it could for the installation.
This open-cell spray foam on the other hand is installed to full cavity, it is air tight, and it is neat. This clearly shows there was care towards quality control. This home will test very well in an energy-audit.
