Yes, too much insulation can cause condensation. This is because over-insulating leads to poor ventilation inside a house and as a result prevents the humid air from escaping outside and becomes more prone to condense on cool surfaces and walls.
Advances in housing insulation have meant a big increase in condensation problems. Homeowners are being warned to act to prevent damp talking hold. Ironically, condensation and dampness is getting worse as homes become better insulated.
It is possible to over-insulate your house so much that it can't breathe. The whole point of home insulation is to tightly seal your home's interior. But if it becomes too tightly sealed with too many layers of insulation, moisture can get trapped inside those layers. That's when mold starts to grow.
Preventing Condensation: Use Insulation!
If using a porous insulation material, a vapor retarder is absolutely necessary to prevent the water vapor from passing through the insulation and condensing. These principles also hold true for duct systems.
New Government schemes which promote the use of insulation, and make us install loft and cavity wall insulation are causing huge problems with condensation.
Spray foam insulation enters into the gaps, crevices, or holes, no matter how small they may be, because of its ability to expand. It is an excellent barrier to moisture as it seals tightly, preventing entry of air or water into your home. However, moisture problems can happen if not installed properly.
Lofts can't just chip off a layer of insulation, so the need to breathe is far more important. So, can too much loft insulation cause condensation? Yes it can, and it can cause havoc in your home as well.
It's possible to over-insulate an attic as too much will cause moisture buildup and eventually result in mold. Eventually, adding more insulation leads to diminishing returns in trapping heat as well.
Unless your home was specially constructed for energy efficiency, you can probably reduce your energy bills by adding more insulation. Many older homes have less insulation than homes built today, but even adding insulation to a newer home can pay for itself within a few years.
Condensation in the loft. Over the last 25 years, issues with condensation in loft and roof spaces have become increasing common. Whilst this is not usually particularly harmful, excessive condensation can lead to more serious problems taking root in your loft such as wet rot, dry rot and black spot mould.
Condensation will form in your attic if warm moisture laden air comes into contact with a cold surface. In the real world this means moist air from your house coming into contact with the underside of your cold roof tiles or the side of your water tank etc.
Often the root cause of condensation in your loft space is down to an imbalance between your home's levels of insulation and ventilation. Many older properties have minimal or even no loft ventilation as they are so poorly insulated that there's no need to ventilate the loft.
Installing Insulation
Improperly installed insulation can have a negative effect on a home with regards to mold growth. For example, gaps left in the insulation can create cold spots that can lead to condensation and surface mold growth.
The higher the R-Value, the better the thermal performance of the insulation. The recommended level for most attics is to insulate to R-38 or about 10 to 14 inches, depending on insulation type.
How often should attic insulation be changed? Even though attic insulation is said to last anywhere from 80 years to 100 years, it does lose effectiveness as its ages. Insulation experts recommend replacing after 15 years to assure it is doing the job you need it to.
The Department of Energy estimates that a properly insulated attic can shave 10 to 50 percent off your heating bill. And it works the opposite way for warm climates; in summer, it helps stabilize your house's indoor temps to keep cooling needs in check.
Current government recommendations are for loft insulation to achieve a depth of between 250mm and 270mm but some new properties are increasing their level of loft insulation to 300mm. Again, as long as the loft has adequate ventilation, this is fine. You may lose a little storage space but you will save money!
Insulation needs to be breathable. It also needs to discourage condensation. Modern insulation is the work of the devil in this regard. We constantly battle modern insulation.
While walls need insulation too, the attic is the most important place to boost insulation if you discover your home doesn't have enough. Attic insulation prevents sweltering summer temperatures from entering the attic and passing through the ceiling and into your home.
Spray foam insulation creates a vapor barrier. This will prevent condensation from forming.
Takeaway tips: Use unfaced batts. The closed cell foam is a vapor retarder; it prevents any moisture in the wall from drying to the outside.
Foam building insulation, in both spray foam and foam board products, is resistant to mold growth but as we will explain here it is not absolutely mold-roof, and on occasion we do find mold growth on the surface of even closed-cell foam, in open-celled foam (rare), and on th surface of EPS and other foam insulating ...
Does Loft Insulation Directly Cause Damp? The simple answer to this is no. Loft insulation in itself is not responsible for damp appearing in your property – however, it can be a contributing factor when it comes to the spread of damp via condensation.
Open the windows at the first sign of moisture, and use fans to help speed drying. Throw away any insulation or other materials that are wet or show signs of mildew, but be sure to replace them immediately. A dehumidifier can also help remove moisture from the attic fairly quickly.