The Short Answer If your house has too much insulation, it becomes too tightly sealed, and moisture becomes trapped inside. If there isn't proper ventilation, especially in the attic where the warm air travels when it rises, mold will grow, and your home's air quality can decline.
In a nutshell, yes it can! Homes need insulation, and more is generally a great thing. But there might be a theoretical point of ``too much.'' If your home is over-insulated and is too tightly sealed, moisture could possibly get trapped inside.
As a general guideline, it's advisable to install double layers of thermal insulation throughout your house. Nevertheless, this may not be feasible in all areas due to space limitations. Typically, it's not practical to add two layers of insulation within the walls of your home.
The cost to insulate a 2000-square-foot house can range from $2,000 to $6,000, depending on the type of insulation used and other factors.
Do the touch test. The interior ceilings, walls and floors in your home should feel warm and dry. When drywall and paneling inside a home feels damp or cold, there is not enough insulation. Alternatively, when touching an exterior wall, it should feel cold because insulation is keeping warm air inside a home.
Check for drafts and cold spots
Areas where you can feel a draft, or cold spots on your walls can indicate poor insulation. Drafts indicate panel gaps and openings that need to be sealed, cold spots in walls and floors indicate insulation clumping or areas where the material is too thin.
Signs It's Time to Replace Insulation
For most homes, it can last for 20-80 years! That being said, like all things, insulation tends to wear down over time. If you are living in an older home and encountering some of the following problems, it may be time for a replacement.
Overall, fibreglass insulation is the cheapest and most effective insulation option available, making it a popular choice for homeowners and builders alike.
Spray foam insulation does cost more than traditional options, but over time it pays you back in energy savings, and you can't really put a price on the comfort of your family.
Besides safety concerns, installation inexperience can result in insulation mistakes that can affect both the quality of your insulation and installation. Improper placement can leave gaps and cause energy loss, lessening the insulation's lifespan.
R-value is used to judge thermal insulation performance and the higher the number, the better the product's insulating ability. So R19 has better insulating ability than R13. Now R-Value ranges widely across products and home applications.
The optimal R-value for most homes is 30, but you can go as high as 38 if you live in a tropical climate. Anything higher than 38 indicates an over-insulated space. While you might think that too much insulation can't be bad, there are some significant consequences to consider.
Irritation to skin and respiratory system
Wall insulation solutions like Rockwool are made of ultra-fine fibres. While thermally efficient, they can cause skin and respiratory irritation.
Many of us know what causes mould; when moisture is trapped in the rooms of you home. Sometimes, there is insufficient insulation in the walls, so mould grows. However, not many people realise that additional insulation isn't always the answer. In fact, too much insulation can be the secret cause of mould.
Therefore, you should prioritize insulating your attic, especially its floor. Attic insulation keeps homes warm in the winter and cooler in the summer. Typically, attic insulation installers will use loose-fill or batt insulation in this area of your home.
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.
Best Time of Year to Buy Insulation
In this case, the spring is the best time, because you will also start to see savings in the summer months. The same is true for warmer climates, just different times of year because you'll want the job finished before the heat sets in.
The best way to see where heat is escaping from a building, through the building fabric and by draughts is to use a thermal imaging camera at ground level. Thermal images taken from both the outside and inside of a building will show you where most of your heat is being lost from.
To check the level of your wall insulation, consider purchasing an infrared thermometer. The device will detect any poor insulation and alert you of any specific problem area.