Installing a Radiant Barrier in the Attic | Alternative Method to Insulate the Attic

To insulate an attic the conventional way, you need to air seal it from the conditioned space, seal and insulate existing air ducts, and line the attic floor with blown-in insulation. All of this is to be done according to the U.S. Department of Energy's recommended R-Values for attic insulation in the region, which in Ohio is between R-49 and R-60. That method establishes the attic floor as thermal boundary of the building envelope.

The problem with this method is that the attic remains unconditioned, therefore temperatures change drastically as the seasons change. The attic is very cold when it is cold outside, and on hot summer days it can reach temperatures as high as 140 degrees! If you have uninsulated air ducts running through such a hostile environment, the air that you paid to heat and cool is loosing or gaining temperature as it passes through the attic and is released into the rest of your home.

An alternative way to insulate the attic, is to make the attic a part of the conditioned space in your home. That means making the attic as cool as possible during summertime and as warm as possible during wintertime.

To accomplish this, Dr. Energy Saver recommends the SuperAttic System. In this approach, a high R-Value, 4-inch thick, and foil lined rigid foam insulation board, called SilverGlo, is fastened to the underside of the roof, leaving the soffit and ridge vents unobstructed so that the roof can be vented.

The SilverGlo boards are then taped and sealed to prevent air leakage. This process establishes the underside of the roof as the thermal boundary of the house. The insulation will prevent heat conduction in or out of the attic. The radiant barrier on both sides of the SilverGlo will reflect heat back to the outside on hot days, and to the inside on cold days.

An attic insulated with the SuperAttic System has a temperature very similar to the temperature of the living areas of your home. You can use it for storage, and the air ducts in the attic are now running through a conditioned space which conserves temperature. As a result, your home will be much easier to cool and heat.

To learn more about the SuperAttic System or to schedule your free attic evaluation anywhere in the country, visit our website or give us a call!

[TheWillingCoyote]

Twenty five years ago I put Reflectix (rolls of bubble wrap with foil on each side) in my former condo trussed roof. You staple its strengthened edges to the lower inside edges of the roof joists. The rolls are about 28" by 25', therefore easy to transport into attic. They were inexpensive, and you can finish in half a day. It made it so you could stay up in the attic mid-summer indefinitely. Before, you couldn't last ten minutes. I did help the lower living space in summer and winter, especially since both bedrooms had cathedral ceilings. The soffit and ridge vent should stay clear.

[bungalow]

Hi great video and interesting idea. I think the advantage of this over closed or open cell directly against the roof deck is the ventilation cavity which prevents any roof rot which may occur between the deck and the spray foam. With XPS, EPS, GPS etc you're really only getting R4 to 5 an inch so at best that 4" panel is giving you R20 which is way below code in most places (usually R48 or higher). While the space is definitely more moderate than before it's probably not a bad idea to retain the existing insulation above the ceiling too. The video doesn't mention whether the space should be conditioned as well, i.e. cracking a supply or return into that space to manage humidity.

[brianbirc]

Some of those attics look huge. That this silver barrier looks $$$

[giovannisocci]

WOW😲 This looks fantastic...an attic that looks neat and organized, ducts look clean...it looks beautiful.

[fiskfarm]

If you can't afford 4" go with 1" foil covered on one side. I pay $8 for a 4 x 8 around here on the after market. Makes a huge difference and you loose less head room in a shallow attic. Stored items will no longer cook or freeze like before.

[joe]

good luck getting this in your attics, this must be for mansions not the smaller homes cuz you will have to cut these into super small pieces in order to get this system in most attics. i wanna see the cost of these sheets and labor to install vs the cost savings compared to more modern blown in systems

[digit]

Wouldn't the foam panels get a better seal if the panel edges were shiplap joints or the foam was installed in two staggered layers?

[manuelortegon]

I sprayed the under side of my roof and the inside of the concrete block walls with silver paint. I insulated the rest of the house with the best rated conventional insulation and it was cost effective with excellent results.

[marugg]

I gotta move to the Greater Cleveland area to get this? Damn, there's always a catch.

[liberalman]

This system works well up to point there is zero air leakage from attics to roof.
In wintertime, If there is any seam that the moist, warm air can leak from conditioned attic to the roofing, it can condensate on rafters and sheathing faster and more severe than conventional system because in conventional system, if there is any leakage from ceiling to unconditioned attic, there are still enough room for moist air before condensation forms and with reasonable attic venting, you will be fine.
This system is like cathedral or flat roof that are more susceptible to condensation

[DAS-Videos]

Makes sense. My problem would be I couldn't find leaks in the roof very fast or locate them easily.

[yonihales]

I hear if your attic contains your duct work, if it gets extremely cold your ducks may quack ?

[lindabohannon]

wow a lot of complainers....well let me see if i can help. We had a new roof put on last year... Cool Roof tiles with this Radiant Barrier. We did research on how BAD insulation blown in can cause health concerns and I did not want any of that. Lets not even mention the fire risks. This was done in less than a week -with a whole roof replaced... and it looks AWESOME! Even in our Garage. Our Electric bill in the summer was pretty even -no spikes. And so far this COLD Winter, we are saving a little... not as much i admit. But inside temperature is much more comfortable at a lower level. Were also using a portable heater on an enclosed patio, so that would probably acct for the pricing... anyhow we are thankful to Kern Golden Roofing in Kern County for doing a great job. Only mishap i would say is ''keep tarps over anything in the garage''. The removers laid tarps but they then took them off, when it came time to put roof back on-well left a bit of a mess. Very happy with this option. Highly recommend.

[quabledistocficklepo]

This looks like the most expensive method you could use. If you're trying to REDUCE the heat in that space, I think you could use foam spray, aluminum foil, thin reflecting batts, etc. I'll bet that even spraying the underside of the roof with aluminum paint would help.Hmm, I think I'll do an experiment to check on that.

[Guillotines_For_Globalists]

I have never seen an attic insulator ever go through any of the extra trouble to seal the ceiling, light fixtures, and any conduit or plumbing penetrations into the attic. They just install a baffle here or there and blow it in and they're done with it. Even the best of the best for contractors!

[leebrewer]

I don;t know how valid my thoughts are with other effects of this system. I would be concerned the smaller air space below the shingles would make them hotter on the underside and not last as long. The radiant barrier not only reflects the heat back to the roof, but traps the shingles in between a hot UV input from the sun, and a closer, hot radiation of heat on their backside. So the expense of installing Silver Glow, and a shortened shingle life (very expensive) could make for a lot of excess money put out.

[adamcturnbull]

I agree that the rafters need to be vented but pictured here is excessive. I have a shed style roof I just built and its only 8" deep and the insulation is 4" with a 4" gap to vent. My eaves are open and the building is wonderful all year. Zero issues. I am in a mild climate which means its rarely freezing in the winter BUT its nasty hot in the summer but its as if the house was under trees its so cool. A roof doesnt require massive gaps to vent as shown here. A few inches will do it.

[timmismith]

when you coming to Florida, cuz every home here needs this!

[michaelwizouski]

I'm just going to make a box out of this and live in it.

[stevehenry]

There's a misconception about the attic space and it's conditioning.  Unless you add vents to blow hot or cold air into the attic, then that space is not "conditioned" by this method of insulation.  I'd leave whatever insulation is on top or your ceiling in place even if I chose their method.  Energy is wasted in a home in the summer by three ways, convection (hot air from outside gets in via doors, windows, leaks at electrical plugs on outer walls, etc...), conduction (hot air outside on walls or in the attic creates a driving force of heat transfer into the colder room inside, insulation just slows that heat transfer rate down), and radiation from the sun (black or darker objects like roofs absorb and let the radiation pass through while shiny objects like aluminum reflect it).  This product addresses all the heat transfer problems really well but probably is way too expensive to have a good payout.  Don't know what the R-value of the foamboard is.  Also, some people mentioned roof venting and the answer is you leave it alone or add more if the soffitt to roof venting is inadequate.