Insulation ??

[Mike Jones NM]

To the point that I need to insulate the new shop. Will probably go with the pink insulating panels on the interior wall and then cover them with something, haven't decided yet what that something will be.
Then I had an inspiration.
I'm currently running ALOT of wood through the planer and as such am producing a ton of chips.
So, why not put them to use as insulation between the studs behind the pink board?
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Mike

[Eddie Watkins]

Mike, my first thoughts are that it will settle and eventually decompose leaving you with no insulation. I'm not sure how long that would take and the speed at which it occurs proabbly depends on the type of wood. Also, it will create a fire hazard. Just my thoughts.

Eddie

[Mike Jones NM]

Eddie, had no thought about the fact that it will decompose over time. As for it starting to settle I had given that some thought and figured an "air injection" from the bottom every 6 months or so would keep it "fluffy"
And yup, I have some rather odd inspirations on occassion LOL

[Bill Huber]

I really think you would be asking for problems.

1. I also think it would settle over time.
2. It would hold moisture.
3. There are a lot of bugs that like to live in wood.
4. There are other little mammals that would sure like to live in a wall like that.

I guess if I was going to insulate my shop right now I would use spray in foam. I have a friend that just did his auto shop with it and it is wonderful. No air gaps and it has a very high R value.

[keith ouellette]

the real problem is after the dry they might be a fire hazard. Though i did see a story on tv about a guy who built an entire house out of straw bales. No oe would insure it but the walls had an estimated r value of 75. When he put a match to a bail of hay it only smoldered. I would try a test like that with the wood chips before I put any next to wireing.

[Mike Jones NM]

Appreciate the thoughts.
Straw Bale building is a pretty common building practice now days. Have considered that myself but I am pretty much hung up on log.
Thanks
Mike

[Mike Spanbauer]

Interesting, but likely to give you issues. Also, it won't be code but that may not matter to you (rural, city). The foam suggested is amazing stuff, but it isn't cheap. 600board feet of foam runs about 550. The good old pink stuff is the cheapest solution, but annoying to install.

I'm looking at methods to insulate my garage right now and attempting to figure out space vs. venting. vs. access... it'll force me to make a few trade-off's from what I want to do vs. what I can.

mike

[Jamie Buxton]

Why should wood chips in a wall decompose? Let's presume they're dry and they stay dry. They're just like the studs which are holding up your wall -- and we all expect the studs to not decompose.

Sawdust used to be used for insulation in ice houses. Those were buildings where nature-made ice was stored for use in the summer. In the nineteenth century, every big city in America had them.

All of this said, modern insulations perform better -- that is, offer more resistance to heat flow than sawdust.

[Wes Bischel]

Mike,
Just FYI, Home Depot ha a $100 gift card when $300 of fiberglass insulation is purchased:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=SF_BS_PR_Building_Supplies_Offers&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Not sure how much you need, or if HD is close by, but thought I would pass it along. Also, check the State and DOE (www.energy.gov) for tax incentives etc.

Wes

[Mike Spanbauer]

Thanks for that heads up. I wasn't aware of the discount. Of course, I don't need that much Fiberglass I'm afraid as I have Cellulose above my head in the house (HATE that stuff, but removal would be very costly).

I'll do some calcs and see where the numbers put me for 24" OC joistwork over my head. Even R-15 would be a serious improvement.

Cheers!
mike