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Has anyone had installed one of these systems? DH hears the radio speal for them a lot and so we've gone ahead to get a free estimate. I'd wager with the 50% off right now discount for Texas residents it would cost us about $1,300 for our home but we'll see.
It's not so much to lower the costs of our utilities.
For me it's that our AC units (one up and down) run about 7 hours a day!!!!!!!!!! With this radiant barrier testimonials claim their units run half that now. That would really extend the life on our AC's, most helpful since we just replaced one with a Trane 17 seer at a record price of 8 grand and have yet to replace the other. It'd be so sweet to extend the life of these expensive systems.
I filled out my online form for a call back estimate and specified for evening call---they called this morning.
Then the lady reasked all the questions I'd answered online.
Then said to get the 50% discount you'd have to buy a mimimum of $500 of insulation plus attic ventilation. These are 2 things we were capable of doing ourselves and did so last year.
So no discount.
Full price for our size home $3 grand.
Anyone have any other companies they'd recommend on this topic?
Ah, research on this brings me to some forum boards citing that radiant barriers are not all they are hyped up to be. Especially like this roofers reply:
Quoted:
I strongly agree with the three guys who said the radiant barrier OSB boards are not worth it. The main issue in keeping things cool is making sure that you have correct attic ventilation. As long as you have correct ventilation for the attic, you'll do fine.
I hope that helps. Feel free to follow up in the future.
He's talking about osb (oriented strand board) panels on a re-roof job. Are you replacing your roof, too?
There are lots of ways of doing a radiant barrier - those radio ads are probably about attic floor barriers, or between the rafters. It's a lot easier to install than the insulation in your attic (floor barrier). The stuff is not expensive either.
Check out the US department of energy info on this subject. It's a few years old, but probably still relevant:
Yes he is talking osb. We are not replacing the roof, that was done in 2000.
The co we got a quote from (cited above is 3 grand) goes in the rafters. It's not a job I'd do myself. But doesn't sound like it's effective enough to negate the cost.
I had a new roof installed a few years ago. Two wind turbines venting the attic were removed, temperature test have shown them to be ineffective. Ridge vents were installed, as shown in one of the web site photos. These are very effective and lowered the temperaure in my attic and all the rooms upstairs. Since the heat migrates to the highest part of the attic, this is the ideal place to vent. Most if not all of the homes in my area that have had new roofing installed in the last ten years have installed the ridge vents.
i just finished installing a radiant barrier. i did the work myself. it wasn't that hard and i got the stuff at loews. i do not expect to see any difference now but come summer i think the radiant barrier will help keep the attic cooler. i also installed another gable attic fan which should help also. our roof faces the sun in the east in the morning and west in the afternoon so there is no let up from the heat. in charleston, south carolina, that means HOT!
