Install cellulose insulation without a blower machine

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I've purchased a few bags of loose fill cellulose insulation from the local hardware store (GreenFiber brand). How will the insulation work if I don't put it through the machine to fluff it and force it through a tube? Will the insulation be compressed a bit so that I won't get the coverage that the bag says, but its R value per inch should be about the same? Can I consider its R-value to be something close to the "dense-pack" R-value?

Best Answer

Since cellulose insulation is compressively packaged you cannot install it without using a blowing machine. I do not recommend trying to do this by hand. "A few bags" may not qualify you for loan of a machine, but you can certainly rent one from a big box home center or an equiment rental service.

The R-factor of fiber insulation follows an inverse "U" curve. As density increases, R-factor increases--up to a point. Dense packed cellulose insulation at 3.0 to 3.5 pcf--typical installed density in closed cavities--has an R-factor of 3.9 or 4.0, compared with 3.7 or 3.8 at settled density. Fiber glass at 2.2 to 2.5 pcf may have an R-factor in excess of 4.0, compared with 2.2 to 3.1 at design density. At some point the curves for both materials turn around and R-factor decreases with greater density. For cellulose that seems to be somewhere between 3.5 and 4.0.