Is there any down side to Cavity wall insulation?

Question

I thinking about it, but need to know will the house be to hot in the summer?

Answer 1

The previous answers are correct. Let me just expand upon what they have said.

It seems you need a basic understanding of what insulation is. Insulation can come in many shapes sizes and colors but it all serves the same purpose: to resist the movement of heat. Insulation is not a source of heat. It's simply a material that doesn't allow heat to pass through it easily. Therefor it does not heat up your house. In the winter, the insulation will keep the heat from your heating system inside your building for longer. This means you use less energy to heat the building. In the summer, the opposite occurrs. The heat is on the outside of the building and it's trying to get in. The outside air temp is warm and the sun is also heating up the outside surface of the building. Since it is nice and cool inside, that outside heat wants to get in. The insulation is there to slow the heat down. So just like in the winter, you use less energy to cool the building!

Now having said that, there is one unintended consequence of adding insulation to a building. It tends to inhibit the drying potential of the wall assembly. It's complicated and I don't feel like getting into it but I would not let this stop you from insulating though.

If this is an existing wood stud framed structure, I would recommend blowing in dense packed cellulose insulation to a density of 3.2 lbs/cuft. This will not only insulate the wall, but reduce the air leakage through the wall. Cellulose does not burn easily when packed tightly. It also regulates moisture well in the wall. There are also a variety of spray foam options but these will likely be far more expensive.

Answer 2

We had our walls drilled and insulation blown in solid in all or walls, then laid thickly in the attic. We never had to turn on our heat once all winter. As for summer, we cool down the house at night, and it stays cool all day without air conditioning. If it stays hot all night, then of course we use the A.C., but it runs much less and stay way more comfortable (upstairs too). another added bebfit is it sound proof. This was the best investment we made along with new energy savings windows (double paned). We received great rebates from the Gas company for both, and were able to take a portion on a income tax return. Awesome investment!

Answer 3

No it won't be too hot in the summer. It will be cooler in the summer because the outside heat won't getting in as easily. If you have AC it will help keep the cool air inside better as well.