So my radiant heat barrier arrived & was (mostly) installed yesterday!

[SheltieLover]

Love it!

Ceiling temp at ductless indoor unit is down from 85F to 75F today! Yaaaaaay! Love it!

Cost for 1k sq ft roll ~$130 for a high quality foil. It blocks 97% of radiant heat through roof. No clud what attic temp is today, but it was 187F yesterday!

If your AC is struggling to keep up, or if you want to lower energy use & AC costs, you might want to consider this.

Easy install. All you need is a staple gun, staples & a regular pair of (Dollar Tree!) Scissors.

Install must leave an air barrier between roof & foil, so it looks kind of billowy. But I don't live in the attic, so I couldn't care less.

[Turbineguy]

1. The trick is to spend money where it does the most good.

Excellent result!

[SheltieLover]

3. Thx!

$130 wouldn't buy .uch extra insulation & that would still allow attic to heat up.

I truly love it!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. My home was built with radiant barrier

I love it but it will interfere with cell phone reception

[SheltieLover]

4. It hasn't interfered with cell reception or friend's house.

And he is running lots of wifi servers, etc. For work.

Glad your home was built that way! My home is older...

[multigraincracker]

5. One story, 1,000 sq ft home.

Any guess on total cost.

[SheltieLover]

6. $130, if you install yourself!

I can share brand I bought with you in pm if you wish.

None of them tell the thickness.

This one is double sided reflective, with airholes, essential to allow wood to breathe.

Love it! It is 98F here & cool in house! 😊👍

[multigraincracker]

7. Thanks, all those zeros had me confused.

[SheltieLover]

8. Sorry for any confusion!

Electricity is cheap here ~7 cents /kwh, but I expect it to go up with more people buying electfic cars.

Another thing you might consider, given the size of your home, is a ductless AC / heat pump hvac system.

The highest electric bill I've ever gotten since installing mine was $117.

So much efficiency is lost through the ducts.

But it depends on the climate you live in, too. If you are in northern Canada, a heat pump won't get the job done. Lol

Let me know if you need help sizing / choosing a system. Much is dependent upon the climate.

Since I am more than a little adverse to heat & humidity, I opted for a system optimized for cooling. 👍

Minisplits come with lines filled with refrigerant, so you can install yourself. 👍

[JudyM]

12. I'm looking at these options right now, since the A/C quit and it's an old system.

I was told the ductless system works best with an open floor plan, which we do not have.

I’ve been getting up at 4:30am to open all the windows, and hosing the roof a couple times a day.

[SheltieLover]

13. My resident hvac expert just left fof the afternoon

But can get info for you this evening or tomorrow.

I'll give you an eg of my setup. Living room, kitchen, small eating area, 20' hallway with 3brs & 1 bath, dining room (largely closed off for efficiency).

My unit is on wall above couch, pointing down hallway to brs & bath, but a bit off center.

I keep my house super cold. In this extremely hot weather, I close doorway to hall to minimize power use during day.

My power draw is 400-600 watts generally & last month's electric portion of utility bill was $70, including a 40% rate increase!

Keep in mind, systems are generally heat or ac optimized. I chose ac because heat is deadly to me. (Heat sensitivity disorder.)

We put foil radiant heat barrier up in attic (~$130 / 1k ft). Like putting an umbrella or shade tree over your home. Best $130 I've ever spent. You only need a staple gun to install. You musg leave air pocket between roof & foil for it to work. So, make it sort of billowy.

If you are looking at a minisplit, only look at Mitsubishi. They are hands down the very best. The units come with a fully charged line set, so you can do install yourself. 👍

So sorry you are having problems with your unit!

[SheltieLover]

14. Your ac system might jusg need a capacitor.

Do you knos what's wrong with it?

Feel free to pm me about this. Unit must be a good fit for your climate and correctly sized.

Minisplits are inverter systems, meaning they run constantly at variable speeds.

And while a unit might work at a certain temp, below zero for instance, it's efficiency will suffer if that range is not the temp rangd it's optimized for.

Eg. My minisplit is good down to -15, but when it gets cold (around zero), it goes into defrost mode. (It's a heat pump.)

Also, EPA is getting ready to phase out 410-A, the current refrigerant used in most systems. It is a horrid, blended chemical whose patent is running out soon. Runs at supef high temps & must be fully evacuated & new stuff put in, weighed in on a super delicate scale. Pita!

If you are fortunate enough to live in Canada, they allow propane to be used. Super cheap & effective!

I hope ghis helps.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. K&R and thanks so much for sharing!

[SheltieLover]

10. Yw!

[Rhiannon12866]

11. The temperatures fluctuate wildly here - it's supposed to get up to 88 tomorrow

But then it often gets down to the 40s at night. I've gotten into the habit of checking the temp before I leave the house, I never know whether to dress down or bring a jacket...