[bstlaurent]

Here in Canada, a fairly common way to improve the insulation in an existing home is to cut a small hole in the top of the wall between the joists and blow in a batted or fiberglass insulation. It's minimally invasive and the equipment to do it is not too expensive to rent. Materials can even be eco-friendly, either recycled paper or other recycled materials.

Check out this link for more info:
http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Insulating_Old_Homes_Blow_In_Insulation_Options-Insulation-A1781.html

So is this something that's feasible / done in NZ? If not, would it be worthwhile to bring over the kit? Heck, this might be a decent business opportunity for someone if it's not already common...

[Tui2too]

What a great question! My husband is already planning on filling our potential container with pink insulation but the kit idea is great (I'll suggest it to him)! Though maybe it would need too big of a transformer? I've also been wishing we could just pack in a kit-house (complete with canadian insulation/windows etc) into a containter. lol

[Mels]

Someone did post about filling walls with insulation, but I can't remeber who it was or what it was called. I do remember that they had a little leak though!!

Someone will come along who can help more soon.

Mels

[Mels]

It was Airfoam and it was the Zorbster who had it done, couldn't get the link to work though for some reason so you'll have to search I'm afraid - sorry

Mels

[Tui2too]

I found this blown insulation:
http://www.naturalwoolproducts.co.nz/SITE_Default/SITE_insulate/supa-fill.asp

and of course...it's made of sheep's wool (lol)

[kanatakiwi]

I found this blown insulation:
http://www.naturalwoolproducts.co.nz/SITE_Default/SITE_insulate/supa-fill.asp

and of course...it's made of sheep's wool (lol)

Tui2too, this stuff looks great, think I will follow up with them on prices etc.
also interested to hear that you are bringing some of that heavy duty Canadian insulation (R30??) Just remember that you pay for things in your shipping container by volume not weight so the pink batts could take up quite a bit of room, maybe you could get them vacuum packed to reduce their size? just a thought. wish I had some . As you can see from looking at the blown insulation page R3 is considered more than adequate in NZ (NOT!)
Happy belated Canada Day. I took my Canadianism to work and regaled everyone with Canadian sayings all day long. We had quite a laugh
like...(its so flat on the Prairies you can watch your dog run away from home for a week!)
Gloria

[Familyofmonkeys]

I've also been wishing we could just pack in a kit-house (complete with canadian insulation/windows etc) into a containter. lol

:yes You can....I was reading about some of them on the internet last night.....made of Hemlock wood aparently and works well in NZ climate.

[Tui2too]

:yes You can....I was reading about some of them on the internet last night.....made of Hemlock wood aparently and works well in NZ climate.

Do you have a link? Inquiring minds need to know! :-)

[Super_BQ]

My close friend is a sales rep for such blow-in insulation products:

http://www.can-cell.com/insulation_products/weathershield/weathershield.cfm

If I were to build a new house (here in Canada), I would not hesistate one bit to use it in the atic space.

However, for use in NZ built homes? I would be very cautious... Cramming lots of insulation in the house presents a major problem called CONDENSATION. If the house becomes too air tight with high R values in the walls and roof, then you have another problem of removing all the condensation inside the house. They come easily from showers, cooking in the kitchen, even people living in the house will add to the moisture.

Unlike in Canada, the houses in NZ are not mechanically ventilated to control temperature and humidity. But then again, cost of energy in NZ is easily 3 times more than in Canada so could you afford to central heat during the winter?

BQ

[Tia Maria]

Airfoam is the most common company I've heard of, here's Zorbster's thread:

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17051

I've heard good and bad things about them...

Cheers

Tia

[doowrehsij]

Very interesting thread... I've also been thinking about how to insulate some houses well. Blown insulation is only good if you have cavity walls. This stuff is supposed to be excellent, a high thermal value for its density (thickness). Could make shipping a bit easier!

http://www.just-insulation.com/thinsulex.html

PS - Also thought of the idea of an insulation business!.. surely there must be companies in NZ that do this!