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Radiant Barrier question: the after-market kind

By Angie Stephens

Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Apex, REALTORS®

July 02, 2010 12:06 PM

My husband has been an estimator in the construction field for about 20 years. He often hears about the "new" thing long before I do, and radiant barrier was no exception. When we were building a home back in 2003/2004, he suggested we have a radiant barrier installed. I don't think it was even in the upgrades list at the time, but we did it (and told our friends who were building to do the same).

Our second summer in that house, electricity rates began to climb. It was our 5th house, and the first time I'd ever given a second thought to choosing an electric provider or knowing if the rate was fixed or variable, or even what the cost per kilowatt-hour WAS. : ) Happily, we found that our electric bill in the most extreme months of Texas summer averaged about half of the bills our neighbors with similar floor plans were seeing (who hadn't installed - or heard of - the radiant barrier).

My husband has heard mixed things about the spray-on, after-market radiant barrier products. Does anyone know what the average cost/sf this product runs, how effective it is, and how it affects resale values? Now that we're on house #7, we've learned not to pour money into a house, as we rarely stay long enough to get a return on investment! We want to be sure we'll break even on the energy bills before investing in this.

Thanks for any/all input!

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Steve, Joel & Steve A. Chain

Chain Real Estate Investments & Mortgage, Steve & Joel Chain - Cottonwood, CA

Angie,

In our neck of the woods radiant barrier is a foil on the underside of the roof sheathing.

One report I have of an inspector with a heat gun found that there was a 26 degree difference in the underside temperature of the foiled vs unfoiled sheathing.

The industry reported savings of the radiant barrier is 17%.

That being said as I've looked at retrofitting similar products it looks like a real challenge and could be a problem not creating a mess in the attic insulation.

JMHO

Steve

Jul 02, 2010 06:12 PM

Angie Stephens

Coldwell Banker Apex, REALTORS® - Wylie, TX

Collin County TX Specialist

Yes, to retrofit, you pretty much have to use the spray-on product (and move your items stored up there out of the way). : )

A friend of mine recently had the spray-on installed, and has seen tremendous benefits. However, they did more than simply the spray-on barrier: they added blown insulation to the attic and between all of the interior walls.

I think, in our house, we have an erratically-designed HVAC system to begin with: the return air exchanges are OUTSIDE of the rooms they are supposed to support. There are not enough ducts to begin with (the main living area, open to the kitchen, has only one duct for the LR and one for the kitchen). I can feel heat billowing out of the oven, so I'm guessing that the appliance is either improperly latching or in need of a new seal.

We have a habit of moving into a home, REALLY making it our own ($$$), then moving. We always seem to leave a neighborhood with much higher property values than prior to our arrival! LOL, we just don't want to make the same mistake, er, for the eighth time. : )

We really love our neighborhood, but we've felt this way about several of our houses, and there always seems to be a reason to move before we'd planned. We are trying to install only improvements which make sense for the market and neighborhood, so that we don't take a beating if/when we move again.

We see TONS of commercials, half-off specials, etc. for Radiant Barriers (especially in the summer). Nobody advertises a price: any idea what the cost is? Knowing the price is enough to help in the decision process. I know where resale is in our subdivision, of course, but it's SOOOO HOT!

Jul 03, 2010 06:39 AM

Anonymous

Stan

Hi Angie,

There is precious little, if any, good reliable data of the result of radiant barrier. I have two energy modeling programs, and neither will perform energy reduction calculations for radiant barrier. GENERALLY, those who study energy reduction products say that it's a good investment in primarily cooling climates. That doesn't mean it's right for your home though. You can get a good idea of what your air conditioning is costing you by averaging the lowest 3 months of electric usage, then taking the cooling months usage and subtracting the average from each, and adding the differences for each to arrive at the cooling kilowatt usage, then multiply that by the cost per kilowatt hour to get the cost for cooling your home. Get a quote to install the radiant barrier, and ASSUMING the 17% reduction from above, divide the total cost by the savings per year to derive the number of years required to recoup your investment.

If you can feel heat at certain points in your home, it's likely an air leak or insulation anomaly. I am biased of course, but I advocate that you get a good honest, unbiased comprehensive energy audit by someone who doesn't sell products, to see the conditions at your home, and recommendations for correction and improvement. I would offer to perform your audit but I live in PA :(

Good luck, let us know what you decide to do, and further down the road how you're feeling about the decision.

Aug 07, 2010 01:49 PM

Radiant Barrier question: the after-market kind

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