Today’s bag of cellulose insulation costs approximately 65 cents per cubic foot after the bag is opened.  Bags of rice hulls at the local garden center are priced at $10 to $14 per bag containing 3 cubic feet after the bag is opened.

An innovative mind is needed to figure out how to compact the rice hulls for packaging and shipping, then bounce them back to fluffy insulation when the bag is opened.  Cellulose can perform this stunt very well.

Too keep the costs for rice hulls minimal, they have to be shipped in bulk. The container being used to transport the hulls needs an open top because rice hulls are dropped from overhead storage or loaded with a front end loader.   Freight rates vary little between a short truck or a tractor-trailer; the bigger the truck, the cheaper the hulls.

If the truck is hired, the hulls must be unloaded pronto and then stored in a large container.  That scarce container has to provide a dry environment.  A trailer load, 3000 to 3500 cubic feet would be a six foot deep fill for a two car garage.

If the house being insulated is 1500 square feet with 12 inch wall capacity and 15 inch attic/ceiling capacity, 3000 cubit feet — or a trailer load.  Anything less than 12 inches in the walls or 15 inches in the ceiling will not save enough energy to make the effort valuable. According to my ‘indisputable’ calculations, 12 inches of rice hulls in the walls should equal R-40 and 15 inches in the ceiling figures up to R-50+.  That’s a very GREEN house.

Depending upon how far rice hulls have to be hauled, 3000 cubit feet will not cost much more than 2000 cubit feet.

Now for the strawbale promo.  Figuring an 18 inch wall with straw and a 12 inch wall for rice hulls. there is approximately 80 square feet more living space in a 1500 square foot house using rice hull insulation in walls over the 18 inch thick walls of straw.  Cost for the materials — straw or rice hulls — is about the same.  So much depends on what you have access to — straw or rice hulls

Here is where I have a real problem with the Weatherization Program.  In my opinion, we are basically trading heating bills for future medical bills. Making the structure hyper-insulated, by stopping air flow (in and out), increased moisture is locked into the system.

To much moisture in a house can be devastating over time. When a structure cannot ‘breathe’, the trapped moisture has every chance to turn to fungus, mold, bacteria….illness and medical issues.  But, by golly, we saved some fuel.

I lived many years in the high country of Wyoming where the humidity is in the teens through the thirties most of the time. We did not worry about to much moisture but our skin was always dry and the furniture joints came apart. We could get by with minimal ventilation in our houses.  But, even there, sealed vents and no cracks could lead to unhealthy moisture levels, particularly in bathrooms where the sheetrock in some structures would go to moldy mush.

Missouri is a whole different game with a range of 50% to 100% humidity.

Occupants in the house are breathing, cooking,  running water for laundry, showers, etc.   The interior humidity is generally higher than that on the outside. That moisture has to go somewhere.

If the house can not breathe because it has been sealed like a plastic bag with non permeable house wrap, vinyl or steel siding and every crack and joint caulked, the moisture soaks the framing lumber, sheathing, insulation, sheetrock or other wall coverings and the windows sweat. Where air is not available, mostly inside the walls, mold forms.

Additionally, we now have a problem with radon gas; it can’t escape either.

Ever wonder why cancer is more prevalent today than it was a hundred years ago? Houses used to be drafty, people may have thought they would freeze to death but they didn’t.  They didn’t suffer as greatly from cancer causing mold and radon either.  Soft remediation for radon is to keep a window cracked when the levels have been shown to be higher than desirable.  Simple answer: ventilation.

Properly built strawbale houses are one up on conventional houses because they breath and at the same time are not drafty. A lime or earth plaster over the straw bales will let moisture through but stops the wind.

If you live in one of today’s “well built” conventional houses, you need some way of exchanging the inside air with the outside. The most efficient way is with an air exchanger. Do a Google search and you will find several brands. They all work on the same principal, as the inside air is exhausted it heats the outside air coming in with a minimal temperature lose, which is made up for and then some by the house being dryer, especially the insulation.

Without regard for the mold and radon issues, damp insulation drastically looses it’s effectiveness. Suddenly, all that fuel we were saving is being called for to produce heat in a wet environment of soppy insulation. Ventilation doesn’t mean that there must be harsh air exchange that affects the thermal comfort of a home or office.  Major drafts can gobble up lots of fuel. Soggy insulation will not provide the protection promised; causing occupants to call for more heat, burning more fuel.

The down side to an air exchanger is maintenance. It has to be kept clean. It is easy to understand that if mold grows in the damp dust and lint of the air exchanger, it will be scattering mold spores all over the house.

Another option that will make a difference is a well ventilated attic. And I mean well ventilated. Use natural air flow, it’s cheaper and doesn’t consume energy. Louvers in the end peaks of the structure can make a lot of difference.

Think carefully before you accept weatherization services.  Insist on some ventilation situation to protect that extra insulation and keep it dry so it can do its true magic for your house.

Lastly, don’t yell at the kids for leaving the door open an extra minute as they reach back for the school books; they are doing you a favor.  They are making an air exchange for you!  It may seem like you’re going to burn more gas or oil, but it will be a healthier burn today than in a sealed up tomb of a house tomorrow.

This my opinion and I would be glad to hear yours. Thanks for reading this, keep your house dry, Richard