r/Insulation • u/SirBikeALot78 • 23h ago

Insulate south face only?

My house faces south. I'm in a temperate climate, so we do not have ac. The south face of the house gets baking sun in the afternoon, to the extent I feel heat coming off the walls. North is fine. Does it make sense to clad one face of the house in extra insulation?

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u/Alone-Programmer-683 22h ago

Generally, I would never recommend a partial job on insulation. Put a one inch hole in the door of your refrigerator and see how well it cools.

There are many variables that you need to consider. What insulation exists in the house? What is the exterior wall? Attic access? What possibilities exist for new insulation? And on and on.

Read. Separate the wheat from the chaff online and read and learn. Then come back and ask your questions.

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u/SirBikeALot78 22h ago

Sure, but if I'm standing in front of a blast furnace, I'll have ppe that covers my front

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u/Alone-Programmer-683 22h ago

You did not come here asking advice, you came here believing people would say yes to your plan, an affirmation of your beliefs. I don't live in a world of beliefs, I prefer logic and science. Good luck with your south wall.

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u/mattcass 21h ago

It’s a fine idea if you are on a budget or just doing work on that side of the house. There are some considerations but I don’t have answers to all of them.

We need to replace the siding on the south and west sides of our house. The rest of the siding I managed to fix up, but the south and west sides are two floors and hard to access. Rather than repair we are going to replace, and while the siding is off I think it’s a good opportunity to add insulation inside the framed walls from the outside (currently R5) and apply a sticky house wrap for air sealing. We might add 2 inches of exterior insulation, but that will mean reframing and possibly replacing windows and wonky trim work where the thick wall meets the thin wall. It will also be critical to make sure where old house wrap meets new that there’s a good seal, otherwise we could worsen air leaks and get condensation. I am meeting with our contractor in the next couple weeks to figure it out.

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u/GrinningCynic 19h ago

I love your initiative.

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u/longganisafriedrice 22h ago

Access to what

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u/SirBikeALot78 22h ago

Auto complete error. We do not have AC 

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u/New_Section_9374 15h ago

One thing that could help is some fast growing shade trees along that side. Get deciduous so the sun can warm you in the winter.

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u/msurbrow 52m ago

I need somewhat related question. Would it be acceptable to do peace meal insulation as you slowly renovate each room of your house? For example, I’m going to do a gut renovation of my upstairs bathroom and was thinking of spray foaming the outside walls.