Our house was stuffed today
In our new search to go “offgrid” in the city (ok, as much as possible, we’ll never actually go ‘off grid”), we started today with getting our house stuffed.
My friend did this to her old house earlier this year and already notices a reduction in heat use, reduction in sound, etc.
This photo here is the ’stuff,’ recycled newspaper treated with boric acid. More…. (photos should work now, they were a bad format earlier).
This stuff is great:
1. recycled, about 40 years worth of a daily newspaper.
2. non-toxic, boric acid is natural, doesn’t outgas
3. cheap, 1300 for the whole house (and we get about a 27% rebate from the state)
4. reduces heating cost by about 30+%
5. reduces street sound by about the same or more
6. fire resistant, better fire protection than without it.
7. insect and mouse resistant (they don’t like the boric acid, impedes movement)
I mean, there is no downside!!
Some preparation was necessary. We moved the furniture about three feet from wall and covered most things (they covered the rest and did a great job taping it all down). There is a little dust, but not really much.
First this truck blows it in:
Then this guy blows it in the little holes they made in the wall:
Then they plug the holes:
and spackle:
and viola DONE!
Our first step towards energy independence 
(update: it did feel less drafty and warmer on this cold day, and quieter this morning. Now we just have to do the windows and it will be really stay warm and quiet .)
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Oh no, the pictures aren’t working for me! Is it working for anyone else?
Out of curiosity, Trey, how much did it cost in total? And do you think it’ll end up earning its cost back through heating bill savings?
(oh shucks, I shoudl read more carefully! You DID tell us how much it costed!)
Reply to SilphSHould be working now, try refreshing!
The total cost after our PG&E (local energy company) rebate should be just over 900 dollars. If the savings are up to what we expect, I actually did this long involved calculation using R-values, previous BTU’s used (we have 3 years of gas/electric bills saved up), etc, we should have it paid back in two winters, three at most. That’s assuming of course the cost of natural gas doesn’t go up (that’s our heating source), which we know it will (then the pay back will be quicker of course!)
I’m trying to do things that are good investments and would pay back in savings in a maximum of 7 years. We did our light bulbs over a year ago (over a year period), changing from incandescent to compact florescents. That paid for itself already, or is about there this year.
Solar energy right now would take over 10 years to recoup the cost, so we are waiting for those prices to come down (soon!) and the price of electricity to go up (already started!)
etc…
Reply to Trey