Knauf EcoBatt Unfaced Insulation R-30
I just recently had Knauf EcoBatt Unfaced batts R-30 installed on floor of our attic in house about 1350 sq ft.
After 2 weeks I had the same Knauf EcoBatt insulation pulled out.
The odor that permeated into the house was strong, unpleasant and gave
me a headache. It did not dissipate at all which is why I had it removed.
I know that it is formaldehyde free, etc. and has a plant based binder.
I do have a fully functioning sense of smell and don’t tolerate fragrances, etc. as well as a variety of other chemicals that allergy testing has shown I’m allergic to.
Has anyone else had problems with this brand? I know OC has a few years back and other brands appear to as well.
Thanks. I need some insulation. My choices are limited.
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Replies
This is an odd situation and I don't want to discount your lived experience, but I've used Knauf's products and never noticed anything abnormal about them.
Did you contact the manufacturer to document your experience?
If you're simply looking for benign insulation to cover an attic floor, cellulose may be your best bet, but it is treated for fire and insect resistance. The good news is, you can buy a bale of cellulose insulation at Home Depot (or similar) for a relatively small amount of money ($15 as of 2022-09-02), remove a small sample, and spend some time with it to see if it aggravates you. If it doesn't, you can request a contractor to install exactly that product.
Thanks for the suggestion. I used some Knauf in a bathroom recently but it got covered over in Sheetrock pretty quickly. My husband noticed an odor at the time but it didn’t have much chance to waft or get the heat of the attic.
genevia,
That the odor from the insulation permeated your house speaks to there being no effective air-barrier between it and the attic above. Whether for reasons of health or efficiency you should address that before re-insulating.
The insulation company air sealed with a product called Soudafoam all sources of air infiltration from the attic to the living space including top plate penetrations, supply boots, recessed lights (we have about 25) (seal around seams of recessed lights with incandescent lights, seal entire canister where CFLs exist), exhaust fans, and ceiling fans, power supplies, and smoke alarms.
Is there something else I should be doing?
Geneva,
That is a bit baffling. Most attics have a bit of insulation smell, even long after it is installed, but it shouldn't pervade the house below. One thing that might help is making sure you have equal amounts of ventilation at the eaves and ridge in case a pressure imbalance is driving air movement into the house.
Genevia,
Another brand of fiberglass batts, Owens Corning EcoTouch batts, has also generated smell complaints. For more information, see "Smelly Fiberglass Batts."
Yes. Thank you. I’d read that.
Any opinion about using unfaced wool batts —other than sheep smell needing to offgas?
You would need to see if they use any binders. It's usually the binders that offgas, not the insulating material itself (this also applies to fiberglass -- the glass fibers don't smell, but the binder used to bind them together into batt form might). Note that you can also get denim batts, which is another possible option.
I'm not sure using any particular insulating material is going to guarantee you a smell-free installation. Just about everything has some kind of "new" smell when it first goes in, and I'm not aware of anyone having done any aging studies to see which smells dissipate fastest. I can tell you that I have used Owens Corning's "Pure Safety" insulation before and it seemed to have very little smell, but I'm not sure how readily available it is these days. Mineral wool seemed to have more smell, but once the drywall was done, I didn't notice it anymore. I'm not super sensitive though, so this was just my experience with those products.
The best advice I think would be to provide a lot of forced ventilation for at least a few days after installation to try to get any smells to dissipate as quickly as possible. Ideally you want to use a fan to suck air out of one end of the space where the insulation was installed, and let air come in the other end. By having the fan blow "out", you slightly depressurize the space which will help to keep any smells from leaking into the living spaces. Cross flow (in one end and out the other) helps to ensure that air FLOWS across everything, so you don't have any stagnant spaces. This is the best way to carry away fumes and get things cleared out as quickly as possible.
Bill