crawl space insulation?

[farmerted]

So I have a 1400 sq ft 1950s ranch, it has a basement only under about 1/3rd of the house, but the rest of it is a dirt floor crawl space about 2 feet tall, the basement area is open to the crawl space. I was wondering what the thoughts are about insulating it, it isn't currently. A couple of cinder blocks missing on either end, but other than that it is pretty closed up. We live in St Louis, the winters can be pretty horrible, but haven't been too bad the past few years. This year the ground is frozen a few days, and then thaws out for a few, which btw is killing my sinuses, mostly though it's about 40 during the day, 25 at night. The summers can be incredibly hot and rather humid. Every house I have ever lived in has had a basement, don't know too much about crawl spaces. Try not to be an energy hog, and we plan to live here for the rest of our lives, I am only 43 now so hopefully another 40 years or so.

thanks

[Sawmill Jim]

Here most don't bother . Some use perimeter insulation though

[SolarGary]

Hi,
You might look into doing a conditioned crawl space.

You can do this by:
- putting poly film on crawl floor to keep moisture from coming up through.
- Insulate the crawl space walls (not ceiling)
- Close off all the venting.

Explained here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...Space29238.pdf

We did this and are happy with the results.

Gary

[jwal10]

I would add the vapor barrier and go for it. You will be suprised at how much warmer the floors feel and we don't get that cold here....James