Wall Insulation...

[fly boy]

So, my 1974 house in Longmont is annoying me already as the weather warms up, again...

This house has so little insulation in it, that it's expensive to heat, and almost impossible to cool.

I added insulation to the attics, just blown in loose fiberglass, and that helped, but the walls are either empty, or what little insulation was there has fallen to the bottom and was so minuscule that it doesn't add up to much on the bottom of the wall cavities. The house gains a tremendous amount of heat in the afternoon when the sun is shining on the West face of my house.

Has anyone ever DIY'd adding insulation to the walls? From all the research I have done, dense packed cellulose or fiberglass seems to be the most cost effective / best value. The spray foam options seem risky if it doesn't cure correctly, and are expensive.

If no one has DIY'd this, has anyone had success getting this done to better insulate a house?

Thanks in advance!

I installed an Attic Vent/fan with a thermal switch. It helped cool the attic in the summer, and in the winter I unplugged and blocked the hole with just some bedding insulation. I was SHOCKED at how much just a small vent helped. Might be a simple alternative to the summer, sorry no help for winter.

[DenverGP]

I installed an Attic Vent/fan with a thermal switch. It helped cool the attic in the summer

I had the roofers install one of these when they re-did the roof:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Remington...-BLK/204225874

Unfortunately I can't tell exactly how much impact it's having on the house temps, because we had central air and new windows installed as well.

It definitely is keeping the attic space cooler, opening the access hatch on a sunny 80 degree day, and it seemed pretty close to the same temp as the house. Last year, on a sunny 80 degree day, the attic was easily over 100 degrees. So i'm sure it's reducing the interior temps a bit.