Home Comfort Insights from Connecticut's Insulation Experts

Let’s say your house is drafty. Your energy bills are climbing. And your insulation—if you even have any—isn’t cutting it. But the thought of ripping out drywall in every room? No thanks.

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Here’s the good news: you don’t have to tear your house apart to fix it.
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At Nealon Insulation, we do this all the time—upgrading insulation in finished homes without leaving a trail of dust and demo behind. If you’re living in an older home along the Connecticut shoreline (and odds are you are), here’s how we get it done.

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1. Drill & Plug Dense-Pack Cellulose

This one’s our bread and butter.

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We drill small holes (about the size of a doorknob) into your drywall or siding, blow in dense-pack cellulose insulation, and patch the holes when we’re done. From the inside or the outside, depending on what makes more sense for your home.

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How it works:
✔️ We drill access holes
✔️ Pack the walls full of cellulose
✔️ Plug or patch the holes—clean finish, no mess

✅ Great for: Empty walls or insulation that’s settled over the years
✅ Why it works: Adds serious R-value, cuts drafts, dampens sound, and tightens up your thermal envelope without touching the drywall (except a few little holes we patch up like it never happened)

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2. Injection Foam Insulation

Another slick option for finished walls.

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We drill small holes, just like with dense-pack, but instead of cellulose, we inject expanding foam into the cavities. The foam finds all the gaps and seals them up tight.

✅ Great for: Homes with tighter wall cavities that need a boost
✅ Why it works: Expands into hard-to-reach places and seals air leaks like a pro

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3. Exterior Sidewall Insulation

Don’t want us touching the inside of your house at all? We can do it from the outside.

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Here’s how:
✔️ We carefully remove the siding
✔️ Drill into the sheathing
✔️ Fill the walls with dense-pack cellulose
✔️ Put the siding back like nothing happened

✅ Great for: Homes with wood or vinyl siding we can easily work behind
✅ Why it works: You get air sealing and insulation without lifting a finger inside the house

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Other Spots You Can Insulate Without Demo

Even if your walls are insulated (or sort of insulated), there are still other weak spots we can tackle—no sheetrock harmed in the process:

• Attic: Blow-in cellulose or fiberglass goes right on top of the existing layer
• Basement & Crawl Space: Spray foam or rigid foam board keeps it dry and sealed
• Garage Ceilings: Rooms above the garage freezing in winter? Drill and plug works there too
• Rim Joists: Big-time air leaks happen here. We seal it up tight with spray foam or foam board

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Why Call Us?

We’ve been at this since 1977. That’s 48 years of crawling through attics, pumping walls full of insulation, and helping Connecticut homeowners make their houses warmer, tighter, and more efficient—without gutting the place.

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Here’s what we do best:

• ✅ Drill & Plug Dense-Pack Cellulose
• ✅ Injection Foam
• ✅ Blown-In Attic Insulation
• ✅ Crawl Space & Basement Air Sealing
• ✅ Smart, non-invasive retrofits that actually move the needle

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Ready to Stay Warm Without the Demo?

Let’s fix your insulation the clean way—and finally stop heating the outdoors.

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👉 Contact Nealon Insulation today for a free consultation.

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If you’re a builder or contractor trying to hit high-performance targets without burning up the budget, it’s time to get familiar with the cellulose dry pac system.

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This method isn’t new, but it’s been quietly outperforming batt insulation for decades. And if you’re building tight, energy-efficient homes—or you’re tired of callbacks from homeowners complaining about drafts and noise—you’ll want this in your playbook.

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So What Is the Dry Pac System?

Short version: we staple up 6-mil poly, dense-pack cellulose behind it, and tape it off clean.
Long version: It’s a smarter way to insulate framed walls, locking in air sealing, soundproofing, and thermal performance all in one go.

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Here’s how the install looks on site:

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Step-by-Step for Contractors:

1. Hang the Poly
   Staple and stitch 6-mil poly over the stud bays after framing. That poly’s your containment.
2. Insert the Blowing Hose
   Cut a small slit in the poly. Feed the hose deep into the cavity. We’re not fluffing—this is dense-pack.
3. Dense-Pack Cellulose
   Use an insulation blower to pack each cavity solid. No voids. No settling later. Just clean, consistent fill.
4. Tape It Shut
   Once the cavity’s full, tape the slit. The poly stays intact and does its job as an air barrier.

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Why This Beats Batts (Every. Single. Time.)

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✅ Higher R-Value Per Inch
Dense-pack cellulose gives you better thermal performance than fiberglass batts, hands down.

✅ Built-in Air Sealing
Done right, this system slows air movement like a champ—no need for extra air-sealing steps inside the wall.

✅ Soundproofing, Too
Your clients won’t hear what’s happening in the next room or outside. Big win for quality of life.

✅ No Settling, No Gaps
Because it’s packed to the right density (3.5–4.0 lbs/cu ft), it won’t sag or settle over time.

✅ Eco-Friendly & Code-Compliant
Made from recycled paper and treated with borate—safe, sustainable, and passes every code requirement you’ll run into.

✅ Mold, Pest & Fire Resistant
The borate treatment keeps critters and mold out, and adds a layer of fire protection your inspectors will like.

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When to Use the Dry Pac System

If you’re working on:

✔️ New builds that need airtight performance
✔️ Additions that need to meet modern code
✔️ Passive house or energy-efficient designs

…this is your system.

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Why Nealon?

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We’ve been insulating shoreline homes and working with builders like you for 48 years. Our team knows the dry pac system inside and out—and we get in, get it done, and get out of your way so you can keep your build on schedule.

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👉 Ready to line up insulation that actually performs? Contact Nealon Insulation for a walkthrough or quote.

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Keeping your house comfortable year-round can feel like a game of tug-of-war with the weather. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, and your HVAC system’s working overtime to keep up.

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The root problem? Heat transfer. It’s science-y, yeah, but understanding how heat sneaks in and out of your home is the first step to fixing it.

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There are three ways heat moves: conduction, convection, and radiation. Let’s break it down the way your house would explain it—if it could talk.

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1. Conduction: Heat’s Sneaky Shortcut Through Solid Stuff

Conduction is heat sliding through solid materials. Think walls, floors, your attic—anywhere you don’t have proper insulation, heat is using those surfaces like an escape tunnel.

• In winter, the warm air inside your house leaks out through the walls and roof.
• In summer, that same pathway brings in the heat like an unwanted houseguest.

The Fix:
Dense-pack cellulose insulation (like we install) slows that transfer way down. It builds a thick thermal barrier that says, “Not today, heat.”

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2. Convection: Drafts, Air Currents, and the Cold Sneaking In

Convection is when heat moves around via air. Warm air rises, cold air sinks, and if you’ve got gaps in your home—attics, rim joists, around windows—you’re basically inviting the outside air in for dinner.

• Drafty room? That’s convection doing its thing.
• Uneven temps between floors? Same culprit.

The Fix:
Seal up the leaks. Then insulate.
We air-seal the problem areas and dense-pack insulation in the walls and attic to keep your HVAC air inside where it belongs.

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3. Radiation: Sunlight Cooking Your Roof (and You)

Radiation is heat traveling in waves—like sunlight streaming through your windows or beating down on your roof in July.

• In summer, your attic turns into an oven.
• In winter, your heat radiates outward if there’s no insulation keeping it in.

The Fix:
Use reflective barriers and solid attic insulation. Cellulose handles radiant heat better than fiberglass and keeps your house from feeling like a toaster.

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So What’s the Point?

Heat wants out in winter. Heat wants in during summer.
Insulation is the bouncer at the door, saying no to both.

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At Nealon Insulation, we’ve been handling all three types of heat transfer—conduction, convection, radiation—for 48 years along the Connecticut shoreline. We know where the leaks are, and we know how to stop them.

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👉 If you're curious why your existing insulation might be failing, check out article on common insulation problems and solutions.
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Contact Nealon Insulation for a no-pressure consultation. We’ll help you get your house dialed in—tight, quiet, and comfortable year-round.

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