both ICF and the staggered studs are far more $$ but want to know if they payout in the end from people who have done either way You need to tell us how long you intend to live there. Is this your intended "final house"? If so, I'd definitely spend the extra to get a more efficient & comfortable home. I expect energy costs to be volatile in the future, but with a general upwards trend. But if you tend to move around every 5-7 years, maybe not. Personally, we built with ICF walls from basement to roof. I don't regret it, because the house is quiet and cheaper to heat. But we do intend to live here "forever", so the cost will almost certainly pay off for us. A side-benefit of thicker walls, aside from the quiet, is that you get deep window sills. Our cats certainly thank us for that , and it allows us to get multiple window treatments (double-wall cellular blinds plus curtains) well within the 11" deep window openings, if we choose to put curtains inside the opening rather than overlapping the outside. --Steve

I am using the cellulose insulation in my house under construction and it is a great product - provides excellent R value and sound proofing. We just turned the geothermal HVAC on and the house is nice and cool - no hot spots. And we don't even have the attic insulation in yet. In your area the moisture in the air is really high - I would do some research on using cellulose in your area. I would worry about the cellulose absorbing moisture like a sponge. If you do decide to use the cellulose - I would still have the spaces between the joists done in foam because the cellulose doesn't stick as well in smaller spaces. We had 4 inches of foam sprayed into those areas. All foam would be better but it does cost more (I was told 2 to 3 times more than celluose but never confirmed that cost). There may be some savings on the HVAC system if you go with foam so the total delta over cellulose would need to be looked at from a total system perspective. Regargless of the insulation selected - make sure you have them caulk all of the spaces between the studs where wall sgements meet, around the base of the floor, etc. Caulk everywhere! I was amazed at how many airways there were through the walls even with insulation in. If you don't caulk the small seams and gaps- you won't see the energy savings that you are paying for with the better insulation products. We also had a lot of angled corners and I made the builder drill holes into those wedge areas and fill them with foam. It took 2 workers less than a day to caulk and foam the angled voids throughout the house - not a big expense. Best of luck

Agreed, it was straight forward with 2 people. It is near impossible to hear each other so at first do only 1 bag at a time and shutting the unit off between bags until both people are in sych. We found it helpful to use our cell phones to communicate. It is near impossible to install to proper depth without a line reference so either buy the depth sticks or simple make reference marks with a permanent marker like we did. Were googles and a mask as it gets extremely dusty during the spraying. Finally, frame off areas you don't want the insulation to migrate to (ie. pull downs, hatches, air handler, soffits, etc.). I used fiberglass batts to create these "walls". Make sure soffits vents, if you have them, have baffles that are above the final height of the insulation, very important! I found Home Depot was almost a $1 cheaper per bag. Buy more than you need as you can always return the extra, and account for some settling. Save your receipts for the federal energy credit. You'll save more than 50% DIY. Good luck.

Been pondering this for a while. Several possibilities, most somewhat involved. 5 gallon bucket with lid. Drill hole in lid to allow the shank of a drill powered paint stirrer to be inserted. Insert stirrer, and install on drill(1/2" or bigger). Put chunk of insulation in bucket, put top on bucket, 'mix' the insulation. Three heavy trash bags, put inside each other. Put in chunk of insulation, roll/thump/whatever to loosen the insulation. Almost hate to say this one because of probable burnup of tool if too much insulation is thrown in at once. Hand held leaf vac(with bag). Toss in small---less than hand sized---chunks.