# Insulating with straw.



## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

I have a hen coop inside my barn that is surrounded with stud walls.

Since straw has a pretty good R value (about R5 per inch), I'm thinking of filling the studded "walls" with chopped straw.

It's not really practical to stack bales around the walls, plus with the price of straw, it's probably cheaper to insulate with foam sheets.

Anyone ever heard of a setup life this?

Marty


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi, 
Sounds like a good idea, but I think the R value of straw is more like R1.5 per inch:
http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/99/990306.html

Gary


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Won't the mice have fun! A nice warm home and a few kernels of food scattered throughout to feast on.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

that's ok, the mice will add R value and actually make a little heat.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

That should work or if you want something more permanent use blown in cellulose.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

MELOC said:


> that's ok, the mice will add R value and actually make a little heat.


A nice pleasant odor to attract snakes and cats too.

If serious about using straw even though this is an outbuilding I would suggest you check into using a solution on it to help control vermin and slow fire. Decades ago Mother Earth News had an article on making your own cellulose insulation with ground paper treated with ?? a borax or boric acid solution. You may wish to see if you can find the old article.


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## blufford (Nov 23, 2004)

Windy in Kansas said:


> A nice pleasant odor to attract snakes and cats too.
> 
> If serious about using straw even though this is an outbuilding I would suggest you check into using a solution on it to help control vermin and slow fire. Decades ago Mother Earth News had an article on making your own cellulose insulation with ground paper treated with ?? a borax or boric acid solution. You may wish to see if you can find the old article.


Heres that link.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=65994


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## commonsense (Jun 1, 2008)

All I can think about is how many rats you'll get in those walls.


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## adamtheha (Mar 14, 2007)

There is a company that makes and sells insulation made out of chopped straw. You might be able to make your own out of clay and chopped straw, but it would be hard to place in the walls. Better to go with the cellulose I think, waaaaay cheaper!
What about putting some chicken wire up (halfway at first), then packing some chopped straw into the cavity? You'd need to pack it very tightly, and then plaster over it, but you might end up with something like a very thin straw bale wall. Rat's won't get through the plaster, and it's very fire resistant.
I don't know if that's more time consuming than the cellulose, but maybe something to experiment with.


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## Thatch (Jun 25, 2002)

You can easily use straw to insulate and it can be free of any vermin. Just toss the straw in a clay slip before packing into your forms / voids. 'Slip' is a clay / water soup about the consistency of a milk shake. Any high clay soil will work. This is a traditional building technique in many places but was quite big in Germany where it has had a resurgence lately. You can find more information by googling 'light straw' or 'Leichtlehmbau' (the German term for the technique).

J


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