Claim: You can vacuum fiberglass batts with an insulation removal vacuum
A common question that comes our way is, “Can your insulation vacuum remove fiberglass batts?” Until 2021, this was a spurious claim. In an attempt to persuade people to purchase an insulation vacuum, some made videos showing that their vacuums could suck up insulation batts. Let’s examine the claims made and what it REALLY takes to vacuum up a R-30 24″ wide batt.
First, the video. One video, which is either removed or difficult to find now, showed a person using a 6″ hose, sucking up insulation batt. While it seemed impressive, a close watch of the video showed the remover slicing up the batt into small chunks to remove the fiberglass. The video was brief and did not show the time it takes to remove the batt this way. Certainly, if you slice and dice the batt, small enough, you can remove fiberglass batts with any insulation removal vacuum. The picture above is from another video showing the handful of fiberglass being sent into the vacuum.
Second, in another video clip, a person feeds 3″ thick fiberglass into a 6″ hose. Certainly, that fiberglass will be sucked into a vacuum, no matter the manufacturer. Small chunks of fiberglass are very capable of being vacuumed.
Third, some claim that their vacuum can remove fiberglass batt because they have a 8″ hose. Until now, that claim was absurd. The amount of suction required to vacuum a R-30 – 24″ wide batt is enormous. Keep reading.
Fourth, if you own a vacuum, even our daily worker, the CoolVac23, the amount of time to massage the fiberglass batt down the hose is not worth the time. The time doesn’t make sense. Of course, if you have pieces of fiberglass in the attic, certainly use the vacuum. However, if you are trying to vacuum size-able batts, the time it takes to breakdown and extract that batt is exceedingly long. The best, and fastest, practice is to just grab the batts, roll them up and throw them into large, cheap garbage bags. You will SAVE a considerable amount of time and money. It only takes about 1 1/2 hours to rollup the fiberglass batts (1,000 sq ft attic) and toss them into garbage bags. Tearing the batts apart will take you close to 8 hours to do the same.
Now for an AMAZING UPDATE (Feb 2022).
Where are we at now in the industry? In 2021, Cool Machines introduced two vacuums – CoolVac37 and CoolVac 25 diesel. These vacuums have enormous suction power. The CoolVac 23 and CoolVac 22 have been leading the industry with the highest water column measurements (see this article) at 27 inches. That is still not enough power to pull a fiberglass batt through a 8″ hose. The CoolVac 37 and CoolVac 25 Diesel are measuring at 35 inches and have 5,000 CFMs. This suction is so strong that placing a R30 fiberglass batt near the end of the hose, it will take it out of your hand and instantly take it down the hose. When we combine TWO CoolVac23s in daisy chain, we are measuring a staggering 48″ water column rate. Cool Machines now offers a 8″ opening on these vacuums to accommodate for the removal of fiberglass batts. Here is a video that explains: