The walls and attic on our home are filled with closed cell foam insulation . . . A great insulator. But, the studs themselves are not. On a cold day you can actually "feel" on the interior of the home where each stud is. A layer of exterior foam probably should also been applied.
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(https://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e149/bayviewps/Studs_zps63b8bb06.jpg) (//s38.photobucket.com/user/bayviewps/media/Studs_zps63b8bb06.jpg.html)
Wow! Look at that. One inch of exterior foam would likely have done it. I wonder if on a home with fiberglass infill insulation that would not be noticeable as there would be less of a difference between the stud and the infill area? You're still better than if you had f-glass in the walls though. :D
There are methods of framing and insulation that do not promote temperature transference. They are pretty expensive from what I have read. Most require a lot larger foundation foot print to compensate for the wider top and bottoms plates. They mostly utilize off set studs to break the transference of cooling however this further drives up the cost of framing. Both in materials and man hours. I have read where SIP building helps alleviate this problem.
As far as foam panels or sheets I have seen it seems works very will with stucco and that type of exterior. But not so much with lap or panel siding... I wonder why not?
Wow, very interesting! Has anyone seen the fine homebuilding article where the guy took apart the deep energy retro fit he did on his barn 20 years later? You could see where the seams were in the rigid foam sheeting he used on the roof on a cold day. It never ceases to amaze me how clever the air and the cold is, if there is a weakness, it will be found!
That article and barn were by Joe Lstiburek, the building science website we often refer to.
The energy star foam sheathed homes do have a couple of problems, I prefer a structural sheathing for bracing and storm flung projectile reasons. I've also seen moisture problems with wood based sidings applied directly over the impervious foam when moisture gets driven to the backside of the siding, a rainscreen approach helps there. But I've seen the same thing on our sprayfoam jobs, the framing telegraphing thru on frosty days, this is going to eventually cause moisture problems too, there needs to be a thermal break.
I like driving around town here in the spring and fall when we start getting freezing temps overnight and things are covered in frost. It's interesting to watch the different houses on the drive to work so see how well/poorly they're insulated. On pretty much all of them you can see the wall studs, as in the picture above. You can also see how well the insulation in the attic is doing and where there might be any big air leaks. On most houses you can see thawed frost on the roof directly above the outside walls due to the small amount of insulation available there.
When I did my house I built it with double stud walls on separate plates, 10" thick total with dense pack cellulose. I've been very happy with the performance but it was a lot more work.
Alan
One thing to notice on those frosty morning observations is how often you can spot the can light locations in cathedral ceilings, they are often little flues exhausting heat through the roof... lose the cans whenever possible.
you sure those are studs? they look awful close together... you sure it isn't vertical strapping for siding installation or something?