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What makes the best insulation is its high R-value, its ability to reflect the heat or the cold out of the house or the building. The best insulations are Energy Star qualified and ICC-ES recognized, easy to install, safe to work with and easy on the environment. Reflective Insulation is known to be the best insulation because it reflects radiant energy, the primary source of heat flow. It can be install in many places in a house or a building such as in the walls, cavity walls, loft, roof, attic, garage and garage door, duct, water heater, under flooring etc... Among the many different types of reflective insulations Prodex Total Insulation seems to be the best.
Below you will find a description of the many different types of insulation such as, reflective insulation, batt or roll insulation, loose fill or blown insulation, rigid board insulation, spray applied insulation, pour-in injected insulation and, combination insulation systems and structural insulation systems. This description shows why Prodex Total Insulation is the most efficient and thus the Best Insulation.
Reflective Insulations have an R-value that varies from 4.9 to 21.1.The most common names are Prodex Total Insulation, Prodex Total Fast Action, Prodex Total Perforated, Prodex Total House Wrap, Foil-Bubble-Foil, Foil-Bubble-White-Poly, Foil-Fiberglass-Vinyl. Reflective insulation has become a standard component of a total insulation system. It is designed for both new construction and retrofits. Using reflective insulation for either your home or metal building will increase the comfort level inside, protect against condensation and save on energy.
During the winter, 50-75% of heat loss through the ceiling and 65-80% of heat loss through walls is radiant. In the summer, up to 93% of heat gain is radiant. If you are depending on R-value (resistance) alone to insulate against heat gain and loss, you are losing half the battle.
While other types of insulation are made to resist or impede the flow of warm air, reflective insulation reflects back radiant (infra-red) energy from the sun so it does not penetrate the building. It can also reflect back radiant heat inside the house so it does not escape. The concept is simple: each unit of radiant heat energy that is reflected away from your home in summer and each unit reflected back inside during winter means less operation of your air conditioning and heating systems, less wear and tear on your equipment, and less money you pay in utility costs. Batt or Roll Insulations have an R-value per inch that varies from 3.2 to 4. The most common names under which they can be found are fiberglass batt, recycled cotton, cotton batt, sheep’s wool batt and, mineral wool batt. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they are not very air tight and are therefore subject to air movement around the batts. They have a low r-value per inch in narrow cavities. They absorb moisture and suffer damage if wet. Also, some of them can be expensive, not available everywhere, be dangerous and have itchy fibers, can be used as a nesting material for rodents and in some rare cases their fibers can lead to poor indoor air quality.
Loose Fill or Blown Insulations have an R-value per inch that varies from 2 to 4. The most common names under which they can be found are cellulose, recycle paper insulation, newsprint insulation, blown in fiberglass, blown in blankets, blown in cotton, blown in batts, mineral wool or vermiculite. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they are not very air tight; the air can flow through the insulation especially when the coverage is light, and they are a good nesting material for rodents. Other weaknesses for some of them are that they are permanently damaged once wet, does not dry quickly, some metal corrosion problems have been attributed to boric acid (fire resistant chemicals) leaching out of wet cellulose, not available everywhere, they are itchy to install, not DIY friendly, in some rare cases the fibers can cause indoor air quality problems and some vermiculite is contaminated with asbestos depending on where it was mined.
Rigid Board Insulations have an R-value per inch that varies from 3.5 to 7. The most common names under which they can be found are polviso board, polystyrene bead board, Styrofoam, expended polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), blue board, pink board and rigid fiberglass. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they can be expensive, they degrade in sunlight, they are not very fire resistant, some of them will absorb moisture if wet, their r-value will diminish slightly over time especially if the foil face is removed and some ants will burrow and nest in XPS.
Spray Applied Insulations have an R-value per inch that varies from 3.5 to 6.8. The most common names under which they can be found are open-cell polyurethane foam, soft foam, hard foam, closed cell, can foam, kit foam, wet spray cellulose and dense pack cellulose. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they are expensive, they are not DIY friendly, and they are subject to minimum and maximum temperature restrictions during installation. Some of them are not user friendly, they require you to know how to both select the right product and install it properly, some will absorb moisture, their installation produces excess foam that must be trimmed and disposed of. There is still an ongoing debate in the industry for some about fire resistance in exposed applications. In some cases the installer’s experience/training is critical because if the insulation is improperly installed the foam is prone to failure. The adhesion to wall surface can break down over time so the tight installation may not be long term and there are concerns about moisture release and mold.
Poured-in or Injected Insulations have an R-value per inch that varies from 3.5 to 7. The most common names under which they can be found are open-cell injection foam, blown in foam, closed-cell injection foam, can foam, DIY foam, dense pack cellulose, foamed cement, magnesium silicate, phenolic-foams, tripolymer-foams and nitrogen based foams. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they are expensive, not DIY friendly, DIY users must study up, improper installations can push walls and damage walls with expansion pressure, not available everywhere. Also, some of them are subject to minimum and maximum temperature restrictions during installation, some will absorb moisture, some will shrink after installation, some are friable (fragile and brittle), some have a reputation for being chemically related to urea formaldehyde foam which was discontinued for health reasons and dense packing spaces under 3” thick is very risky, dense packing against brick can be risky because moisture can migrate through brick.
Combination Insulation Systems and Structural Insulation Systems have an R-value per inch that varies from 2.4 to 7. The most common names under which they can be found are straw bales, structurally insulated panels (SIPS), insulated concrete forms (ICF), flash and batt, flash and dash, exterior insulation finish system (EIFS), advanced framing techniques, airtight drywall, exterior foam sheeting and double wall construction. The weaknesses for this type of insulation are that they can be expensive, not DIY friendly, labor intensive, not very air tight, they can be subject to air movement around the bales, some can not be used in narrow cavities, some will absorb moisture and suffer damage if wet, some have not been fully tested by time and ASTM, some SIPS panels have had problems in the past with rot caused by condensation at panel seams and poor flashing details, the moisture management needs to be spacifically considered if using SIPS, the thickness of the foam coat is critical especially in colder climates and should be determined by a building science professional – if the foam is too thin it may lead to condensation inside the wall on really cold days, some systems had serious problems with trapped moisture, some of the techniques require building materials not commonly found at local lumber yards, some make later sheetrock removal for renovations difficult, in some cases windows and doors may have to have jamb extensions to match the added wall thickness and they can increase framing materials and labor.
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