Archive for the ‘Reflective foil insulation’ Category
Sledding is just about one of my kids favorite pastimes. They live for the chance to go farther or faster than one of their siblings. Over the years, we’ve bought a number of really nice sleds and boards all claiming to be the best ride. Sometimes these pieces of equipment have been costly. Other times, they’ve just led to disappointment when the claims didn’t hold true, or the quality was so poor the item fell apart after a couple good-sized hills.
Being a thrifty and practical kind of person, I’ve found ways to duct tape some of them back together. I’ve used heavy coats of wax to make the bottoms more slick. I even went so far as to use a light piece of board and some screws to hold a couple of pieces which wanted to split together, just to eek a little more life out of the sled.
Inspiration came one day when I heard about my youngest using the wax paper from his sandwich to grease his way down the slide at the playground. My mind immediately turned to the reflective insulation I’d used to make our home more efficient by reducing the loss and gain of radiant heat through the attic. Turns out I still had some scraps of the reflective insulation in the garage, so I began cutting strips off for each of the kids to use.
A few weeks later, we got another good snowfall. It was time to test our theory that reflective insulation was so smooth and slick that it would make the best sled around. With a good sprint and a leap, my kids went sailing down the hill on their reflective insulation sled. Fun times! And a good way to make good use from leftover material.
Are you familiar with a product called reflective insulation? It is also known as reflective foil or radiant barrier to some people. Have you wondered how this product works? It’s actually not new to the market, although not yet widely adopted by homebuilding companies across the nation. It’s primarily concentrated in hotter parts of the country like Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
Reflective insulation isn’t only for new homes. It’s actually one of the easiest home improvement or retrofit projects that can be done to an existing home. A bonus is that installing reflective insulation in an existing home will cause little or no disruption to the family living within the home at the time.
For many other improvement projects, the family living in the home might experience a disruption in their everyday lives were they to retrofit any area of their home. In some cases, improvement projects even open up other unexpected issues when it comes to code and new standards. Fortunately, reflective insulation isn’t affected by any of that.
Your home may already have traditional or mass insulation up in the attic. Typically known as “the pink stuff,” much of the mass insulation in homes today is made from fiberglass and exists in long sheets of batting or perhaps loose fill. When placed between the joists in your attic’s floor, mass insulation slows down the transfer of heat from your home’s interior up through the attic and into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, slowing down this process does not limit it all together. Once mass insulation absorbs all it can, it emits the excess heat. In this manner, your HVAC system may be constantly working to make up the difference lost through the roof.
Reflective insulation is a thin, lightweight product made of 99% aluminum and a polyester scrim inner core. While very easily cut, the product is difficult to tear, which makes it easy to handle and install with a simple box cutting knife.
Reflective insulation may be laid on top of traditional insulation across the floor joists. Spaces between the layers are fine, and in fact may be necessary to prevent excessive condensation from building up. When placed on the roof rafters, reflective insulation also works in the summer to keep the sun’s hot rays from penetrating into the home through the attic. Your HVAC works less and the temperatures of your home stay more consistent.
Overall, the effect should greatly lessen the amount of radiant heat lost into the atmosphere through your attic. Your HVAC system will work less hard, saving you money and wear and tear on an expensive home appliance.
In many parts of the country, the pressing heat of summer has started to subside. While the weather hasn’t turned cool yet, it’s at least bearable to spend time outside. Don’t let the weather (or those windows you’re now able to open) change lull you into being comfortable with the state of your home’s energy efficiency. We all know that Fall and Winter are inevitable.
Now’s the time to plan your energy checks so that you still have time to implement changes before the fierce weather kicks in. Here are some ideas to improve your home’s comfort this season:
- Start with the quick fixes, including windows and doors. Do they fit well and close easily? Do you feel air escaping?
- Clean the coils of your refrigerator and freezer. A build-up of dust keeps the appliance from operating at its fullest.
- Cover any window air conditioning units tightly with plastic to prevent cold air from rushing inside.
- Consider installing a radiant barrier into your attic on top of existing insulation.
You may have heard of some of these ideas before. Radiant barrier may have the most significant impact on your energy bill, so don’t overlook the value a small investment now will bring you over the lifetime of home ownership.
Radiant barrier, also called reflective foil insulation, serves as a barrier to block the transfer of radiant heat from one place to another. When placed along the floor joists in your attic, perforated radiant barrier will reflect the heated air from your living space (which rises into the attic) back down to prevent escape through the attic. The result is a more comfortable home at a lower thermostat setting, and lower electric bills.
I found this article about attic insulation that provides more detail. Take a look.
Energy efficiency is a hot topic, and there are a ton of resources available to help you improve things around your home. One economical product I’ve found is radiant barrier which is installed in attics and used in conjunction with mass insulation products to greatly minimize the transfer of radiant heat. I called several companies to learn more, but this video from the folks at EcoFoil was really handy at getting the big picture about radiant barrier. Take a look below.
EcoFoil Radiant Barrier