| Insulation Materials |
A Myriad of Choices In picking the appropriate insulating material for your home project, consider the following factors:
We offer two ways to approach your study of materials:
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| GREENING your home? This is the overview for you. | ||
| Considers materials used in producing each product, potential toxicities, along with practical pros and cons. | ||
| What kind of insulation is best? | ||
| The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's discussion of insulation product types, the value of product labels. and what can be used in various circumstances. | ||
| D.O.E.'s Energy Savers has a handy chart listing materials, advantages, etc. | ||
| This is a good place to begin your search for the right insulation for your home. (But no R-values given here.) | ||
| HowStuffWorks' easy-to-use 10-click no-slide discussion of most common insulation materials | ||
Forms of Insulation
Will you be installing insulation in a home you are building? Or will you be retrofitting an existing home? Your choices of which insulation instantly widen if the house is still on the drawing board. Still, as conservation becomes more important, new methods and products are being introduced. Here's what we've got so far.
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| Batt or Roll Insulation | ||
| This covers fiberglass, cotton, wool and mineral wool insulation. | ||
| Loose Fill or Blown Insulation | ||
| This includes cellulose, blown-in fiberglass, blown-in cotton, blown-in batts or BIBs, blown-in mineral wool, vermiculite, and perlite. | ||
| Rigid Board Insulation | ||
| This includes polyisocyanurate, the polystyrenes (Styrofoam, EPS, or XPS), rigid fiberglass, and phenolic foam boards. | ||
| Spray-Applied Insulation | ||
| This includes open-cell and closed-cell polyurethane foams, can or DIY foam, and wet spray cellulose. | ||
| Poured-in or Injected Insulation | ||
| This includes open and closed-cell polyurethane foams, can or DIY foam, dense pack cellulose, cementitious foam, phenolic foams, tripolymer or nitrogen-based foams, and the now-banned formaldehyde foams. | ||
| Radiant Barriers | ||
| This includes insulative paint and radiant barriers. | ||
| Combination Insulation Systems and Structural Insulation Systems | ||
| This includes straw bales, structurally insulated panels (SIPs), insulated concrete forms (ICFs), flash and batt, exterior insulation finish systems (EIFS), advanced framing techniques, airtight drywall, exterior foam sheathing, double wall construction | ||
Product by Product
Listed alphabetically, the most common insulation materials in the U.S. are cellulose, cotton, fiberglass, mineral or rock wool, radiant barriers, rigid foam and spray-on foam.
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| Cotton insulation specs in easy to read form | ||
| Identifying cotton insulation in an older home | ||
| Cotton was used as insulation from 1935 to 1950, says Inspectapedia. If your house is of that vintage, you may find cotton batts holding in your heat. | ||
| Installation know-how: How to cut cotton batts | ||
| Learn the cutting techniques for a better, snugger cotton batt installation. | ||
| The GREEN argument for cotton insulation | ||
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| D.O.E.'s Energy Saver discusses fiberglass batting | ||
| Their chart shows product thicknesses along with R-values and costs for each. | ||
| Frequently Asked Questions about fiberglass answered by the industry | ||
| A primer on the benefits of fiberglass insulation. | ||
| VIDEO: Installing fiberglass batts in walls per a manufacturer's instructions | ||
| Step-by-step guide. Please see more installation VIDEOs for blown-in or batted fiberglass under "ATTIC" | ||
| VIDEO: Fiberglass being blown into walls behind netting | ||
| Another manufacturer's how-to VIDEO, which clearly shows the blow-in installation process for fiberglass. It also stresses the product's GREEN qualities. | ||
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| An overview of mineral wool, its pros and cons | ||
| Frequently Asked Questions about mineral wool insulation answered by the industry | ||
| From Inspectapedia, how to identify a rock wool installation. | ||
| If you have a very old house, know that mineral or rock wool has been around since the 1850's. Perhaps it's already a part of your home's insulation. | ||
| VIDEO: A manufacturer demonstrates spray-on and blown-in installations | ||
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| D.O.E.'s Energy Saver delivers the important facts about radiant barriers | ||
| Another instructive discussion of reflective foil insulation | ||
| Take a look at the VIDEO, included with the article, showing "radiant barrier chips," yet another form of this material, which can be blown onto attic floor insulation but won't collect dust, as roll-on blankets do. | ||
| An Energy Star qualified manufacturer answers FAQ's about reflective foil | ||
| Do-it-yourself guides to installing radiant barrier insulating systems | ||
| These are easy-to-print-out (landscape view) instructions for installing an Energy Star-approved foil shield vertically or horizontally. | ||
| VIDEO: Horizontal installation of foil radiant barrier | ||
| VIDEO: Vertical installation in an attic and cathedral ceiling | ||
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| D.O.E.'s Energy Saver discusses rigid or foam board insulation | ||
| Overview of the products includes types, installation and possible difficulties. | ||
| VIDEO: This Old House insulates a basement with rigid polystyrene | ||
| This video shows important prep work, plus the building of a post-insulating stud grid ready to fit electricals and drywall. | ||
| VIDEO: Using rigid insulation on the outside of a new home | ||
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| IMPORTANT! Learn here about all foam insulation types | ||
| The basics of foam insulation: advantages of foam, open-cell v closed-cell, plus the pros and cons of each product type. | ||
| A forthright discussion of open-cell spray foam | ||
| Info about foam details like costs, warrantys, ease of installation | ||
| VIDEO: So much information about open/closed-cell foam installations! | ||
| This is all about details, and it makes for a fine demonstration of how spray foam products should be installed. | ||
| VIDEO: Do-it-yourself spray foam techniques | ||
| Reference Corner |
 R-value measures a material's resistance to heat loss. The higher the R-value of your insulation, the more effective it will be. |
) Check the map for your location, then find the recommended R-values for each part of your house. (Click map to enlarge) |
| GO DEEPER |
| Wikipedia's product + R-value + pro & con extravaganza | ||
| Whew! It's really thorough It even includes the R-value of thinsulate fabric. But more important, when reading this, it's the second column with the "ft²·°F·h/(BTU·in)" formula that gives the R-value you're looking for. | ||
| Inspectapedia's guide to insulating materials | ||
| An exhaustive table including R-value, density, absorption, flame spread and more ... | ||
| VIDEO: Insulation above, around, under and between | ||
| This Platinum LEEDS Habitat for Humanity home gets it's outstanding rating from all-over insulation, "advanced framing," careful ventilation and attention to detail. | ||