This is a quick summary table of all the common types of thermal house insulation. You can find details on each material by looking up "insulation" then "types".
A while back Glidden Paints had begun marketing Ceramic InsulCoat paint in Canada, claiming R-24 insulation values for a coat of paint. Does this new high tech paint really provide the equivalent of an R-24 insulation value to your Canadian home?No! In Canada, even the best reflective paint wil...
For the health controversy on Zonolite, click here. Vermiculite produced after 1990 has no asbestos in it. Because of the bad reputation it got with Zonolite it is not generally sold as insulation, although it is an excellent insulation with good fire resistance and easy pourability. You can fi...
Seaweed in the Maritimes and Sawdust in the rest of Canada were common insulation materials in the old days. If they are still light and fluffy, they are still insulating your home, although not the best of insulating materials. That is why we often just add new insulation right over the to...
We can't stop heat from escaping from the house by conduction, but we can effectively slow it down with thermal insulation. In practical terms, just about the only insulating material we work with is dead air. All the fibers, foams, beads, and batts are just different ways to package dead a...
Yes. R values simply add together to give a total R for the wall or ceiling. Generally speaking, a denser insulation should not be put on the cold side of a less denser one; it's a question of letting the moisture escape as easily as possible and not creating double vapour barriers. Hence, loo...
There are so many different insulating materials that it is quite confusing. I have tried to pull together information on the most common types from the manufacturers, the critics, the contractors and the researchers. Usually this information seemed to me to be either too simplified or too ...
Common Names: Fiberglass, Rock WoolColour: Pink, yellow, beige, white or greyThermal Resistance: RSI - .022/mm R-3.2/in. FairCost: lowCapacity to dry out if wet: Good to excellentFire Resistance: Good to excellentFungus / Vermin Resistance: Good to excellentLimitations: -- Skin irrita...
