Insulation

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Basics

  • The use of materials to prevent the passage/spread/leakage of heat
  • Can improve efficiency
  • Can allow for ulra low/ultra high temperatures

Common Materials

Glass Fiber Wool

  • Sleeve, 1/2" I'd, 1/4 wall -[1]
  • 1/4" ID, 9/32 wall - [2]

Mineral Wool

  • Higher temperature resistance than fiberglass.
  • $2/sf, 1" thick - R4 - Roxul - [3]
  • Menards R15 batts, $1/sf - [4]

Ceramic Fiber Wool

  • 1", $3/sf - [5]

Aramid

  • Fabric made of synthetic fibers roughly similar to nylon
  • 1/4 I'd, 1/16 wall - [6]

Foamed Plastic

  • Can be made from vinyl with carbon dioxide as the foaming agent [7]
  • Polyurethane Spray foams etc
  • Easy to apply
  • Fills cracks well
  • Hard to remove

Aerogel

  • Essentially a jell with the liquid being replaced with a gas
  • VERY insulating
  • Can be complex to make depending on type + materials etc

Vacuum Panel

  • Aerogel but with a vacuum (or at least with (heavily) reduced pressure) instead of a gas inside the gel
  • The best insulator, but insulation degrades due to gas intrusion

Rechargable Vacuum Panel

  • Rechargable Vacuum Panel
  • Similar to the above Vacuum Panel, but it has ports and tubing to allow for it to be plumbed to a vacuum pump system to keep it's vacuum strong
  • No longer loses vacuum with time
  • Does require plumbing and a vacuum pump thus adding complexity (and a small occasional power draw for the vacuum pump motor however)

Ecologically Safe Options

Cellulose Insulation

  • Typically mostly cellulose pump/batting from the paper and cloth industries
  • Also can roughly include strategies like Hay Bale Insulation or hemp etc
  • Additives can be added such as Fire Retardants , Binding Agents , anti bacterial/fungal etc
  • Similar ease of installation to "blown fiberglass batting" and some foams (although it won't expand, and may in fact settle)

Bioplastic Based Foams

  • Can be done, but requires full development of the more complex Bio-Petrochemistry (distillates and refining them into the polyurothane etc) and the required infastructure
  • Thus unlikely near-term

Bioplastic Based (Rechargable?) Vacuum Panel Insulation

  • Use bioplastic glazing ( PLA or Cellulose Acetate (latter one is quite flammible) )
  • Is this viable?
  • If so would be highly insulating, and unlikely to become a host to rodents/microbes
  • Unsure on flammability

Sustainably Sourced Mineral Wool

Carbon Foam Rigid Panel Insulation

  • Carbon Foam being utilized in a similar manner to Plastic Foam Rigid Panel Insulation or Drywall (as insulation, not as a nail holding, paintable material etc)
  • Can be made in a simple kiln with a mold, and some simple recipe?
  • Should be quite straighforeward
  • Also is relitively fireproof/resistant (see Carbon Foam )
  • Also should be relitively resistant to insects/rodents
  • Unsure on mold/microbes as it does have high surface area, but it isn't as "digestable" as cellulose etc?

"GreenCellFoam"

  • Some OTS product; mainly marketed for packaging
  • Secrative on what material
    • It is corn based, water soluable, and easily biodegradable (ie can be done in a simple backyard pile, not a proper Anerobic Digestion setup like PLA
    • Thus it may be some sort of starch/cellulose etc foam?
  • Should be replicable, but in "in wall use" it shouldn't have too much of an advantage over regular cellulose batting, and thus isn't too relevant?

Simply Overbuilding

  • IE very thick walls of CEBs or Concrete
  • More resource and space intensive, but it "gets the job done"
  • VERY simple compared to other methods
  • Also no fire/insect/rodent/microbe risk (outside of if they can somehow get into CEBs (need to read up on this)

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