How does insulation work?
The most common type of insulation that is thought of is thermal insulation. This is the type of insulation you would find in most buildings and homes. It is designed to lower the transfer of heat between the inside of a building and the world outside. It allows a building to retain its heat during the winter months while still keeping it relatively cool inside during the hot summer months. While there is no substance that can totally stop the transfer of heat between one area and another, there are a variety of new materials that can greatly slow this transfer.
Insulation basically prevents the loss of heat to the outside from your home during the winter and prevents the hot air from entering your home during the summer months. This is because insulation placed in the floors, attics and walls resists heat flow and prevents hot air from entering your home during the summer. (See Performance section) Heat flow is a critical element in your energy usage. Heat naturally moves from warmer places to colder places. In winter, the heat produced by your heating system naturally moves from the warm home interior into the unheated spaces such as attics, garages, basements or directly outdoors. To compensate for this, your heating system must run more often to keep the home’s temperature constant. In summer, when the outside temperature is warmer than the interior of the home, heat will flow into your home making your air-conditioner work harder to keep the house cool. By correctly installing the appropriate amount of insulation, this heat transfer can b
Insulation is essentially a tool that helps to create a barrier between an interior and exterior surface in order to create or maintain a desirable aspect of the contents of the space. To this end, insulation is all about protecting what is inside from something that is occurring on the outside. The exact process that is employed by different types of insulation will vary, depending on what needs to be insulated and how much protection is required to produce the desired results. When most people think of insulation, images of home insulation come to mind. In this application, insulation is used to help make it easier for the homeowner to maintain the climate within the space with relative ease. The insulation comes in several different options and materials, and is used to fill in the spaces within walls, between floors, and in attic spaces. When properly installed, the insulation helps to keep the space at a desirable temperature regardless of the outside weather, while also reducing
Insulation works by stopping the flow of air into and out of a house. Meaning, when the sun in the summer beats down on to the house and warms the air, insulation will stop the heat from penetrating into your home, thus keeping your home cooler in the summer. Likewise in the winter, insulation keeps the cold air from penetrating your home, thus keeping it warmer in the winter.
Insulation is any material that slows the rate of heat flow from a warm area to a cooler one. The more the rate is slowed, the better the insulative qualities of the material. Its ability to resist heat flow is measured as an R or RSI (metric) value, the higher the R – value, the more the material will resist the flow of heat. In order to be effective, insulation materials must be able to reduce the transfer of heat by conduction, convection and radiation, this is determined by both its physical properties and installation. Conduction – Since conduction is the transfer of heat through solid objects, most insulations contain tiny “pockets” of air. These air pockets reduce the conductive heat loss by minimizing the amount of “solid” material within a wall or ceiling. Convection – In large air spaces, such as a wall cavity, large amounts of heat can be lost through convection (and radiation) As long as the insulation is carefully installed to completely fill the cavity, there should be no
