House insulation materials for your home: rock wool, fibreglass, cellulose, polystyrene, polyurethane, foil, foam

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Insulation Materials and their Uses

Insulation Materials & Environmental Considerations

Whenever possible, consider insulating materials made from recycled materials and with a large impact on energy savings.

See, for details on this issue: Insulation materials and Environment

Traditional insulation materials

Traditional and inexpensive insulation materials include:

- Cellulose (made from recycled paper)
- Fiberglass (the most common type of insulation, made from molten glass)
- Mineral wool (namely rock wool, made of some molten rocks).

These products come in the form of batts and rolls, or as loose-fill products (rock-wool and cellulose) or spray-applicable materials (cellulose).

See, for more details:
Fiberglass, mineral wool & Home insulation
Cellulose insulation

Synthetics

More recent insulation materials include some highly efficient synthetics, namely rigid insulators as Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS), Expanded Polystyrene Foam (EPS or bead board), Polyisocyanurate Foam and, specially, Polyurethane Foam.

Polyurethane Foam is indeed experimenting a growing popularity, due to its effectiveness (polyurethane foam has a R-value of 6.7 to 7 - 1 inch thickness-, approximately the double of common insulating materials).

See, for more details: Spray-on foam insulation

Insulation Materials Forms

Blankets - Batts or Rolls:
Rock wool and fiberglass

Loose-Fill (blown-in) or Spray-applied materials:
Rock wool, fiberglass, cellulose, and polyurethane foam

Rigid Insulators:
Extruded polystyrene foam (XPS)
Expanded polystyrene foam (EPS or bead board)
Polyurethane foam
Polyisocyanurate foam

Reflective Materials:
Foil-faced paper
Foil-faced polyethylene bubbles
Foil-faced plastic film
Foil-faced cardboard

Uses of batts or rolls
Fiberglass and rock wool

They are suitable for:

    - Timber floors
    - Ceilings: flat ceilings / Pitched roof and Cathedral or Raked ceilings
    - Suspended slabs

Their application is often a do-it-yourself work.

Batts are mainly used in standard spacing free of obstructions (they should be particularly well fitted between beams and joists).

Uses of Loose-Fill, Spray-applied materials
Rock wool, Fiberglass, Cellulose and Polyurethane foam

These materials are particularly suited for irregular areas and around obstructions, or for adding insulation to existing buildings. They are also a good option to unfinished attic floors.

They are blown into place or applied by spray (they demand special equipment). In the case of walls, they are applied in existing or new cavities.

They are very used in:
    - Flat ceilings / Pitched roof
    - Cathedral / Raked ceilings
    - Brick walls

Uses of Rigid Insulation
Extruded polystyrene foam, Expanded polystyrene foam, Polyurethane foam and Polyisocyanurate foam

These materials have a high insulating performance, and are very used in:

    - Flat ceilings / Pitched roof
    - Cathedrals or raked ceilings
    - Timber floors
  - Suspended slabs
    - Slab Edges
    - Brick and Full masonry walls
    - Framed walls

They must be covered with fire safety material (in interior applications) and should have a weather-proof facing in exterior applications.

Uses of Reflective materials (radiant barriers)
Foil-faced paper, polyethylene bubbles, plastic films and cardboard

Reflective materials (frequently known as radiant barriers and reflective foil laminates or RFL) are in most cases shiny aluminum foil laminated onto paper or plastic. RFL sheets (sarking), RFL concertina-type and RFL bubble-form are very common. Their goal is to prevent the sun's heat, and are mainly used in hotter climates.

See, for more details:
Reflective Insulation