Adding Insulation to Walls
Insulation regulates heat loss and gain. To understand insulation, it’s important to understand how heat flows.
The three ways are through conduction, convection, and radiation.
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Conduction: Process in which heat is transmitted as molecules collide and heat is directly transferred.
Convection: The transfer of heat through the movement of fluid carrying thermal energy.
Radiation: The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves.
Radiation accounts for less than 10% of heat loss and so, the majority of loss is due to convection and conduction which we can regulate through insulation. It works by dividing air space into small pockets of air and since still air is a good insulator, it inhibits heat transfer.
Insulation is rated by RSI value (Resistance System International) and an R-value. They both measure resistance to heat flow where RSI is metric and the R-value is imperial. The higher the value, the slower the better the insulation is at keeping in heat.
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RSI =
R-value
5.678
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Note: While insulation may have a nominal insulation value, there are more components in a wall assembly. The key value is the effective insulation value that measures the overall effectiveness of your wall assembly.
Adding Insulation to Walls
This may sound incredibly simple but implementing it in practice can be very difficult. Insulation is a type of material that is used to fill in any empty spaces inside of walls and other parts of the home to reduce heat from escaping . Empty pockets drive up energy loss since cold air can infiltrate. If insulation is installed correctly then it will be able to keep your home warm during cooler seasons and a cool temperature in the warmer seasons . There are several types of insulation, some of which are, as follows :
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Fiberglass insulation,
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Cellulose insulation,
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Spray foam insulation.
If you live in a residential building, we recommend you speak with your landlords on whether the walls of your apartment have insulation and how long it has been since it was last changed. Although it should be noted, depending on the type of insulation, it can last for over a decade. It is good practice to change insulation every 15-20 years .
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Insulated and Thermal Siding
Siding refers to the exterior facade you see on the exterior of your home and as you may have noticed, there’s nothing energy efficient about it. In fact, there is no such thing as energy efficient siding but what thermal siding does is that it bridges the gap between the facade and the wall to ensure there are no air pockets that increase the thermal gradient for heat loss . It goes without saying that thermal or insulated siding will be more expensive than regular standard home facades. While some resources may indicate issues with moisture build-up in walls, studies show that there is no evidence of moisture absorption by thermal siding, which is foam-backed for adding insulation .
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We do not encourage you to try insulating your home by yourself and we are not responsible for any damages if you do attempt to try alone.
Deep Retrofit Insulated Panels (RIPs)
This a new product that is a labor-saving method of reaching a high performance, airtight building envelope. It also provides continuous exterior insulation and a solid nailing surface in a single step . RIPs comprise a sheet of rigid insulation, usually expanded polystyrene (EPS), that is glued to an oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing panel . While doing this type of retrofit, existing windows should be removed first .
A deep retrofit panel.
Image obtained from: Nailbase Panels, click on image for reference