- The Best Attic Insulation prevents radiant heat transfer. Adding attic insulation is paramount to creating a more comfortable and energy efficient home, keeping you cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
- By properly installing a radiant barrier in your attic, you can lower your air conditioning and heating bills and can potentially extend the life of that equipment.
- The attic insulation material should be a reflective -- that is an absolute must in warmer climates. The aluminum foil material used in reflective attic insulation reduces radiant heat transfer through the attic by 97%.
- Installing an attic radiant barrier in the attic ceiling means that the heat of the sun will be reflected back out of your attic instead of crossing the airspace to be absorbed by the insulation on the attic floor and then radiated down into your home below.
- Similarly, adding an attic radiant barrier can reducing the loss of heat from the attic floor to the roof sheathing in cold weather by reflecting attic heat downward.
Types of Attic Insulation1. AEROLAM™ = radiant barrier + reflective insulation + vapor barrier
2. Cellulose, won't prevent radiant heat transfer,
3. Fiberglass, won't prevent radiant heat transfer,
4. Spray foam, won't prevent radiant heat transfer,
5. Rockwool, won't prevent radiant heat transfer
While other types of attic insulation are made to resist or impede the flow of warm air, a reflective attic insulations reflects back infra-red energy from the sun so it does not penetrate the building. It can also reflect back radiant heat inside the house so it does not escape. The concept is simple: each unit of radiant heat energy that is reflected away from your home in summer and each unit reflected back inside during winter means less operation of your air conditioning and heating systems, less wear and tear on your equipment, and less money you pay in utility costs. Studies show that an attic radiant barrier can save as much as 15 percent on air conditioning energy costs.
Attic Radiant Barrier Installed During New Construction:
- Attic radiant barriers are not affected by moisture and can completely replace older insulation materials in warmer climates.
- Reflective insulation can also be used effectively in conjunction with other bulk insulation materials in colder climates.
In a typical home, up to 30 percent of heat is lost through the roof. Adding attic insulation is an easy upgrade in comparison to insulating walls, floor or the roof deck in an existing building. Adding a radiant barrier is the most common home insulation retrofit project. Reflective insulation used as a radiant barrier can be easily added to an existing attic as it hangs below the rafters.
Energy Savings:
- Radiant barrier attic insulation also gives the fastest time to payback. The cost of insulation is usually measured as the time to payback the initial cost of installation through energy savings.
- Payback is calculated by dividing the initial cost of the insulation by the annual amount of savings in energy costs. Most agencies and manufacturers report the payback time on any insulation job as 5-6 years.
- Heavily insulating the attic is usually seen as a worthwhile investment as an average home will stand for 100 years or more.
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