Insulation Roof – Reflects Back Sun’s Heat

A house has about three areas that need insulation to be able to live comfortably inside. These include the roof, the floors and the walls. Insulation roof is one ideal way to prevent unwanted heat penetration from the outside. Your insulation would include some insulation foil to reduce the sun’s het energy from coming in.

Having an effective insulation material on the roof will also help conserve convective heat inside the house during the winter months to provide warmer atmosphere. Applying the perfect type of insulation helps diminish the energy needed in heating and cooling off the place in appropriate times.  

In turn, it helps reduce your energy bills in whatever seasons you are in.

Types

For the roof, there are two types of insulation materials that fit in. They are the reflective insulation material (against heat in summer) and the bulk insulation materials (blankets, blown-in cellulose, sprayed foam and rigid boards) for winter time.

Most of homes, buildings and other metal structures can unite both of the materials in the form of foil and bulk installations in creating complete insulation systems.

In both instances of hot or cold conditions, the insulation for the roof with reflective insulating materials is enough in getting control from unwanted temperature gain (or loss) as well as moisture penetration.

Reflective insulation

There are two different layers of aluminum foils in reflective insulation materials. The foils are sandwiched with the inner layers of foam, plastic bubble sheet or fiberglass. The structure is perfect for the pole barn insulation of the roof.

It reflects off about 97% of the radiant heat from the roof’s surface. This effectively blocks the heat from penetrating the insides of the structure.

Bulk installation / sprayed foam

Blankets and batts materials that are made up from fiberglass, cotton, sheep’s wool or mineral wool work well against the enlarging and rising flow of warm air. It then traps the heat penetrating inside or outside in their inside structures.

Rigid foam has a little advantage over the blanket insulation simply because it does not compress or absorb the moisture. The insulation characteristic is also higher and has a longer life. The insulation is good in spaces that are confined.

 Sprayed foam (polyurethane) is ideal for use in insulating metal walls and roofs. It seals it from air and moisture leaks. It also controls the condensation well.

Radiant barrier

The best way from insulation in hard summer the outer temperatures is getting reflective insulation materials for the roof. The higher tendency is to reflect the sun’s radiant energy well.

Using aluminum has a good part in reflecting the sun’s heat energy while cutting cooling costs. The condition is that it reflects back into the atmosphere

The use of aluminum plays a part in reflecting the sun’s energy while cutting cooling costs. It reflects back into the atmosphere the radiant energy instead of heating up the attic. The result is increased indoor comfort and less energy cost consumption.

With insulation roof using radiant heat barrier materials, the inflow of heat is effectively blocked at the roof surface and prevents it from entering the house.

Insulation Materials – What is Best for your Use

In colder countries of the world, people have discovered several ways to be comfortable in their homes using materials to heat them up. They have discovered the many insulation materials after so many years. Some are man-made, some are natural and some are hybrids. People chose what fits their needs.

The materials are as different as they all are from one another. The only likeness is that they all work the same way – preventing heat from moving around places, outside or inside, and keep things where they are needed. In houses and buildings, heat is conserved during winter, and is driven out during summer.

Insulators

Today, there are foam boards that are rigid and trap the air in controlling heat flow within a place. Reflective foils deflect radiant sun’s heat (resulting from the direct rays) to cool the living spaces.

Aside from these, there are several other materials that are very good in managing heart and cold in residences and buildings. (The not so popular insulation materials include vermiculite, phenolic foam, perlite and cementitious.)

The following popular materials (not in the order of consumer preference) have their own unique characteristics chosen by home owners and contractors. Their choices are all dictated by the present needs of the project, price, and some compromises.

Fiberglass

This is one the main favorites in insulation materials in that it delivers and that it is readily available. It is made from recycle glass and made into fibers used in blankets (batts and rolls) and as loose-fill. They are also used as rigid boards and duct insulation.

The loose fill are used with insulation-blowing machines (for attics and closed cavity applications). They are also used in blown-in blanket systems.

Mineral Wool

This other favorite has two types – rock wool and (man-made from natural minerals) and slag wool (made from by-products in blast furnaces). Both of these are 75% recycled. Also, they are fire-resistant.

These are usually made into batts and rolls as well as loose-fill insulation materials.

Cellulose

Basically, the materials are made from recycled newsprint paper. During the recycling proves, the makers usually put in borate, sometimes with ammonium sulfate, to make it fire and insect-resistant.

This material is usually the choice in new homes and in attic installations as loose-fill. The dense-packed filling is used in stuffing up cavities in walls and ceilings.

Plastic Fiber

Made from recycled plastic (PET) bottles, they are used as batt installation like the high-density fiberglass. It is treated with a fire retardant, although it melts when exposed to flame.

Compared to fiberglass, it is non-irritating to work with. As batts, they are slightly difficult to work, however.

Cotton

This insulation material is actually made of 85% recycled cotton and 15% plastic fibers treated with borate. (Some use the trimmed wastes from recycle blue jeans.)

It uses minimal energy to make because it is recycled. It is also non-toxic (it’s a natural fiber) and is available as batts.

Sheep’s Wool

These days, more materials are coming up to be manufactured into insulation materials. Some turn out to be good and some are failed experiments and discontinued. 

Roof Insulation - Summer Concerns

The roof is one of the three most important places in the house that needs insulation alongside the floors and the walls. Roof insulation is needed to prevent one of the important parts of the house from being penetrated by unwanted heat (and cold).

One of the materials used is the insulation foil which prevents the outside heat from getting inside the building or house. The foil reduces the amount of heat coming from the sun. The insulation gives better thermal protection in the opposite cold situation in winter.

Heat convection

The roof’s insulation materials will help move the convection of the heat energy within the house in winter to create a warm atmosphere. Applying the perfect type or the fitting type of insulation helps reduce the energy needed in the heating and cooling inside a building or house. In turn, it reduces energy costs.

The insulating material for the roof decreases the chance of thermal and moisture condensation. If the moisture condenses, problems like molds and mildew as well as rotting and dripping will be bigger problems.

With ventilation, the insulation under the roof’s surface helps the escape of moisture. This stops the ice buildup and the damage it can cause.

Types

The bulk and the reflective insulation materials are the two types fit for insulating the roof. Both can be in blanket forms, in foam that are sprayed, blown-in cellulose and in the rigid boards.

Some unite these materials in protecting their homes or building. They come in foil and bulk insulation in devising an insulation system. Both work differently. The foil does the reflective task and the bulk materials working to absorb and keep the heat off.

Reflective and bulk insulation

The reflective insulation materials are made of two different layers of aluminum foils sandwiched with the inner layer of foam, plastic bubble sheet or fiberglass. This structure is perfect for the pole barn insulation for the roof.

The material reflects about 97% of the radiant heat from the roof’s surface. This prevents energy and higher temperature penetrating inside the structure.

Roof bulk installation

Fiberglass, cotton, sheep’s wool, and mineral wool are some of the materials used for blankets and batts. They work well against the rising flow of warm air. Consequently, it traps the heat penetrating inside or outside.

The rigid foam has a little advantage over the blanket insulation because it does not compress or absorb the moisture. It also has a higher insulation characteristic with longer life, and is good for insulation with space that is confined.

In insulating metal walls and roofs to seal them from air and moisture leaks, the sprayed foam fits perfectly.

Radiant barrier

In summer, getting reflective insulation for the roof is perfect for reflecting off the outer temperatures. Using aluminum is good for reflecting back the sun’s energy and cutting costs in the process.

The best way in roof insulation during the hard summer is getting reflective insulation materials to prevent the outer temperature getting in. The result is increased indoor comfort and less energy consumption.

Acoustic Insulation - Some Details

Acoustic insulation (another term for sound proofing) is the method of reducing sound pressure with respect to a specific sound source and receiver. There are several ways in doing this. Some use noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound waves. Others use damping structures (sound baffles) and still others use anti-noise generators.

The system is called by many names (noise control, acoustic quieting, noise mitigation, etc.) but the whole aim is to limit unwanted noise. Each of these methods can suppress indirect sound waves by transforming them into reflections that cause echoes and resonances that cause reverberations.

There are about four other forms of sound suppressants.

Distance

This is a natural phenomenon. When sound waves spread out, the energy density decreases. With the increase of distance between the sound source and the recipient, sound diminishes or the intensity is reduced.   

In a normal setting, this would include a point source and point receptor. The intensity of the sound waves will be dependent on the distance between the two. This is according to their inverse square of the distance from the source.

Damping

Technically, this is the term used in reducing the resonance of sound in a room by way of absorption or redirection (reflection or diffusion). The absorption will lower the resonance of the sound in a room while the redirection makes unwanted sound harmless by reducing its coherence.

Damping reduces the acoustic insulation resonance in the air or mechanical resonance in the structure of the room itself, or by the things inside the room. (Cork walls, thick carpets and curtains can reduce the resonance of sound in a room, though not actually eliminate it because sound mainly travels by air.)

Absorption

When sound is absorbed by an object, there is a small conversion of a part of the sound energy into a small amount of heat in the intervening or absorbing material. This reduces the sound intensity as it is being transmitted.

There are some ways where a material can absorb sound. This sound absorbing material will be determined by the frequency distribution of noise to be absorbed and the acoustic absorption profile needed.

Porous absorbers

Basically, these absorbers are open cell rubber foams or melamine sponges that can absorb noise friction within the cell structure. The use of dense materials typically used for insulation absorbs the frequencies of the sound due to the porous nature of the material and less likely to be reflected.

The absorption profile of porous open cell foam is determined by many factors. These would include the cell size, the porosity of the material, tortuosity, material thickness and material density.

Sound transfer

The vibrations or sound transfers from one room to another happen through mechanical means. The vibration passes through bricks, wood, and all the solid structural elements. When it meets another element like the wall, ceiling, floor or window, all will act as a sounding board.

Acoustic insulation (with the use of foams, and other sound absorbent materials) is a concrete show on how sound is stopped by a mechanical device.