Insulation Materials – Choosing What’s Best

When insulating your house (if you are constructing one, or if you have bought a finished one that has inadequate insulation), you need to decide the right insulation materials that goes best with the right parts. (Different house parts have different insulation needs, and your installer/contractor can tell you the best for which part.)

As of today, there are so many available materials to choose from – ranging from man-made materials to organic that occur naturally in nature. However, you need to differentiate each one from the other. For qualities, they each have their pros and cons when using them to insulate parts of your house.

The present materials range in variety that includes bulky fiber materials (fiberglass, rock and slag wool, cellulose, natural fibers) to rigid foam boards to sleep foils. Again, each of these has its own advantage and features that will suit most everyone’s needs.

The following are some of the more popular ones (in terms of costs, flexibility, versatility, etc.)

Fiberglass

Top of the line is the popular fiberglass. It delivers, is good all-around choice and basically one of the most readily available among the materials. They are usually used in blankets (batts and rolls) and in loose-fill types.

They are also available in rigid boards, and duct insulation. The materials had been processed from recycled glass and made into fibers. The loose fill are used with insulation blowing machines (for attics and closed areas). They are also used in blown-in blankets.

Cellulose / plastic fiber

Cellulose is very familiar because it is processed from recycled paper (newsprint) with a high recyclable

material content (82 to 85%). It is manufactured into a fiber to have something that packs tightly into building cavities that will inhibit air flow. It also has a maximum R-value of 3.8 per inch. (Borate is added to make it insect-proof.)

Usually, this is used as loose-fill in open attic installations and is packed in building cavities like walls and cathedral ceilings. It is also blown dry into stapled netting on building cavities. 

Plastic fiber, on the other hand, is made from recycled milk bottles and formed into batt installations like the fiberglass. It is however treated with fire retardant and does not burn easily. It melts however when exposed to flame.

Mineral Wool

Mineral wool consists of rock wool and the slag wool. The rock wool is made from natural minerals like basalt. The slag wool is made from the slag of blast furnaces, those found on top of molten metal.

It has 75% post-industrial recycled content, with no chemicals added to make it fire resistant. The common use is in blankets (batts and rolls) and in loose-fill insulation.

Cotton / sheep’s wool

Many other natural fiber insulation materials are still in use, some of which are popular in other cold countries. The cotton insulation has 85% recycled cotton and 15% plastic fibers. It is treated with borate as fire retardant. Some are from recycled trim wastes from blue jeans manufacture.

Sheep wool is treated with borate for pests, fire, and mold resistance. As home owner, you can always confer with your installer which of these insulation materials is best for your needs.