If you want to reduce your annual heating and cooling bills
Home insulation is the front liner in a scheme of retrofit.
If it is also your desire
to derive the benefits of grants and concessions
offered by the
SEI through their HES scheme program then
Home insulation has to be a prime consideration.
Home insulation benefits
Home insulation will provide these benefits to you;
Minimize the loss of expensive indoor heating cost
Addition of heat load leading to higher Air-conditioning costs in the summer.
Prevention of moisture ingress
Prevention of mold formation, moist patches and resulting paint damages
Minimizing the addition of moisture heat load (latent heat) in the summer
Facilitating humidity regulation in the winter.
What are the types of Home insulation?
There many types of insulation available today and these can be broadly classified as synthetic and natural material made.
Some of the synthetic insulation materials are;
Poly Urethane Foam (PU foam)
Expanded Poly Styrene Foam (EPS Foam)
Poly Ethylene Foam (PE Foam)
Some of the Natural insulation materials are;
Glass Wool (Fiber Glass Wool), Rock Wool and Slag Wool
Cotton Insulation Material
Cellulose Insulation
Do these Insulation Materials have adequate resistance to moisture ingress?
All synthetic materials exhibit good resistance to water ingress.
All materials with good moisture resistance are also durable by nature.
Some of the natural insulations are impervious to water but due to the fibrous nature
of the product water permeability is high.
Some natural material like cotton and cellulose material have poor resistance to moisture ingress.
In general a specialised vapor barrier such as integral aluminum foil, PE film or Bituminous
applications on walls etc are required.
How do they compare in the intended application?
PU Foam, PE Foam and EPS foam are all good thermal insulation products.
They have three major draw backs and these are;
All synthetic insulations are Fossil Fuel by products and are non renewable.
All have relatively poor fire ratings even after chemical fire retardant treatment
Bio degradability is generally inferior.
Have no special acoustic insulation properties
Rodent attacks are common if exposed installed
On the other hand non synthetic material based insulations such as Glass wool, Slag wool and Rock wool are;
Of Renewable material (eg silica which is sand or natural rock based)
High resistance to fire (except the minute quantities of resin binder material)
Though not strictly bio degradable these being sand based material do not cause environmental complications.
Show Good Sound insulation properties
Resistant to vermin, insects and rodent attacks
The non silica based natural insulation material such as cotton and cellulose insulations are;
Of renewable plant material
Cellulose insulation contain approximately 60% recycled news print and waste paper.
Without chemical treatment the fire rating is poor.
Bio degradable. Accordingly the durability is also low.
Easily attracts insects and rodents unless chemically treated.
Gets damaged easily with moisture. Promotes mold and microbe growth.
However each has its own attractions including cost effectiveness. Synthetic non renewable material is not however encouraged by the authorities for obvious reasons.
Services available through ENTECH for your insulation needs
Obtaining the services of duly registered BER assessors
Provide insulation material and install same to comply with the BER advisory report recommendations.
What is the General Cost involved?
While the cost of insulation varies with different material, thicknesses, options included, and locations and techniques used in installation as a
rule of thumb the cost per m2 in Ireland is about Euro ………… at current prices.
Contacting us
For information on Home Insulation call us on 1890 245 345 or please complete
our
Free
online enquiry form...click here
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