{"id":1571,"date":"2019-12-16T23:23:14","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T23:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regalgrid.com\/magazine\/isolamento-termico-cose-e-quali-materiali-impiegare\/"},"modified":"2024-09-25T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T13:11:08","slug":"thermal-insulation-things-and-what-materials-to-use","status":"publish","type":"magazine","link":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/magazine\/thermal-insulation-things-and-what-materials-to-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Thermal insulation: what is it and how to obtain it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thermal insulation<\/strong>\u00a0is essential for the health of your house: it provides comfort assuring a\u00a0proper temperature<\/strong>\u00a0and it has a positive impact on\u00a0energy and cost savings\u00a0<\/strong>related to domestic heating, avoiding any thermal bridges, the so-called cold spots in the house.<\/p>\n

Thermal insulation<\/strong>\u00a0consists of an insulating surface placed on the outer wall, sometimes also on the inner walls, of the building. If the insulating layer is placed on the outer walls we can talk about a real\u00a0insulation coating<\/strong>, protecting the house from the external temperature. The insulator can be placed during the house construction. It can be a cavity wall insulation or an interlayer of the wall, or a false wall or a false ceiling. All these solutions avoid heat loss.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to recognize a thermal insulation material<\/h2>\n

There are several factors that determine the thermal insulation degree of materials and they must be considered while choosing the most suitable one.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Thermal conductivity: materials that conduct heat very well have a low insulation capability<\/strong>. A material can be considered as insulator if its conductivity is less than 0,14 W\/mK (watt per meter-kelvin)<\/li>\n
  2. Thermal displacement<\/strong>, meaning the\u00a0time heat takes to get through the insulator<\/strong>. \u00a0In this case this value must be high since it means that the heat takes a long time to get through the wall. A low thermal conductivity corresponds to a higher thermal displacement.<\/li>\n
  3. Resistance to steam diffusion<\/strong>, namely the\u00a0breathability of the insulator material<\/strong>: the lower this value is, the more breathable is the material. This feature improves the insulation, since it\u00a0prevents condensation<\/strong>, enemy of air insulating property.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Other important aspects are for example the\u00a0fire-resistance<\/strong>, reducing the propagation in the event of a fire, the\u00a0durability<\/strong>, namely the resistance to mould, and the\u00a0toxicity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    These features must be considered in relation to the particular needs of the house, especially the peculiarities of the\u00a0climate zone<\/strong>, the usable space for insulation and the economic availability.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Different types of insulator material<\/h2>\n

    Insulants can be natural or synthetic. Natural ones stand out for their origin, they can have\u00a0vegetable\/animal<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0mineral origin<\/strong>. Among the first ones we can name\u00a0wood or hemp fibre<\/strong>,\u00a0cork<\/strong>,\u00a0wool<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0linen<\/strong>. These materials work perfectly as thermal or acoustic insulator, they are breathable and durable, they have a good level of thermal displacement and most importantly they are\u00a0recyclable<\/strong>,\u00a0bio-degradable<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0non-toxic<\/strong>. That\u2019s why they are suitable for inner walls, false ceilings and attics. Due to their great performances, they are the most expensive materials and sometimes they are even difficult to lay.<\/p>\n

    Among the mineral materials we can mention\u00a0glass wool<\/strong>,\u00a0rock wool<\/strong>, clay and perlite aggregates. Since they are natural these too are\u00a0renewable<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0recyclable<\/strong>; furthermore, they are\u00a0durable<\/strong>,\u00a0fireproof<\/strong>\u00a0and resistant to mould. They are often used for thermal insulation coating, ventilated covering and underfloor.<\/p>\n

    Synthetic insulators<\/strong>\u00a0are chemical materials derived from oil processing, such as\u00a0EPS<\/strong>\u00a0(sintered expanded polystyrene),\u00a0polyurethane foam<\/strong>\u00a0and polyester fibre. They are excellent external insulators, they are very cheap, easy to lay, waterproof and moisture resistant. To fill the gaps, they are used in\u00a0foamed form<\/strong>;\u00a0insulating panels<\/strong>\u00a0are used on walls and attics, instead.<\/p>\n

    Which\u00a0insulator has the best thermal conductivity<\/strong>? The best one is\u00a0aerogel<\/strong>, a soft material composed of air and silicon, manufactured as sheets, with a 0.014 W\/mK conductivity. Then we find\u00a0autoclaved aerated concrete<\/strong>\u00a0(0,043 W\/mK), a mineral natural material,\u00a0wood fibre<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0hemp fibre<\/strong>\u00a0(0,038\/0,043 W\/mK) – both organic – and\u00a0rock or glass wool<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Solar panels: an unexpected help for roof insulation<\/h2>\n

    Properties and origin of different insulators offer a good range of possibilities to find the best solution for our needs, considering also the economic aspect.<\/p>\n

    If you are oriented towards a green choice, started for example with the installation of PV panels, you have probably found out that natural insulators material, especially the organic ones, are eco-friendlier and they can be installed indoor, in direct contact with people living in the house.<\/p>\n

    Maybe you don\u2019t know that\u00a0PV panels themselves work as external thermal insulation for the roof<\/strong>\u00a0and they help to improve the heat consumption.<\/p>\n

    According to a study carried out by Jan Kleiss and his team, working at UC Jacobs School of Engineering, the absorbent nature of panels makes them good insulators, preventing sun rays from directly reaching the roof. They thus guarantee a lower temperature (almost 38%) than an exposed roof. Solar panels turn to be useful also in winter time, by releasing during the night the residual heat from the daily activity.<\/p>\n

    Combining a good PV system with a good insulating system you will reduce the house thermal waste and you will optimize your consumption. You will nonetheless help the environment by decreasing your CO2<\/sup> emissions.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":4376,"parent":0,"template":"","category-magazine":[44],"class_list":["post-1571","magazine","type-magazine","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine-energy-and-economic-savings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/magazine"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/1571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4378,"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine\/1571\/revisions\/4378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category-magazine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regalgrid.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category-magazine?post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}