Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jun 07, 2007 10:31 am Hi,
We have an existing vinyl clad house with no wall insulation. We live in Melbourne. The gap between the cladding and the interior wall panels is about 40 mm, which is too narrow for all the insulation that I have found. would anyone have any suggestions for wall insulation that will fit in this gap, which also has a reasonable R-value? We can remove the cladding but the internal walls are fixed and painted. All comments welcome. Kind regards, iamcold Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 2Jun 07, 2007 10:46 am Check out this link, there is mention of polystyrene foam, maybe this is the way to go for you.
You will be able to cut it to measure and size. http://www.heat.net.au/pdf/cavity-wall-factsheet.pdf Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 3Jun 07, 2007 11:11 am Lots of options.
There are thin Batts material available, (it is normally used for raked to roof beams, and comes in a roll with sislation on one side) - so you cut it up as you need. You could also review the aircell stuff which is bubble wrap with a silver foil on both sides. About 10mm thick. Or you could go with blow in cellulose or or rockwool if the noggings are not too close, but being vinyl clad you most likely better off with something that you can put in yourself. Re Polystyrene, some of it used to release harmful gasses when it got to it's vapourising temperature, so be careful where you put it it. ie not the western walls. There is some good info here. http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/re ... _types.pdf The key thing, is whatever you put in DO NOT LEAVE ANY GAPS between the studs or noggings. Leaving just a 10mm gap where cold air can touch the wall and circulate around will REDUCE your insulations performance by a massive amount. Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 4Jun 07, 2007 12:43 pm Thanks for the replies.
Polystyrene: the thought of toxic vapours leaves me a bit cold (pardon the pun) Aircell: I had seen this product but the R-Value is only 0.25, which is not much. Thin Batt material, in a roll: i think I have seen this but was unsure of it's R-value and did not pursue it. This last looks liek the best bet. Two last questions: 1. Has anyone used or know anything about expandable foam? I saw Tiger Foam on the internet. 2. Any recommendations for insulation specialists in melbourne? I think I may need to have someone look at my situation before proceeding. thanks, iamcold Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 5Jun 07, 2007 2:32 pm Some of the expandable is worse than poly for vapours. I've used expanding foam it boats and they have stunk for months.
Re how much R Value you will get, at 40mm your going to struggle to get a high rating, I would expect around the 1 to 1.5 is the most you'll get on a reasonable price performance basis. All the best Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 7Jun 07, 2007 3:11 pm I believe that it gets quite a bit colder....Brrrr.
Are you sure that it is your walls that are the problem? May be an idea to look at your windows, ceiling and other areas? 3xb Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 8Jun 07, 2007 3:33 pm Thanks, 3timesbuilda, for your reply.
well, the whole house needs a good going over. - The batts in the ceiling need to be replaced- they are quite old and very loose (but not like loose fill insulation). - the windows and doors need some work - the link between our laundry and the main house needs work, too - the walls have no insulation at all. The post was directed at finding out about wall insulation as i have found it difficult to find insulation that is less narrow than usual and because replacing the ceiling insulation should be easy, as should the doors/windows. We live in a tent... thanks again for your comments- every bit of info helps. cheers, iamcold Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 9Jun 07, 2007 4:05 pm If you already have ceiling insulation that is not working, then the loose fill is a good way to top it up for a lowish cost and that will give you a lot of benefit while leaving whats there in place.
Get a few quotes becasue there are some rouges out there in this area. Then buy some draft sealing rubber for the door jams, depends on how much $ you have but you could then stretch some plastic across and the windows for this winter and buy a draft stopper for the exhaust fan and you'll find a big change will happen. The walls are not the biggest loss of warmth. Heat rises first then once it is trapped at the top it comes down the walls. If it's leaking out the doors and windows, then stop those heat leaks first. Light an incense stick and move around the hosue and find out where the air is moving. You'll be surprised. As to the tent, I have not turned on any heating in my hosue yet and I'm in Adelaide. Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 10Jun 07, 2007 5:00 pm Thanks, Yak_Chat, for your latest reply.
Upon receiving the comments in this thread my plan has slowly formed that I will: - replace the batts in the ceiling, rather than loose fill (allowing me to do some further renovations/extensions later without being concerned about the loose material - look for drafts through doors and reduce drafts through the exhaust fans - do something about the link between our laundry and main rooms - then after that, look for some insulating blanket for the walls. Thanks again for your comments, and everyone else's, as they are appreciated. cheers, iamcold Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 11Jun 07, 2007 5:23 pm Make sure you wear a mask. This stuff is very powderery after a few years and you need to protect your lungs and eyes even if your just doing some looking up there.
Personally, I'd not be throwing it out. Depending on how bad it is, I'd be putting the new stuff over the top of it and utlising the addtional insulation that it will give you' At worst it is most likely giving you R1 already, so why not add that onto some R3 and you'll be gaining the extra benefits without the mess of trying to remove it. Once you start to trying to move it it is going to be a nightmare. Talk to an expert in your area, but even a roll out blanket over the top could be better that ripping it out. More cost effective and heaps easier on your body and lungs. Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 12Jun 07, 2007 5:55 pm Thanks again.
Your suggestions are sound (perhaps you have been down this road before...). Certainly, i did not relish the thought of removing the old stuff and simply placing the new batts over the old ones would be simpler and less hazardous. cheers, iamcold Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 15Jun 08, 2007 11:08 am Do I still do insulation commercially?
NADA. Crawling around in Brisbane summer ceilings was not enough mental stimulation for me. I'm in IT and while I worked for dad for 6 months plus was in my teens when he started the company in the late 70's I picked up a lot of info. But today it's mainly due to my passion for sustainable housing I try to combine what I know from working with dad and put it to use and make our houses work best. Hope it helped. Cheers Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 16Feb 12, 2008 4:23 pm Steve or anyone else
Our ceiling will have insultation, but we would like to increase this by installing another product i.e. aircell. Would it be worthwhile doing this or is there a preferred product. We are aiming to increase the thermal properties of the roof as much as possible (particularly heat load). I think the current ceiling insulation is about R2.5. Cheers Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 17Feb 12, 2008 4:44 pm What style roof do you have D?
And the R2.5 what is it - just batts only? The plastic bubbles are effective but IMO not ideal. My current place has about 2 inches of F/G and my summer heat gain is minimal, and winter loss seems OK - but I am limited in I have raked to roof ceilings so I would do more if were building my place from new myself - but if you have the roof/ceiling space then higher R just on the ceilign might be a more cost effective option. remember - insulation is part of the picture - no point super insulating the ceiling - if more % of heat is being gained or lost via the windows I think of ot like how about I have a big thick effective beanie on my head and have bare feet standing in cold water. I don't care how much better you make the beanie - it's not going to help the cold feeling D - I know your house is not like this - but a bit more will help. Steve Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 18Feb 12, 2008 4:49 pm Dy, our home has been upgraded to 4.5 batts in the ceiling so as to achieve the builders 5 star rating.
Have you thought of asking the builder to upgrade the batts from 2.5 up to something higher?? Just a thought? Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 19Feb 12, 2008 4:57 pm Hi guys
Thanks for the replies. Just spoke to the builder and the roof has R3.5 batts. Steve what is F/G? Yes we could increase the thickness of batts - Np . Roof is 27 degree pitch (upper and lower story), CB Dune with 1.2m eaves. House is made of Hebel. Windows are Comfort Plus on large panes and north/NW sides. Our wall insulation is R2.5. Reasonable quality latches on doors etc and windows oriented to reduce heat load in summer and capture winter heat. We are thinking of aircell or protherm in the ceiling. Do you think it would add insulation value? Re: Wall insulation for narrow gap 20Feb 13, 2008 11:34 am D a bit busy to review the full details right now but...
R3.5 is good for adealide plains (recommended is 2.5) and I'm not sure that bang for buck the actual benefits of putting in more than 3.5 will give you much (aircell or other).? You will also have sisalation, and 3.5 on the ceiling should be fine. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of relfective style insualtion, becasue with dust it does degrade and will continue to do so for the life of he product. Get a bit of sisalation - stand under it in the yard - it works - slash mud on it and do the same - it gets a lot warmer. I feel that any reflective style product - such as aircell - is more suited for areas where you cannot fit normal bulk insulation. Insuation is basically the effecive means of trapping air and stopping it moving - reflective producst add to this benefit - while they are still reflective. F/G is my short for Fibre Glass. Hope this helps. Cheers Steve yes building is covering the external wall with warping before bricks 2 2538 2 7471 Thanks again for this information. If you do hear anything different, would be great to know 4 8182 |