Sunday, October 5, 2014

Finding Out If Radiant Barrier Paint Is Good For Insulation

By Jocelyn Davidson


When constructing a house along with your contractor, you would also consider the temperature regulation and ventilation. This is a special case in summer or during any other harsh weather for that matter. Contractors may offer options but it is best practice to know what are these options.

The companies may offer different insulation materials for your attic. They might offer you radiant barrier paint as an option. Although the term radiant barrier itself is a technology developed from space exploration, the spray on would only reflect about five to seventy five percent of the radiative heat.

Reflective Insulation is the correct name for it used during space exploration. The actual tested percentage for it to reflect heat is up to ninety five percent. So what we got from the spray on is that it can only go up to seventy percent, which does not fit the qualifications.

The heat transfer here on earth through convection and conduction is about five to forty percent. With this in mind, how effective the material would depend on radiative heat, meaning it is more effective in outer space. This has a low emittance surface surrounded by air surface, which is the known factor.

Also, in regards to the definition from the American Society of Testing and Materials International, currently there is no such product that is available. So do not get fooled. The standards for a material to be considered radiant barrier is when it has low emittance surface level of 0.10 or lesser.

Materials have emittance levels for radiative heat. The levels are from 0 to 1, which 0 having the lowest emittance. For construction, like masonry, wood, and also fiberglass, the have levels around 0.8 or maybe higher than that.

Here is the thing with regards to Quality Control and Quality Assurance. The latter provides that you place the material and hope it works, while the other assumes that it is already effective but all you need to make sure if it is installed correctly. Such can be compared between the spray on and the foil.

There are instances when the contractor you hired would offer the paint to be mixed in with water, which is called cutting. This is by no means a good practice. The composition of this are bits and pieces of aluminum grounded and fined then mixed with clear paint, so when it dries it only leaves the aluminum. Adding water to it would end up diluting and making it even way less effective.

In other words, you might need to check if the paint you are using has gone under tests from the American Society of Testing and Materials. Also, asking for further details like level of the emittance and more testing data. This is only when you prefer using it, and you need to have this applied by professionals since the airborne chemicals are really hazardous.




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