Insulation
From Open Source Ecology
Basics
- The use of materials to prevent the passage/spread/leakage of heat
- Can improve efficiency
- Can allow for ulra low/ultra high temperatures
Common Materials
- Sleeve, 1/2" I'd, 1/4 wall -[1]
- 1/4" ID, 9/32 wall - [2]
- Higher temperature resistance than fiberglass.
- $2/sf, 1" thick - R4 - Roxul - [3]
- Menards R15 batts, $1/sf - [4]
Aramid
- Fabric made of synthetic fibers roughly similar to nylon
- 1/4 I'd, 1/16 wall - [6]
Foamed Plastic
- Can be made from vinyl with carbon dioxide as the foaming agent [7]
- Polyurethane Spray foams etc
- Easy to apply
- Fills cracks well
- Hard to remove
Aerogel
- Essentially a jell with the liquid being replaced with a gas
- VERY insulating
- Can be complex to make depending on type + materials etc
Vacuum Panel
- Aerogel but with a vacuum (or at least with (heavily) reduced pressure) instead of a gas inside the gel
- The best insulator, but insulation degrades due to gas intrusion
Rechargable Vacuum Panel
- Rechargable Vacuum Panel
- Similar to the above Vacuum Panel, but it has ports and tubing to allow for it to be plumbed to a vacuum pump system to keep it's vacuum strong
- No longer loses vacuum with time
- Does require plumbing and a vacuum pump thus adding complexity (and a small occasional power draw for the vacuum pump motor however)
Ecologically Safe Options
Cellulose Insulation
- Typically mostly cellulose pump/batting from the paper and cloth industries
- Also can roughly include strategies like Hay Bale Insulation or hemp etc
- Additives can be added such as Fire Retardants , Binding Agents , anti bacterial/fungal etc
- Similar ease of installation to "blown fiberglass batting" and some foams (although it won't expand, and may in fact settle)
Bioplastic Based Foams
- Can be done, but requires full development of the more complex Bio-Petrochemistry (distillates and refining them into the polyurothane etc) and the required infastructure
- Thus unlikely near-term
Bioplastic Based (Rechargable?) Vacuum Panel Insulation
- Use bioplastic glazing ( PLA or Cellulose Acetate (latter one is quite flammible) )
- Is this viable?
- If so would be highly insulating, and unlikely to become a host to rodents/microbes
- Unsure on flammability
Carbon Foam Rigid Panel Insulation
- Carbon Foam being utilized in a similar manner to Plastic Foam Rigid Panel Insulation or Drywall (as insulation, not as a nail holding, paintable material etc)
- Can be made in a simple kiln with a mold, and some simple recipe?
- Should be quite straighforeward
- Also is relitively fireproof/resistant (see Carbon Foam )
- Also should be relitively resistant to insects/rodents
- Unsure on mold/microbes as it does have high surface area, but it isn't as "digestable" as cellulose etc?
"GreenCellFoam"
- Some OTS product; mainly marketed for packaging
- Secrative on what material
- It is corn based, water soluable, and easily biodegradable (ie can be done in a simple backyard pile, not a proper Anerobic Digestion setup like PLA
- Thus it may be some sort of starch/cellulose etc foam?
- Should be replicable, but in "in wall use" it shouldn't have too much of an advantage over regular cellulose batting, and thus isn't too relevant?
Simply Overbuilding
- IE very thick walls of CEBs or Concrete
- More resource and space intensive, but it "gets the job done"
- VERY simple compared to other methods
- Also no fire/insect/rodent/microbe risk (outside of if they can somehow get into CEBs (need to read up on this)
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