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Insulating Ceramics Reflect Heat...Here's How
To understand how these tiny ceramic "beads" help reduce heat you need to understand how heat is transferred.
Basically all heat is transferred by one or more of these methods.
Conduction - conduction is the transfer of heat through solid objects. An example of conduction, place a cast iron skillet on your stove, the heat travels by conduction through the bottom up the sides and on to the handle and it soon becomes hot. Heat is always conducted from warm to cold never from cold to warm.
Convection - is the transport of heat within a gas, such as air, or liquid.
Example-hold your hand above the stove burner and you soon feel the heat being emitted and transferred through the air upward. Natural convection heat flow is for the most part upward, somewhat sideways, never downwards.
Radiation -is the transmission
of electromagnetic rays through space. This is a direct transfer of heat from one object to another, without heating the air in between, the same process in which the Earth receives heat from the Sun or a wood stove supplies heat to its surroundings.
Now that you understand how heat is transferred how do we stop this transfer into and out of our homes?
The most important step in the creation of an energy efficient house or building is to control heat loss or gain, which accounts for 75% of the total energy loss of a home.
As was previously stated, heat will flow in any direction where a temperature difference occurs. Therefore all areas which separate the interior of a house or building from the outside or which separate heated spaces from unheated (or air conditioned) spaces need to have a high resistance to heat flow, in other words, they should be insulated!
How does insulation work?
Insulation is any material that slows the rate of heat flow from a warm area to a cooler one. Its ability to resist heat flow is measured as an R or RSI (metric) value, the higher the R - value, the more the material will resist the flow of heat.
Conventional mass insulation materials like fiberglass, cellulose, rock wool and styrofoam, no matter how thick, have almost no ability to block radiant heat energy which can account for as much as 93 percent of summer heat gain and up to 75 percent winter heat loss in conventional structures.
These products are only designed to slow down, ( resist) conduction heat energy only. Mass insulation once saturated with heat will simply allow remaining heat to pass through.
Ever notice in the summer, the sun has been down for quite some time, you touch the inside of an exterior wall, even though the sun has been down for hours, the wall is Hot!
That's because the wall and the mass insulation in it have been absorbing heat all day and this stored heat is being passed through the wall to the cooler inside of your home.
Your air conditioner has to run until the wee hours of the morning to try and keep up with the heat that is coming in through the heat saturated walls and insulation.
Remember... R-value means "resistance", if a product resists, it does not stop radiant heat transfer. R-value material only deals with conductive heat transfer.
The R - value is not the only consideration when choosing insulation.
Other factors to consider:
Mass insulation when it becomes wet loses appx 50% of its efficiency
It harbors insects and vermin
Mold within the walls runs rampant once the insulation becomes damp or wet and
Increasing insulation in existing walls is expensive and in some cases not even possible.
Why use insulating paints?
The truth is, the use of insulating paints is not intended to replace typical insulation materials but to make them work more efficiently. By reducing the heat load on your existing insulating you help it to perform better, the coatings also help reduce water vapor transfer which keeps your mass insulation dry. Our products can be easily and inexpensively applied to walls and ceilings creating a thermal barrier which will reduce the energy demands of your home or building. In older homes upgrading the inner - wall or ceiling insulation can be an expensive, sometimes impossible task using conventional insulation materials but with Insulating paint these upgrades are now affordable.
Related:
Savings
Attic Radiant Barriers...A Must!
History of Ceramics and modern day applications
Testimonials from satisfied customers
Test Data
We Provide the Solutions
You Just Need to Apply Them!
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