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The Surprising Thing About Insulation | ||||
| Save money and make the most on your insulation. Most people in the building industry don't know the ins and outs of insulation. You may find this surprising, and before you get the answer to maximising your insulation look at these two other surprising facts: 1. When asked recently about rebates for water tanks a representative from The Clarence City Council from the Sunny Eastern Shore of Hobart said council had no plan to introduce a rebate to encourage residents to install water tanks as they didn't see it an issue. Hobart is the second driest capital city in Australia, and many of the residents in the municipality of Clarence get less than an average 0f 590mm of rain per year compared to Sydney that has an average of over 1100mm per year. 2. In a very recent document by a leading economist from a major building industry body the economist talked about the 'abundance of water' that Tasmania had. The state is in a drought, dam levels are low and rainfall continues to be below recorded averages. This means in Tasmania the cost of hydro powered electricity will continue to go up and. Even though the price of electricity will undoubtedly rise all across Australia, don't spend too much on insulation to save on heating and cooling - spend your money wisely on insulation. This is because of the law of diminishing returns. Let me explain: An R1.5 glass wool wall batt is 75mm thick. The first 50mm of that batt will give you 85% of the level of insulation you will receive in the wall. So if you double your wall insulation to say 2 x R1.5 batts you will effectively increase the actual heat transfer by at most 25% for double the cost. The same law of diminishing returns works in the ceiling. An insulation company is about to release an R6.0 ceiling batt. In almost all circumstances it will be difficult to justify the extra cost for this amount of insulation. The whole principle behind the affordable housing is putting your money where it matters most. Remember it has been proven that: 'A well designed passive home with energy efficient windows requires no heating or cooling... Even in extreme climates, it is possible to design a Zero Energy - Zero Bills house at little additional cost.' 'Your Home´ Technical Guide, a publication to inform homeowners of the advantages of energy efficient design. So far as insulation that means installing it correctly and getting the appropriate amount in. For a zero energy house in brick veneer consider a combination of insulation types depending upon your preferences: R1.5 batts plus Foilboard = R3.0 Foilboard plus 1 layer concertina foil batts = approx R2.5. (Foilboard is a composite insulation that combines reflective foil and polystyrene insulation. Concertina Foil Batts are a type of reflective foil insulation). In the ceiling Put R3.5 insulation batts plus sarking = R4.0 overall. Sarking is the reflective foil insulation that goes under your roof tiles or metal roof. The key to effective insulation is making sure that it is installed correctly and choosing the right type. Reflective foil insulation will reflect around 93% of the heat out of your home in summer and if installed correctly will keep the heat in your home in winter As long as the insulation is installed correctly and you have energy efficient glazing/windows and a solar passive design this will take you along way to having a zero energy house. |
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