Foil Insulation Or Radiant Barrier?

!±8± Foil Insulation Or Radiant Barrier?

You'll often see the terms "foil insulation" and "radiant barrier" used interchangeably, but they're actually two separate products. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that radiant barrier is actually a type of foil insulation. So think of foil as a category and radiant barrier as a sub-category.

Radiant barrier comes in rolls that are usually four feet wide or less and up to 1000 feet long, and at least one side has an extremely highly reflective facing. Then, the foil used in radiant barrier is usually either woven with mesh or attached via a laminate process to another material for added strength.

Bubble foil is one type of foil insulation, and it's used for most types of insulation except in attics, where radiant barrier is the preferred means of insulation. You can get reflective bubble foil in rolls as small as 12 feet wide by 25 feet long, and as large as 72 feet wide by 125 feet long. And you can choose either single or double bubble insulation:

Single bubble insulation usually consists of a single layer of polyethylene bubbles bonded to a layer of aluminum foil on one side and a sheet of solid polyethylene on the other side. Double bubble insulation has the same layer of polyethylene bubbles in the middle, but it has reflective aluminum foil on both sides.

If you have existing insulation in your attic and choose to use a standard foil over the insulation that's already there, make sure you use a perforated foil to allow breathing space between the insulation layers. Without breathing space, moisture and mold can build between the layers. You would also use perforated foil if you have a cathedral-type ceiling and want to insulate between the ceiling and drywall.

If you're in an area with low humidity, or if you're insulating an area that's below ground level (like a basement apartment), you can use solid, non-perforated foil insulation.

If you have any doubts about what type of foil insulation you need, consult with a professional.

Foil Insulation Or Radiant Barrier?

Ryobi Electric Chainsaw Fast

Aladdin blooming abode boiler series22 New old stock

!±8± Aladdin blooming abode boiler series22 New old stock

Aladdin green house heater series22 New old stock series 22 green house heater Master Gardener De-Luxe アラジンブルーフレームヒーター アラジンストーブ kerosene heater paraffin heater 石油ストーブBGM Nehito Ishida Remix

Aladdin blooming abode boiler series22 New old stock

Rocker Game Chairs This Instant Cheaper Submersible Pumps Fountain

British Thermal Unit - BTU's Explained

!±8± British Thermal Unit - BTU's Explained

BTU = British Thermal Unit. A BTU is the amount of energy required to raise one pound of water one degree fahrenheit. Below are some BTU equivalents of various fuels for comparison:

1 gallon of #2 oil = 140,000 BTU

1 barrel of crude oil = 42 US gallons, 5.80 million BTU

1 gallon of LP gas=91,500 BTU

1 gallon of Kerosene=135,000 BTU

1 cubic foot LP gas = 2,550 BTU

1 cubic foot natural gas = 1,000 BTU

1 KWH electricity= 3,413 BTU

1 therm. natural gas = 100,000 BTU

1,000 BTU = 1 lb of steam

1 ton of coal = 28,000,000 BTU

1 cord of firewood *20,000,000 BTU

1 pound of firewood *8,000 BTU

*Firewood BTU based on air dried wood logs and is a subjective average of common US wood species.

Physical units reflect measures of distances, areas, volumes, heights, weights, mass, force, impulse and energy. Different types of energy are measured by different physical units: barrels or gallons for petroleum; cubic feet for natural gas; tons for coal; kilowatt-hours for electricity. To compare different fuels, we need to convert the measurements to the same units. Some popular units for comparing energy include: Btu, barrels of oil equivalents, metric tons of oil equivalents, metric tons of coal equivalents. In the United States, the British Thermal Unit (Btu), a measure of heat energy, is the most commonly used unit for comparing fuels. Since energy used in different countries comes from different places, the Btu content of fuels varies slightly from country to country. The Btu content provided below and used in the energy calculator reflect the average energy contents for fuels consumed in the United States.

EXAMPLES OF CONVERTING TO BTU

You have a natural gas furnace in your home that used 81,300 cubic feet of natural gas for heating last winter. Your neighbor, with the identical house, has an oil furnace that used 584 gallons of heating oil last winter. To determine which home used more energy for heating, you can convert the natural gas and heating oil consumption figures into Btu, as follows:

Natural Gas: 81,300 cubic feet

(your house) x 1,031 Btu

cubic foot = 83,820,300 Btu

Heating Oil: 584 gallons

(neighbor's house)

x 139,000 Btu gallon = 81,176,000 Btu

In the example above, you used more energy to heat your house!

*Article by Karen Duke, Victorian Fireplace Shop

British Thermal Unit - BTU's Explained

Delonghi Coffee Machine Quick