Insulation Materials – Some Popular Choices

For houses located in temperate and other cold regions of the world, insulation is part of their essential needs. In progressive countries in the West where choices are many, the factors will depend on your decision. This will include costs and ease of installation. The other important one is the insulation materials you are going to use.

These materials range in variety that includes bulky fiber materials (fiberglass, rock and slag wool, cellulose, natural fibers) to rigid foam boards to sleep foils. Each of these has its own advantage and features that will suit most everyone’s needs.

Some of the more popular one are as follows.

Fiberglass

This is one of the more popular choices around all because it delivers and is readily available. These are usually used in blankets (batts and rolls) and in loose-fill types. They are also available in rigid boards and duct insulation.

This insulation material is processed from recycled glass and made into fibers. The loose fill are used with insulation-blowing machines (usually used in attics and closed capacity applications.) they are also used in blown-in blankets.

Cellulose / plastic fiber

Cellulose is made from recycled paper (newsprint usually) that has a high recyclable material content (from 82 to 85%). It is made into fiber to have something that packs tightly into building cavities that will inhibit air flow with a maximum R-value of 3.8 per inch. (To make it insect-proof, Borate is added.)

This is usually used as loose-fill in open attic installations and is packed in building cavities like walls and cathedral ceilings. Cellulose is blown dry into stapled netting on building cavities. 

Plastic fiber is made from recycled milk bottles and formed into batt installations like the fiberglass. It is however treated with fire retardant and does not burn easily. It melts however when exposed to flame.

Mineral Wool

There are two types of this material – the rock wool and the slag wool. The rock wool is made from natural minerals like basalt, for instance. The slag wool is made from the slag from blast furnaces, those found on top of molten metal.

It has 75% post-industrial recycled content. There are no chemicals added to make it fire resistant. The common use is in blankets (batts and rolls) and in loose-fill insulation.

Cotton / sheep’s wool

There are many natural fiber insulation materials still in use, some of which are popular in other cold countries. The cotton insulation has 85% recycled cotton and 15% plastic fibers. It is treated with borate as fire retardant. Some are from recycled trim wastes from blue jeans manufacture.

It uses minimal energy to make because it is recycled. It is also non-toxic (it’s a natural fiber) and is available as batts.

Sheep wool is also treated with borate for pests, fire and mold resistance. It has one advantage in that it can hold large quantities of water. (Water, however, can leach out the Borate.)

Hemp is not well known in the West. However, its R-value (3.5 per inch thickness) is comparable to other fibrous insulation materials.