The product must be applied tightly, with room for airflow. The key to using Reflectix properly is to understand how reflective insulation works in the first place. Whether you use it in a crawl space, radiant floor, attic or walls, you'll find it easy to handle and install. Are Expensive Building Components Necessary? !! The layer of still air itself gives it a degree of extra insulationprovided it is still, otherwise it will be taking heat away through convection. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. But Reflectix can supplement those types of dense insulation with reflective insulation to provide a more total, insulated home. Even three inches of polyiso foam will not reach R-21. Yes, a radiant barrier can make a difference in an uninsulated roof or wall assembly. My own empirical evaluation suggests just the opposite. Copyright 1995-2022 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Found in the insulation aisle, Reflectix comes in tightly spooled rolls of shiny, reflective, foil-look insulation that resembles bubble wrap. Here are a couple of quotes from Reflectix literature: (1) "A reflective product installed in an open attic as a Radiant Barrier has no R-value. Traditional fiberglass insulation is easier and faster, and it will insulate better. It is commonly used in two main areas: This type of insulation reflects radiant heat and works best with a still air layer of at least 25mm/1 inch. I then made covers for the large side windows. Reflectix can act as housewrap, too. The protection provided by a reflective barrier under a roof will degrade over time, as dust accumulates on the shiny surface. Question: Would you recommend reflective insulation? Something went wrong. 2022 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Even if the customer lives in Dallas, the value of that shiny bubble wrap vanishes in winter. If your local code allows, Reflectix can be wrapped around the water heater as a thermal blanket. The bamboozled FTC lawyers end up not pursuing these cases. While caulking is the recommended procedure for this, there may be situations where a large expanse of Reflectix will stop airflow. The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes. Reflectix can help with any areas where cold air is blowing into your house. You're preaching to the choir; of course I agree with you. It is most effective when kept clean and dust free. In short, this is another example of the gap between facts and marketing hype. For more information on bubble wrap, see Martins Useless Products List. Maybe some pressure on the commercial end will achieve some results, while the FTC sleeps. If it does develop mold and mildew, it can be cleaned off. 2022 The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. If you want to cool a room, then put it on the outside. Mark, HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Fiberglass vs. Get daily tips and tricks for making your best home. Using a radiant barrier product reduced my garage temperature enormously. Radiant protection varies significantly from summer to winter. It kept the temp 3 degrees cooler than we had A/C set on. Thanks for your quick reply. Customers need to search the Reflectix website and read a number of documents carefully to discover the actual requirements and limitations. I sent all of the info in my Q&A post to Home Depot and Lowes, and I plan to follow up with a phone call. To understand how insulation works, some knowledge of how heat is transferred is required. The white poly tape is specified for the white side of the single reflective insulation. *air tight enough that it won't allow copius amounts of fiberglass through the perforations to contaminate the air even in a high wind. The label on the Reflectix roll boldly claimed R6, with a small note that R4.2 was the expected level of insulation with HVAC ducts. Like you, I am frustrated that the FTC, a government agency charged with protecting consumers from fraudulent claims by manufacturers, is asleep at the switch. > Was the study independent? Unfortunately, every major manufacturer is pushing exactly that, e.g. The Reflectix family of tapes are designed specifically for use with the Reflectix reflective insulation products. Reflectix clearly picked a leading testing firm! R-values for reflective products are obtained when the product faces an air space in a enclosed cavity." I will add the details and copies of the documents in my next post. Who cares what it does in Canad? R 21 ?? (A copy is attached.) I didnt purchase at HD or Lowes. The price is reasonable. It is thin, fairly lightweight, and much less bulky than other forms, making it easy to work with and fit. Unlike other forms of insulation, it is also non-toxic and non-carcinogenic, making it safer and easy to install with the use of less safety equipment. A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part. Behind aluminum or vinyl siding, its R-value is R-2.5. A "study" done in January, 1991 by Holometrix Inc. Yep, 1991 -- more than 20 years ago. Radiant barriers can have an impact on heat gain, e.g. Where energy consumption is related to unwanted solar gain, radiant barrier products can make a huge difference! So, I checked the Reflectix website: > Guess how they justify R-21? I use reflective insulation in my home, my daughters home and the home we sold. You noted that "no one is suggesting" that radiant barriers should be applied horizontally. This is not the end of the story. The price is right, the material is extremely right and the service i received on getting this product as quickly as possible, is absolutely amazing lighting speed. !I used a double sided bubble wrap product versus film because it was easier to handle - not because of any illusion or any manufacturer claim that the minimal R value of the bubble wrap portion would have any substantial efect. Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 12 years. For more information on reflective building products, see Radiant Barriers: A Solution in Search of a Problem. No. Radiant Barriers: A Solution in Search of a Problem. Reflectix can be used as wall cavity insulationbut tacking it to the centers of the studs in each cavity is a laborious process. As anyone who does remodeling / insulation work in attics also knows, dust accumulates on everything -- horizontal or not. Stapling a layer of Reflectix along the rafters will cut down on some heat loss and stop air infiltration. Lowes and online vendors sell products with similar claims. One benefit of using Reflectix over fiberglass insulation is that Reflectix resists mold and mildew well. (More than three inches of polyiso foam board!) Any additional thermal benefit is just the hard glaze on the top of the frosting, not the cake. You'll still want to install fiberglass, foam, denim, or rockwool in your home's large wall and ceiling cavities. If you are familiar with math and the analysis of construction materials, compare the ASTM standard and definition of R value to the formulas and results in the Holometrix study. When you are at the home center shopping for insulation, all of those giant bales of fiberglass, rigid foam, and even denim can look daunting. We used reflective paint at my daughters house. > Guess how many people worked for Holometrix? The lowest-priced brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging (where packaging is applicable).Packaging should be the same as what is found in a retail store, unless the item is handmade or was packaged by the manufacturer in non-retail packaging, such as an unprinted box or plastic bag.See details for additional description. So if u purchase the right product it really works!! This is 48" wide. So does the assembly tested by Holometrix in 1991 match the R-21 assembly recommended by Reflectix in 2013? You must be a magazine subscriber to access this feature. No one is suggesting any more that radiant barrier should be applied horizontally, where it will collect dust. View cart for details. These claims are not unique; launch a Google search for reflective insulation and see how many products and extravagent claims appear in your browser. This is literally the best Product for Garage/Car insulation You will ever need. I stopped by my local HD for more supplies and was surprised to see rolls of radiant barrier bubble wrap on the shelf. Are there uninsulated ducts and air handler up there to0? The Reflectix tape products are available through do-it-yourself retailers, contractor sales groups, HVAC and industrial or commercial building products suppliers. In the winter, however, the efficiency drops to R1 to R2 -- virtually no protection compared to the price. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters. Reflective insulation (also known as foil insulation) is usually made from aluminum foil or aluminized polyester. the claim of R 21 performance in a crawl space. Unfortunately, builders, contractors and customers continue to fall for these claims. Reflectix states this in its sales literature: Reflectix lets you insulate spaces that might ordinarily go uninsulated because it would be prohibitive to insulate them with fiberglass. In short, Martin is right. In other words, if the wall was already R6, adding miraculous foil bubble wrap added .6, for a total of R6.6. Looks like a completely uninsulated attic floor. Heat is transferred in three ways: radiation, convection, and conduction. COPYRIGHT 2019 STINE HOME + YARD. What Is the Best Insulation for 2x4 and 2x6 Walls? So, even though Reflectix functions best with airspaces, there are some applications where it is impossible to add airspaces, such as around pipes, vents, and water heaters. There is no metal content; it is all plastic. As it turns out, Reflectix is not a competitor to fiberglass. I also found that published "performance studies" have to be examined carefully, e.g. It's a different kind of insulation for different applications. As a result, thermal transfer issues are confusing to lawyers, and the lawyers at the FTC are easily bamboozled by manufacturers' mumbo-jumbo. "Radiant barrier" insulation has almost no R value by itself; the results depend on the air gap, the angle of the assembly, the existing insulation, the location of the building etc. Just two, according to a research report I purchased from Hoovers. For example, the HVAC contractor at our latest project showed up with a big roll of Reflectix and began to wrap the plenums. R4.2 is only achievable with a perfect assembly, a consistent air space and horizontal orientation and no dust on the foil surface. So, when you see a product like Reflectix, it seems to be a relief to all of that hassle. Ordered one more to complete and will us the remaining on another part of my house. It is very effective in warm climates where it is useful in keeping buildings cool. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but we're going to focus on reflective insulation. Some polystyrene insulation is backed with reflective foil to combine the advantages of both. Note the differences. This feature has been temporarily disabled during the beta site preview. I purchased a copy of the matching ASTM standard. This is in order to prevent heat loss in cold weather from convection. Reflectix, RadiantGuard, AtticFoil and eShield, hyping installations in crawl spaces, basements, radiant heat systems, etc. Its amazing. Reflectix is a reflective insulation. This won't delete the articles you've saved, just the list. There is the potential of reflective insulation becoming an electrical hazard should a wiring fault occur. It's very lightweight (about 1-1/4 pounds per square foot). Reflectix can be used as basement ceiling insulation when precisely stapled to the centers of the floor joists above. Gordon has been an online writer for over nine years. It's small, tidy, clean, and best of all, it offers thermal-blocking R-values of up to R-27. Reflective insulation is very cheap to manufacture, so new products quickly appear with more wild claims. This highlights a key problem with reflective products: performance claims are based on an "assembly", including an air gap and the perfectly shiny surface when the product is installed. The Best Hot Tub Covers to Protect Your Spa From The Elements, The Pros and Cons of Using Denim Insulation, Attic Flooring Guide: What to Know About Installation and Options, Insulating a Garage Door May Not Be Necessary, Window Replacement Basics: Cost, Materials, and Process. It cut my electric bill almost in half! I wish they made a more ridged and thicker version. As a nice byproduct, its reflective surface would give your shop more ambient light. It is past time, well past, for professional builder organizations to join together nationwide and put an end to this charade. So every customer, from Dallas to Fairbanks, would get better results with standard insulation, at lower cost. His articles often focus on home repair or video games and Warhammer. Some homeowners face the inside of their garage doors with Reflectix to help insulate these spaces for use as workshops. item 1 2-Ft x 25-Ft Reflective Insulation Duct Pipe Attic Wall Garage-Door Water-Heater, item 2 4-Ft x 25-Ft Reflective Insulation Duct Pipe Attic Wall Garage-Door Water-Heater, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings, 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 55 product ratings, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 3 product ratings, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 7 product ratings, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 2 product ratings, 5.0 out of 5 stars based on 1 product rating, 2.0 out of 5 stars based on 1 product rating. Rigid Foam Insulation Comparison, What You Should Know About Blow-In Cellulose Insulation, How to Add Insulation to Walls That Are Closed. (A copy is attached.). (A copy is attached.) One of the types of insulation used in building construction and retrofitting is reflective insulation. With perfectly air-tight assemblies and enough layers with gaps (but no convection) between them, it's possible to hit any arbitrary thermal performance point, but if it were easier or cheaper to get there with a radiant barrier approach the world would have gone there ages ago. When one vendor is hit by the FTC or an AG suit, another pops up. 5 STARS all day long. It also relies on being clean and free of dust and debris, both when fitted and when in use. Which Garage Insulation Is Right for Your Home? We've updated our Privacy Policy, which will go in to effect on September 1, 2022. Real insulation works better. Installing Rigid Foam Above Roof Sheathing, Climate Activists React to Dont Look Up. Another problem is that our country's educational system does not produce high school graduates or college graduates with a grounding in science. https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/bubble-wrap-duct-insulation-good-idea, Energy Vanguard: The Foil Faced Bubble Wrap Sham http://www.energyvanguard.com/blog-building-science-HERS-BPI/bid/29497/The-Foil-Faced-Bubble-Wrap-Sham-Understanding-Radiant-Barriers, GBA: A great collection of all of the questions and claims for HVAC installers: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/community/forum/green-products-and-materials/23805/reflectix-still-claiming-r42-its-bubble-wrap-my-h. A copy of a thorough 2010 study by the Canadian National Institute for Research in Construction is also attached. Dear Dana: Exactly. There are several factors behind the FTC's unwillingness to act. Reflectix is a little thicker than a quarter-inch (5/16-inch). If you want to keep a room warm, put it on the inside. if you read the excellent reviews and commentary on GBA, you know you should read this fine print very carefully. You might have a cold workshop with heat escaping through the roof. This means that the efficiency of reflective products varies significantly based on the installation, angle of the air gap, the season and amount of sun, the amount of dust that has collected on the surface, etc. Their conclusion: In a perfect state (with no dust on the surface), a radiant barrier with an air gap increased the efficiency of insulation in a wall by 10%. Included below are links to a number of reputable sites and independent studies: Healthy Heating: 20 years of research studies on reflective insulation: http://www.healthyheating.com/Page%2055/Page_55_o_bldg_sys.htm#.UqHyQMRDvNk (Scroll down to see the newer studies), GBA: Is Bubble Wrap Duct Insulation a Good Idea? Reflectix can insulate tight spaces where you cannot put thick insulation or where other types of insulation are not appropriate. When fiberglass insulation becomes moldy, it must be discarded. Inside of building assemblies the number of layers and construction details required to tease the performance out of it in a code-compliant manner is more trouble than it's worth. For example, the R-6.1 masonry value stated on the Reflectix label is good only if you provide two 3/4-inch airspaces. The product is more like a Thermos jug, in that it reflects heat back, rather than mass insulation such as fiberglass. No. Become a GBA Prime member and get full access to GBA articles, enyclopedia, videos, CAD library, and more. Dear Jane: Martin hit the 'radiant barrier' nail on the head. Our energy saving applications include: HVAC ducts, water pipes, garage door, knee walls and water heater. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. These are only two examples of the key problem: the difference between marketing hype and facts with reflective products -- even the company's own facts. As GBA articles and posts note, the typical claims for radiant insulation are snake oil, put to the lie by 20 years of independent studies, FTC and Attorney General actions etc. The only real use I've found for radiant barrier is to use the perforated aluminized fabric type material to hold batt insulation in place in ceilings in unfinished spaces like attics or basement ceilings. Question: When using reflective foil, which side should face the inside and outside? This means in some areas, such as roofs, it may require being cleaned of dust from time to time to ensure maximum efficiency. The agency is evidently underfunded. I was surprised that Reflectix would claim "R-21" performance in crawl space applications. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. If you cannot or are unable to insulate the ceiling with fiberglass or foam, Reflectix is an alternative. So the stated R-values on the Reflectix label are valid only when the insulation is applied in a certain way. Sturdy, easy to work with and should add 5-9 nore R-value of comfortwinter and summer. I dug into the details and found some surprises. underground sprinkler replacement nozzles, drip irrigation emitters and micro sprays, combo smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, cable management, cable ties and electrical tape, recreational vehicle parts and accessories, Additionally, our reflectix foil tape is strong and flexible making it a versatile choice for other projects, The quick release liner and easy tear feature makes for quick installation and handling, The strength of the adhesive provides quality seams. Although I agree that "R value" is a term inappropriately used for radiant barrier product, your article leaves people beliving radiant barrier is of no value at all. Other types of insulation, like fiberglass wool, rock mineral wool, and polystyrene are also available. This article is accurate and true to the best of the authors knowledge. Put it on the side where you want the heat to radiate away from. An inch of polyiso foam board = R6, period. This is a whack-a-mole problem. Though effective in warmer climates, it will require being combined with other forms of insulation in colder climates. Does Reflectix "Big Bubble" insulation really achieve R-6? Kelly Bacon is a licensed general contractor with over 40 years of experience in construction, home building and remodeling, and commercial building. No A/C upstairs was stifling! Because Reflectix is so flexible, it can be wrapped around pipes and heating vents. http://www.healthyheating.com/Page%2055/Page_55_o_bldg_sys.htm#.UqHyQMRDvNk, https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/bubble-wrap-duct-insulation-good-idea, http://www.energyvanguard.com/blog-building-science-HERS-BPI/bid/29497/The-Foil-Faced-Bubble-Wrap-Sham-Understanding-Radiant-Barriers, https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/community/forum/green-products-and-materials/23805/reflectix-still-claiming-r42-its-bubble-wrap-my-h. If you do not provide air space, Reflectix has less insulating value. The Holometrix 'study' includes lots of formulas, and claims to be based on ASTM standards. The foil tape is for seaming the double reflective and single reflective insulations. He is a member of The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board. The high thermal mass of the contents and the moderate R of the EPS layer, combined with the air-tightness and low-E aspect of the bubble wrap keep the temperature extremes seen by the wine well bounded, independent of the weather in-transit. > The performance of Reflectix depends on the complete assembly. It's flexible enough to bend back on itself. Period! Reflectix's stated R-14 R-values for exterior walls are good only if the Reflectix is paired up with R-13 fiberglass batt insulation. The best use of the aluminized bubble-wrap I've seen to date is the tightly taped outer wrap of a pallet of cases of wine being shipped on container ships, the binder holding the 2-3" of type-I EPS together, protecting the high-value cargo from getting bashed, and keep it's temperature reasonable. In the home we sold, the A/C didnt come on for 3 days! My miscalculations of garage width was a blessing in disguise. The Reflectix site provides a great range of information about this and about how it differs from other types of insulation. Making insulation reflective can often be useful. If you read the label on a roll of Reflectix or the Reflectix product description on the Home Depot or Lowes websites, for example, their solution looks simple, effective and easy to install, e.g.