Materials for insulation

Materials for insulation are very different. Their choice depends primarily on how you decided to insulate your home. For example, in private houses, outdoor insulation is often used, insulating not the internal walls of the house, but the facade. And the apartment is more convenient to insulate from the inside. You may need to insulate the attic, balcony. Finally, it is possible to insulate not the entire apartment, but only the windows, so that there are no cracks in which the cold air blows out, or only the floor. And in each case, different materials for insulation.

Materials for insulation (thermal insulation) are divided into three main groups. Organic materials for thermal insulation produce with the use of organic substances. First of all, this is a variety of foams. Their essential flaw is one - a slight flammability. Also to organic heaters include recycled wood, fiberboard, particle board, peat and agricultural waste (reeds, straw).

Inorganic materials for insulation - this is primarily a mineral wool and productson its basis, different types of light and cellular concrete (aerated concrete, foam concrete, gas foam concrete, foam glass), fiberglass, expanded perlite, vermiculite, etc. The disadvantage of this group of heaters is low strength and increased water absorption.

Mixed heaters do on the basis of asbestos, a mixture of asbestos with mineral binders or expanded rock.

One of the most famous insulation is mineral wool, which, depending on what is used for itsThe production of the material is divided into glass, stone and slag. This material has good heat and sound insulation, is resistant to high temperatures and chemicals. It is used both for external insulation (including for wet facades), and for internal.

But the mineral wool is not absolutely safe: different types of mineral fibers are assigneddifferent categories of danger to human health and animals. Therefore, many prefer mineral wool other materials for insulation, for example, expanded polystyrene.

Penopolistirol is a lightweight cellular foam plastic based on polystyrene or its derivatives. It is produced by different technologies, thereforedifferent brands of expanded polystyrene have different properties. But speaking in general, polystyrene foam is a fairly strong material for insulation with good thermal insulation properties. It is convenient to handle and cheap enough, therefore, expanded polystyrene is widely used for insulation of facades, both in pure form and in combination with other substances (say, the composition of the thermoplastic gypsum includes portland cement, lime and chemical regulators).

Styrofoam is resistant to moisture, chemicals and mold, durable. But about this polystyrene foam - combustible fire-hazardous material, so it is often introduced into its composition fire retardants -the so-called self-extinguishing expanded polystyrene is obtained. Fire retardants in the foam polystyrene help reduce the chance of accidental fire and reduce flammability. For insulation use both expanded and extruded polystyrene foam.

In addition to expanded polystyrene, Other materials for insulation, related to the class of foams (foamed gas-filled plastics). These are polyurethane foams, and polyvinylchloride foams, and carbamide-formaldehyde foam (carbamide foam, foam isole). They differ in the degree of thermal protection, flammability and other properties. As insulation, glass wool, modern insulators based on polyester fiber, ecowool (cellulose insulation) are also used.

For floor insulation use mineral wool, expanded clay, cementsolutions, chipboard, sawdust, ecowool, plywood, plate heaters from foam and its derivatives, aluminum-foamed reflective materials based on polymers, foamed polymers, roll polymers, heat-insulating paints (liquid polymer insulators), glass wool. And the windows are often warmed with banal foam.

As you can see, the spectrum of heaters is very wide, different materials for insulation have different properties, have their advantages and disadvantages. So in each case it is better to consult with repair specialists in order to choose the optimal insulation.