Cavity Wall Insulation

In order to be well educated in green home insulation techniques, you should know were the various areas of insulation are best used.

Cavity Wall Insulation Products

Cavity Wall Insulation - Foam Insulation

Cavity walls are generally air spaces that are formed between exterior wall framing members, bounded on the outside by exterior sheathing and the interior by plaster or drywall.

These cavity spaces afford the homeowner a great opportunity to place a wide variety of cavity wall insulation to increase the homes energy efficiently exponentially. Like the cavity in the tooth that is filled in by the dentist, the wall cavity is filled in with insulation to greatly improve the energy-saving proficiency of the wall.

Insulation varieties for the Cavity Walls

There are somewhat a few options available when selecting your wall cavity insulation varieties.

Cavity Wall Insulation – Batt Insulation

Cavity Wall Insulation - Batt Insulation

Placed between the space cavities, fiberglass cavity wall insulation types are produced in either batts or blankets. Batt insulation is generally used in new home construction when the wall is open, before drywall is installed.

There are a variety of environmentally friendly materials that batt insulation can be manufactured from. Fiberglass batts and blankets are by far the most popular in this category and some of the manufactures are now using recycled glass in its manufacture. Not only is it the most popular, but it is also the most affordable as well, which attributes to its popularity.

An even more compelling environmentally friendly insulation is created from recycled and scrapped cotton fibers, that in produced into batts and blankets.

Rockwool mineral insulation can additionally be used in batt-sort installations. Rockwool Insulation is manufactured from recycled slag or natural stone products.

Blown-In and Spray-in Insulation Types

For existing wall cavities, blown-in insulation is in excess of commonly used. It can be installed in existing cavities by drilling holes in either the exterior sheathing or interior drywall and blowing the product into the cavity spaces with atypical equipment.

Being produced from recycled newspapers and magazines, blown cellulose is about as environmentally friendly as you can get. Another type of blown-in insulation that is notable option is Rockwool Insulation that we mentioned earlier in this article.

Blown-in and Batt insulation types both exhibit very similar R-Values per inch of thickness of between 3.0 and 4.0 per inch.

Finally the last sort of insulation you ought to investigate for cavity walls is one of the spray foam insulation. These new foams can be installed either in open cavities or existing closed cavities, as the foam expands to provide an entirely filled, void-free installation by foam expansion after application.

Spray foam insulation can have much higher R-values than other types of cavity wall insulation.

Cavity Wall Insulation Installation Procedures

The quality of the insulation is governed more by the quality of the installation than the product itself. For insulation that is installed in cavities to be effective and energy efficient, it needs to be installed in such a manner to fill all gaps or voids in order to minimize moisture and air penetration. While Batt insulation is generally installed with various small cracks, gaps and voids, and blown-in cellulose insulation tends to settle over time, leaving gaps at the tops of the walls. Also one of the best coverages you can have in cavity wall insulation is with the spray foam products as then entirely fill all voids and gaps and provide an air-tight installation.

Cavity Wall Insulation – What Are The Costs?

The cost of buying and installing any cavity wall insulation can vary widely due to fluctuations in market prices and construction costs around the country. As a rough guideline, the installed cost of insulating a cavity wall to an R-value of 19, per square foot installed, from least pricey to most expensive, is as follows: blown cellulose, fiberglass batt, cotton batt, rockwool mineral batt, and finally spray foam insulation.

Having an experienced environmentally friendly home designer and making contractor will help you to determine which sort of insulation and insulation material is best for your environmentally friendly home. While ongoing or first cost is important in budgeting your project, do not discount the importance of environmental impact and energy saving over the long haul in your decision.

Additional Insulation Articles:

To find out more on the different insulation products that are available for a green home, be sure to visit the main page on House Insulation.