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Comments
The thing is - THEY say only 15% of heat loss from a room is through the floor so even if you had 10 layers of Spacetherm it would not make significant difference to the temperature . . .
steve
Having just found the u-value calculator at http://www.vesma.com/tutorial/uvalue01/uvalue01.htm I estimate[*] that the u-value of the floor has changed from 2.69 (25mm floorboards) to 0.90 (vinyl, plywood, SpaceTherm, floorboards). Without the SpaceTherm it would have been about 1.94. So it's an improvement: more would be nice but within my constraints (max. 22mm rise in floor level, not pulling-up/climbing-under floorboards), I'm not sure I could have done better.
A rough calculation assuming 15C temperature difference between inside and outside, ignoring internal walls & ceiling:
oldfloor wall newfloor
area 25m^2 15m^2 25m^2
u-value 2.69 1.40 0.90
W 1009 315 337
So for MY floor in THAT room, I'm still losing more heat through the floor than the wall ... but only 1/3 of what I was.
* The calculator doesn't have SpaceTherm in its list, so I used isocyanurate (resistivity 0.020 W/mK) and multiplied the thickness by 33% to represent SpaceTherm's 0.014-0.013 W/mK.
The calculator doesn't have numbers on bookcases either: anyone know the thermal resistivity of bookcases? 11m^2 of bookcases against the walls has got to count for something :-)
Best wishes
-- CB
steve
What humidity do you use!
I was trying to see U value for 10mm TO10kingspan onto a 15" stone/brick solid wall. I f I put anyway near approaching Regs it indicated condensation rick with the default humidities.
?
Since the calculator is done in JavaScript, you could try a different browser ... FireFox instead of IE ?
5 year update: The SpaceTherm just sits there supporting 9' high bookcases. The room is warmer than comparable rooms without -- but it's S-facing and better heated so hard to compare. I've still to lay the remaining 25m^2 of SpaceTherm. I'm now intending to pull up enough floorboards in the dining room to get under the whole of the ground floor and insulate with 200mm of from underneath to get the theoretical u-value down to ~0.15 before relaying the dining room floor. I also intend (after 5 years reading here) to take a lot more care with draught exclusion!
Does anyone have any tips on the best form to use. Proctor seem to sell it bonded to various products
http://www.proctorgroup.com/products/thermal-insulation/spacetherm
It sounds like they don't recommend fitting with adhesive or screwing. Will nailing direct to masonry work? We have some curved sections as well - would it be possible to plaster direct onto the aerogel somehow?
There's also a cork panel product
http://www.aerogel.uk.com/cork-spaceloft.html
Does anyone have some experiencen with how best to fix it etc?
As I understand it, 4 layers would be required (40mm) to achieve a u value of 0.29 meeting building regs requirment for walls in refurbishment.
So if it gets wet it just negates the thermal properties and if you use at adhesive, then the thermal properties tend to go towards that of the adhesive when dry and the blanket.
So mechanical fixing it is.
They do a version that has plasterboard. Cut it neatly (can be a tricky as the blanket snags) and fix carefully and it should not need more than a bit of filling.
It can be bought on the roll, cut off a roll, or as a thermal laminate where it has been bonded to a rigid building board.
Alternatively it can be bought in smaller sheets where the Spaceloft has been cut from the roll and had different facings applied.
These can be self adhesive foil, aluminised foil or even a reinforcing mesh that makes it simple to plaster/render over directly. These sheets are fairly flexible. It can also be supplied bonded up into different thicknesses in multiples of 10mm although as the laminated thickness increases this makes a more rigid product.
It is almost impossible to "wet" aerogel spaceloft as is contains within it's matrix a hydrophobe that actively dispels water. One of its major industrial uses is in sub-sea pipe insulation so its vital that it doesn't take up moisture
I have to try to improve the thermal performance next to a newly-installed all-singing, all-dancing triple-glazed bay window. At the moment the only thing between outside and in is a 20mm wooden cover fillet. I can't just whack in some ordinary insulation, since this area forms part of the (wooden, folding) shutter housing. There *is*, however, just about room for 10mm aerogel and 3mm ply, and, the cover fillet being 20mm thick, there ought to be just enough 'bite' for a screw without popping through to the outside.
I am aware of the tendency of aerogel to 'pick up' on drill-bits, but also mindful of the fact that is we try to use nails, we might just pop the cover fillet off. Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks,
Nick
You'll find that carpet tile adhesive spray works well.
Then overlay this with your 3mm ply or perhaps a 3mm or 4mm (if there's an additional 1mm to spare) magnesium board that you've predrilled with the fixing holes.
The reason that the aerogel sometimes grabs the drill bit is because the polyester reinforcing in the insulation melts at high temperature so once the drill bit gets hot it sticks to the bit.
The secret is to drill the holes, which in your case would be small, quickly avoiding the bit overheating too much. Use a new bit, set the drill on hammer if necessary and go at it with some gusto pulling the bit out as soon as possible.
Then plug and screw
Many thanks for your help.
Nick
or even a reinforcing mesh that makes it simple to plaster/render over directly. These sheets are fairly flexible. It can also be supplied bonded up into different thicknesses in multiples of 10mm although as the laminated thickness increases this makes a more rigid product.
Who supplies it in with a plastering mesh Saint? I haven't been able to find that product.
Thanks
Here's a link in case anyone else is interested
http://www.gti-limited.com/insulation.php?cat=194