SELECTING THE BEST THERMAL INSULATION MATERIAL.

The wrong type of insulation can be as bad as installing no insulation. At the same time, specifying an insulation material merely on the basis of its ability to withstand the rigors of the location can have its drawbacks too. Consideration needs to be given to the relative cost of the insulation with regard to its thermal performance. This article outlines a procedure to help identify the insulation system that satisfies requirements of the application at the lowest cost per unit of thermal performance. It involves these basic steps: determine which insulation materials meet the operating-temperature requirements; select the system that offers the lowest installed cost per thermal performance unit; evaluate the lowest cost system against important conditions of the location.