Thread: heat insulation?

We have a new house with conventional roof and concrete tiles. Under that against the tiles they installed some cheap looking silver foil type material, presumably as insulation. Some of this is torn away and anyway the upstairs really heats up by the evening. What options are there for some better insulation material? are there any you can just roll out over the ceilings in the loft area? what are costs like? House is a 3 bed semi.

https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...nsulation.html (Retro fitting under-roof insulation)

you can get rolls of fibreglass to roll out over your ceiling, the thicker the better

maybe roll it out double thickness if you can only find the 10cm stuff

this also comes with a foil layer

not too expensive but can't remember the cost

Thanks will have a look, just need to persuade the mrs it's not a waste of money

It is easy to fit as long as you have access to the roof space

The foil is crap. A few years ago it was the big thing and I decided to go with it. My mistake! Now we are in the process of figuring out how to get rid of it and do foam of some sort.

Yet some say it made a big difference?

Originally Posted by xanax

Yet some say it made a big difference?

I have it. Laid just under the roof tiles. It helps but I would not say it makes "a big difference". Still need insulation above ceiling and good attic ventilation.

i did see a company advertising on udonmap about the spray in type of insulation but that was a few years ago, and they wouldnt come to Laos to do the work anyway, try searching the archives on udonmap i have heard its a good product , thats how they do it in oz also

Originally Posted by hillbilly

The foil is crap.

nope, it works but doesn't do much

you need the fibreglass laid to make a big difference

Originally Posted by DrAndy

Originally Posted by hillbilly

The foil is crap.

nope, it works but doesn't do much

you need the fibreglass laid to make a big difference

Just to clarify, you want the fibre insulation that is covered in foil. It comes in several thicknesses. Thinest is usualy 2 inch and the thickest 6 inch. The 2 inch costs about 120 baht a roll and is about 4 metres long by about 50cm.
The 6 inch stuff is often around 500 baht so it can actualy be cheaper to get 3 lots of 2 inch roll if you want to go the full 6 inches.

Second point to remember is that there are 2 ways to look at this. It is as much about keeping cool air in as it is about keeping hot air out. Without roof insulation, your air con will have to work harder to keep your bedroom cool.

With it, you can sometimes go out for an hour, come home and still find your bedroom relatively cool because of the insulation.

I went with fiberglass batts approx 4" thick with the foil backing up, laid on top of the ceiling in a bungalow style house and it made a BIG difference. Before the insulation I could feel the heat coming through the gypsum ceiling so I knew the AC was working real hard to get the temperature down, but with the fiberglass batts the ceiling is cool to the touch at all times of the day.
I've got a friend that went with the foam spray-on type insulation directly applied to the underside of the roof tiles and it works well also, plus it also stops any water leaks.
Sorry, but I don't have any figures on amount of electricity used before and after.

Originally Posted by Sampattaya

plus it also stops any water leaks.

and helps the tiles to stay in place

and costs an arm and a full 6 inches

vetillation and insullation..f/glass batts or the spray on in the cavities work a treat..

I have foil backed plasterboard on the ceilings, 6 inch "stay cool" foam wrap laid on top and white reflective paint on the roof outside. The paint made the biggest difference.

For folks who are interested in innovative and local green solutions, rice husks (rice hulls) have insulating properties very similar to fiberglass and foams. R value is about 3 per inch so a 3 or 4 inch layer on top of the dropped ceiling should cut most heat transmission through the ceiling. This material has pretty good fire and mold/fungus resistance, better than cellulose. I don't know if there is enough food substance in them to attract unwanted critters. I can imagine the husks blown in or put in cheap tubular bags of some kind.

Does anyone have a cost for fiberglass, say 6 inches thick, say for a 10 by 10 roof area, this could be compared with some nice green local technique like rice husks to see if the experiment would be worthwhile.

Check these guys out: CoolOrCosyThai.Com I wish I could do it, beats any fiberglass or any other crap products on the market. Non flammable and bugs can't live in the stuff. Totally safe for humans or any other mammal as far as I know.

In the state of Victoria in Australia, Sisalation ( silver foil ) MUST be used as a minimum for insulation, it's is there to refect heat and it does that very well. Obviously, there are places in construction where it cant be used, but if you can use it, I suggest you do for the minimal extra cost.
There is no way I would build a house in Thailand or anywhere else without useing it where possible.

Originally Posted by beerlaodrinker

i did see a company advertising on udonmap about the spray in type of insulation but that was a few years ago, and they wouldnt come to Laos to do the work anyway, try searching the archives on udonmap i have heard its a good product , thats how they do it in oz also

Is this what you are thinking about? SprayFoam Thailand

is it cost effective though? I have heard it is very expensive

^ I have "sprayfoam", it was about 500 Baht m some years back, probably more now, problem with it is it traps the heat in the roof space, you need circulation to pull the hot air out and replace it with cool.

Check your product on if it is flammable first. Most spray on foam applications are highly flammable.

Originally Posted by DrAndy

is it cost effective though? I have heard it is very expensive

Not to bad. Quite cheap compared to here. Per the Thai website, "The cost of our treatment lies between 450 and 650 baht per square meter of roof, depending on the type of roof tiles as well as on the location of the roof to be treated."

Here in Texas, it would take approx 10 years to pay for itself. Recently did the math on my house here. If you don't run AC, just vent to attic space and turn on the fans.

If I had to insulate my house here, I would use fiberglass rolls 12" thick. That is what is recommended here in Texas and we have similar climates to Thailand. Ensure that the soffits have adequate vents with vents on the gable ends. Had to do this with my home in Thailand.

Originally Posted by sranchito

Here in Texas, it would take approx 10 years to pay for itself. Recently did the math on my house here. If you don't run AC, just vent to attic space and turn on the fans.

if you don't use aircon it will never pay for itself