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  1. #1

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Insulating your home in Thailand

    Now insulation I aint an expert on, but I really hate going into peoples houses that are hotter inside than outside, ie the low end bungalows with very little space between the roof and ceiling.

    So the first thing you need is as high a roof as you can afford to give you more attic space, you also need to vent the roof, either with a couple of those stainless steel spinner things which are only a couple of thousand baht each, or vents in the walls for the attic area, next up you need to insulate that area, the foil lined fiberglass are rolls are the quickest and easiest, to buy them works out at a costing of about 100baht per square meter, these you just chuck ontop of your ceiling.





    Next up we shall have the old sprayed on insulation foam, this is for the more high end customer

  2. #2

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    The spray on foam insulation is pretty damn good, but at the price they charge is it worth it or not is a good question, I think nowadays you wont get much change out of 500baht per square meter, this is sprayed directly on the underneath of the roof tiles, some low end roof tiles you can't really expect much more than a 10 years life span, and cos this stuff is semi flexible it is a right bastard to get a roof tile up, so if your roof ever needs changing it turns out to be a major job.

    In Pattaya they have 2 companies that do this spray on foam insulation and both seem pretty much the same, ie big lorry and oneday to do the job.









    Next week we shall discuss insulation blocks for your walls

  3. #3
    punk douche bag
    ChiangMai noon's Avatar
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    I'm glad you brought this up, I have been trying to decide between insulation and more air-con.
    Does the insulation actually work and keep the place nice and cool?

    100 baht a sq metre sounds allright if it works.

  4. #4
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon
    Does the insulation actually work and keep the place nice and cool?
    Worked for me, I am happy with ours.

  5. #5

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    it works, but also I would have thought that by the very nature of insulation it would also retain heat for longer, if you don't normally use aircon I feel that all insulation will do is change the daily times of when the ceiling gets hot, ie it will take longer for it to get hot, but in the evenings would take longer to get cool.

  6. #6
    punk douche bag
    ChiangMai noon's Avatar
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    Oh...
    So does that mean I should get it or not??

    I only have aircon in our bedroom, the rest of the house gets terribly ot.

    Starting to get cooler up here now, so i'll probably have about 8 months to think about it anyway.

  7. #7

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Defineately chuck it on top of any aircon rooms

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    I have that aluminium foil wrapped fiberglass on top of my ceiling, and have yet to find out if it makes much difference or not..

    Thermodynamic says that hot air strives upwards, insulating the ceiling will block that.
    Furthermore, material in most ceilings have a low K (heat transfer factor)
    acting as insulation itself.

    I find it more logical to insulate under the roof tiles to stop heat from getting into the attic. And , as DD mentioned, vent the attic.

  9. #9
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    Attics get hot, sun beatin down on 'em all day.. The are inthere will be hotter 'n hell. The Thais been leavin' the ceiling in an open beam configuration with good cross vetilation up high and broad over hangs for a couple a centuries. This works.
    Putting a vent-fan in the attic works too. If you vent and insulate the ceiling (not the roof) think it's the best of both worlds. Those that like aircon might get better results with this type of insulation.
    I dislike aircon and with good coss flow ventilation and broad overhangs would be comfortable. Kinda like the heat
    When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty -- T. Jefferson


  10. #10
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    Something should work. Still not quiet there yet.
    My electric bill last month was B3,600.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat Airportwo's Avatar
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    I got the foam spray on stuff, it does the job for sure, check the price now though - imagine being "oil" based product price will have risen substatially from 500 Baht m2
    Be cheap to set up to do this, it's just two chemicals, two Bbl pumps and a mixing chamber with a spray gun on the end.
    Last edited by Airportwo; 29-04-2006 at 07:53 PM.

  12. #12
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    Try using Superblock for insulation purposes, I have 4 air-cons in a relative small house 3 bedrooms and lounge.. And my bills are only 2,000 baht

    Costs 25 baht for Superblock and 7 baht for normal breeze block but in the long run it pays for Superblock

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog
    it works, but also I would have thought that by the very nature of insulation it would also retain heat for longer, if you don't normally use aircon I feel that all insulation will do is change the daily times of when the ceiling gets hot, ie it will take longer for it to get hot, but in the evenings would take longer to get cool.
    Spot on. Exactly what we discovered. Insulation lowers the air con bill, but the room is actually hotter when you don't air con. But, our attic is not well ventilated which I believe would make a large difference.

  14. #14
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    Check out Cool or Cosy, it's a cellulose fibre insulation, works great and bugs can't live in it. Better than any foam or fiberglass and safer than both. It's a spray on application. Check out http://www.buildata.com.au/coolcosy/default.htm for more information. Just give Steven a call, nice bloke.
    Eliminator
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  15. #15
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    In Uk you can buy aerosol cans of expanding foam insulation. I have seen it used for installing window frames and even fixing a car body to the chassis. It is very strong.

    So you could bring some over and do it yourself

    I used to buy a case of it at 2 quid a can, but that was a long time ago.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat Airportwo's Avatar
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    I bought some here in Pattaya, 600 Baht a can - German and Fckin crap what pissed me off more was I bought 6 cans of the Crap!

    Quote Originally Posted by Thetyim
    In Uk you can buy aerosol cans of expanding foam insulation. I have seen it used for installing window frames and even fixing a car body to the chassis. It is very strong. So you could bring some over and do it yourself I used to buy a case of it at 2 quid a can, but that was a long time ago.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by weescotsguy66
    Try using Superblock for insulation purposes, I have 4 air-cons in a relative small house 3 bedrooms and lounge.. And my bills are only 2,000 baht

    Costs 25 baht for Superblock and 7 baht for normal breeze block but in the long run it pays for Superblock

    are those the white non-hollowed blocks?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog
    ...So the first thing you need is as high a roof as you can afford to give you more attic space, you also need to vent the roof, either with a couple of those stainless steel spinner things which are only a couple of thousand baht each, or vents in the walls for the attic area...
    Quote Originally Posted by friscofrankie
    ...Putting a vent-fan in the attic works too....
    My house in Florida is over 20 years old. It has a ventilated soffit, plus gable vents. Originally, it had a powered vent on the roof. Almost every other year, I had to replace the fan motor that had 'cooked' due to the attic heat. Roofing in Florida lasts only a few years, even if guaranteed for 20 or more. The sun cooks the shingles until they curl and break apart.

    I recently had my roof redone, and the roofer said he was not too pleased to keep the old power vent. His main contention was that "any hole that you cut into the roof is eventualy going to leak". He installed a ridge vent, instead.

    The attic and general house temperature has improved, even though the ventilation is now only passive.

    I don't know whether this idea can be useful in Thailand, but it may be possible with new construction. Here is more info about ridge vents from a manufacturer:
    http://www.airvent.com/homeowner/pro...dgeVents.shtml
    Geo

  19. #19
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    Dougal's Avatar
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    I have seen a few roofs in Thailand with a water spray system that every so often squirts water over the surface.

    Although not insulation, it's purpose is the same to cool the house - but by the evaporation of the water.

    Has anyone tried this and if they have have they found it effective?
    Lord, deliver us from e-mail.

  20. #20
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    My roof is very thick say over 1/2 inch tiles, I dont see how the water could work. But at the same time we put in a patio with these red bricks I had never seen before. They cost 7 baht apiece. The wife said they would be cool and I thought she was nuts.

    Well she wasnt if you hose them down a couple of times a day they are at least 5 degrees C less than the air temperature and these bring down the overall heat on the side of our house where the patio is. Its almost like they are off the space shuttle, I really dont see how they do it. But I do like it. I had a party out there saturday and everyone was very surprised as to how cool they are.

    My 16 year old dog rarely goes anywhere else since we put it in.

    So the roof thing might well work.

    Further inspection those are either 1 inch tiles or just under at 2 centimers.

    Dog will find this soon!!
    Last edited by aging one; 01-05-2006 at 05:02 PM.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat Airportwo's Avatar
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    For sure this would work, but - yes quite - there are so many Butt's -
    Explain them ALL to us please DD?
    Cheers

    Quote Originally Posted by Dougal
    I have seen a few roofs in Thailand with a water spray system that every so often squirts water over the surface.

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Airportwo
    Explain them ALL to us please DD?
    I was hoping that someone with a bit more knowledge on the subject would explain them to all of us

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Well, ehum..

    Some basics , materials first:
    Compact material are usually very good thermal conductors while loose material are insulators.
    Example of an extremely good conductors is glass.
    Cement/brick walls and wood is half-conductors and mineral wool is an insulator..

    Thick material have higher thermal storage capacity than thin material.
    Thick material also introduces a delay in the heat transfer while thin material has an immediate transfer.

    Major reasons for getting a hot house is heat transferred through the glass windows and heat transferred through and stored in cement/brick walls.


    How to get rid of it ?

    Hot air travels upwards , cold air falls down.
    So the ceiling could be made of a good conducting material , transferring heat from the room up to the attic.
    But this will only work if the temperature in the attic is lower than the temperature of the room.
    The problem with the attic is that it is getting a lot of heat from the roof tiles, which if they are of brick type also are good thermal magasines.

    Without venting the attic there is also big chance that you get the reverse effect - heat beeing transferred from the attic via the ceiling down into the house.

    The other approach is to build a good insulation layer in the ceiling. This will stop heat coming down that way but will of course also stop room heat getting up.. An aircon will quickly take care of that though.

    Better wall material like SuperBlock should help a lot. I don't have any experience of my own from them, only had a look at their website.
    The K-value is 0.08 compared to 1.2 for normal red brick so they are very good insulators.
    But there aint much you can do to the walls if they are already there..

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog
    Quote Originally Posted by Airportwo
    Explain them ALL to us please DD?
    I was hoping that someone with a bit more knowledge on the subject would explain them to all of us
    Well, I do not have the smarts to explain this subject. But, just today I was visiting a semi-floating market near BKK.. It is hard to tell by the photo but this shop uses a sprinkling system on the roof. One can see the constant patter of water hitting the river as it falls from the roof. The staff said it really keeps the inside cooler. I will say that although today was very hot, the eating area was rather cool.



  25. #25
    I am in Jail
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    It's called "rain", hillbilly.

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