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Loose-fill insulation comes in loose fibers or pellets and should be blown into a space. Rigid foam is more expensive than fiber, but generally has a higher R-value per unit of thickness. Foam-in-place insulation can be blown into small areas to control air leaks, like those around windows, or can be used to insulate an entire house. [33]
This is a list of insulation materials used around the world. Typical R-values are given for various materials and structures as approximations based on the average of available figures and are sorted by lowest value. R-value at 1 m gives R-values normalised to a 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) thickness and sorts by median value of the range.
Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. [1] Thermal insulation can be achieved with specially engineered methods or processes, as well as with suitable object shapes and materials.
The passivhaus standard combines superinsulation with other techniques and technologies to achieve ultra-low energy use.. Superinsulation is an approach to building design, construction, and retrofitting that dramatically reduces heat loss (and gain) by using much higher insulation levels and airtightness than average.
Molten salts can be employed as a thermal energy storage method to retain thermal energy. Presently, this is a commercially used technology to store the heat collected by concentrated solar power (e.g., from a solar tower or solar trough). The heat can later be converted into superheated steam to power conventional steam turbines and generate ...
The effectiveness of bulk insulation is commonly evaluated by its R-value, of which there are two – metric (SI) (with unit K⋅W −1 ⋅m 2) and US customary (with unit °F⋅ft 2 ⋅h/BTU), the former being 0.176 times the latter numerically, or the reciprocal quantity the thermal conductivity or U-value W⋅K −1 ⋅m −2.
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unlike active solar heating systems, it does not involve the use of mechanical and electrical devices.
Multi-layer insulation (MLI) is thermal insulation composed of multiple layers of thin sheets and is often used on spacecraft and cryogenics. Also referred to as superinsulation, [ 1 ] MLI is one of the main items of the spacecraft thermal design , primarily intended to reduce heat loss by thermal radiation .