What are the best thermal insulation products and techniques?
The main reason we insulate our homes is to reduce energy use, which in turn increases our living comfort. As a result of this decision, each owner expects to reduce operating costs for energy consumption in the long term and save resources from the monthly financial provision of the home. In many situations, homeowners who have taken this step realize that despite the large financial investment to repair and insulate the home, expectations for a return on investment are not realized. We analyze what could be the reasons behind this problem.
Mass isolation methods and their problems:
Paying high bills for the energy security of the home is most likely due to poor-quality insulation of the building already during construction or its lack in general. Building insulation has been a mandatory standard for over 10 years now, but very often even newer buildings require re-insulation. This is due to the fact that the critical areas where a thermal bridge may appear were not eliminated during construction. That is even at the earliest stage, the most effective methods for its complete removal, which massively happens, were not thought of in modern practice.
This problem challenges owners to look for new solutions to improve home comfort and reduce heating, cooling and air conditioning costs.
When homeowners make the decision to insulate their homes, there are several important points that define the outcomes of the entire process – these are mainly material selection and technological approach. The most popular insulation materials in Bulgaria are EPS and XPS, and the choice of approach depends on the decision whether to insulate the premises from the inside or the outside.
Experts recommend that whenever possible, the insulation should be done from the outside.
In order to achieve maximum insulation efficiency, our goal is actually to insulate the exterior walls and structure from the cold air outside. Achieving this with internal home insulation is virtually impossible because all building envelopes remain subject to the outside temperatures. Of course, insulating the home from the inside achieves some level of thermal insulation, but it will not be completely satisfactory. This is one of the main reasons for insufficient reduction in operating costs, leading to frustration among owners.
Another problem is that internal insulation, apart from not being energy efficient enough, can also create a host of additional problems such as increasing indoor humidity levels and the formation of mold and mildew..
This is due to the fact that the point where the warm air from inside meets the cold air from outside (dew point) is shifted inside the premises and this leads to the formation of condensation. That is, when choosing this method of isolation, the expected comfort of living is impossible to reach, even on the contrary, it can lead to more negative consequences, which in turn become the cause of more costs to deal with these problems.
Then there is the choice to insulate the home from the outside, as it is more efficient, it encloses the external walls and structure by isolating them from the external environment, the dew point is moved to the outside and practically all problems are solved.
How to effectively insulate your home from the outside?
This is the best method to insulate buildings. That is why it is applied in the construction of all new buildings. When we insulate an existing building, however, other reconstruction problems come to the fore, such as shaping the facade and isolating areas such as balconies and loggias, which have a specific geometry and details that are difficult to master.
Even if we completely isolate the facade from the outside, if we do not take a special approach to these areas and we do not insulate them effectively, there can be formed thermal bridge, which allows the access of cold air inside the premises. You can learn more about the thermal bridge phenomenon HERE
One solution in this case is to find a way to "wrap" the entire balcony - top, side and bottom with insulating material, which, however, can significantly endanger the facade or create additional technological problems in the process of its application.
However, there is another more effective solution that can remove completely the thermal bridge and contribute to the 100% effective thermal insulation of your homewhich will minimize all energy costs. Isokorb offers an option for the absolute separation of balconies from the building structure, which physically separates the external elements from the enclosing walls, eliminating the need for their insulation.
In a general reconstruction of the home, this can happen by applying the method of removing the existing balcony and rebuilding it using the Isokorb solution. In addition to contributing to the effective insulation of the home and minimizing costs, the application of this element is also a very good, elegant solution for the facade. When the need to completely "wrap" the balcony is no longer necessary, we have the freedom to choose the most appropriate architectural solution for the facade of our home.
Of course, in the best case, it is good that the thermal bridge is insulated already during the construction of the building. That is why our team strives to give more publicity and information about the existence and insulation of thermal bridges in construction.
Learn more about Schöck Isokorb HERE.
