Actual Effectiveness Of The Radiant Barrier Paint

By Jocelyn Davidson


When constructing a house along with your contractor, you would also consider the temperature regulation and ventilation. This is a special case in summer or during any other harsh weather for that matter. Contractors may offer options but it is best practice to know what are these options.

A lot of materials would be available, and some contractors would sneakily offer new products that are not even quite fully tested yet. You might hear of something like a radiant barrier paint. It is basically a radiant barrier that you spray on to the ceiling which might sound a bit convenient. But here is the catch, the known effectiveness of it compared to others is just around five to seventy five percent.

Reflective Insulation is the correct name for it used during space exploration. The actual tested percentage for it to reflect heat is up to ninety five percent. So what we got from the spray on is that it can only go up to seventy percent, which does not fit the qualifications.

This material is a low emittance surface which is surrounded by air space. How effective it is with reducing heat is dependent on the radiative heat around it. That is why it is more effective in outer space than on earth. Most cases around five percent to forty five percent here on earth, the heat transfer is by convection or conduction.

The American Society of Testing and Materials International has given a definition of what Radiant Barrier means and its qualifications for a certain material. The said materials should at least have a value for low emittance from 0.10 or lower. With this, the paint which was only seventy five percent would not exactly meet the standards.

Materials like fiberglass, wood, and masonry have values 0.8 or higher. They can transfer radiative heat in higher values. The range is from 1 to 0, where 0 has the lowest emittance and 1 to be the highest. So it is best to place these with the lowest emittance and have it installed.

Here is the thing with regards to Quality Control and Quality Assurance. The latter provides that you place the material and hope it works, while the other assumes that it is already effective but all you need to make sure if it is installed correctly. Such can be compared between the spray on and the foil.

Some contractors would provide you with materials you have not heard of or they might make it sound very pleasing to you. One of these might be the spray on, which is aluminum being finely granulated and mixed in with clear paint. And when the it dries up it leaves the aluminum on the surface. Be wary of cutting the paint, for this would dilute the mixture and could even more make it non effective.

In other words, you might need to check if the paint you are using has gone under tests from the American Society of Testing and Materials. Also, asking for further details like level of the emittance and more testing data. This is only when you prefer using it, and you need to have this applied by professionals since the airborne chemicals are really hazardous.




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