How It Works | Reflective Insulation

How It Works

“Georgia Energy Auditscuts heating and cooling cost by lowering the amount of heat transferred into a home in the summer and out of the home in the winter”
-NASA

Stay Warmer in the Winter

Just like wrapping a baked potato in aluminum foil keeps a potato warm longer by holding the heat in, covering your attic insulation with Radiant Barrier Insulation holds the heat in the house. Another analogy is that Radiant Barrier Insulation in the winter works just like a space blanket, which, although very thin and lightweight, holds your body heat in. A thin space blanket can keep you warmer than several heavy blankets.

Stay Cooler in the Summer

Just like a space suit, Radiant Barrier Insulation reflects the sun's heat before it can warm up the insulation in your attic. When the insulation stays cooler, your house will stay cooler. It helps to understand how Radiant Barrier Insulation will work for you if you think of other things that work in much the same way. Astronaut’s space suits keep body heat in, and reflect the sun's heat away. Thermosï¿½ bottles keep hot things hot and cold things cold. They are almost perfect insulators. The tight seal and air space prohibits heat transfer by conduction and convection. The reflective surfaces inhibit radiation heat transfer. If the bottle starts out hot, it stays hot because very little heat is transferred to the cooler outside. If it starts out cold, it stays cold because very little heat is transferred from the warmer outside.

The way radiant barrier reflective insulation works is remarkable, but really quite simple. Radiant barrier’s space-age technology resists all three types of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and most importantly, radiant energy transfer. You are already familiar with it if you have ever used a Thermosï¿½ Bottle to keep beverages hot or cold. Inside the walls of a thermos is a radiant barrier that blocks energy from passing through it in either direction—the same type of energy that a microwave oven uses to heat food. So hot beverages retain their heat and cold beverages stay cold longer.

Georgia Energy Audits is a radiant barrier made with two sheets of aluminum adhered together to create a two-sided reflector. When installed directly on top of your insulation, heat waves put off by your roof decking in the summer are reflected by the radiant barrier before they have the opportunity of being absorbed by your ceiling insulation, thus keeping your home cooler. In the winter, the radiated heat waves from within your home are absorbed by your ceiling and conducted up through your insulation into your attic. In this case, the down-facing side of the radiant barrier reflects the radiant heat waves emitted from your insulation back down toward your living area instead of allowing them to simply escape into your attic. This process eliminates heat loss through your ceiling, thus saving you dollars. Georgia Energy Audits is also perforated with tiny holes that allow moisture to pass through so it doesn't create a moisture barrier for your existing insulation.

By comparison, traditional insulation is designed to absorb heat passing through your ceiling. Georgia Energy Audits Radiant Barrier Insulation reflects rather than absorbing heat. In fact, insulation with no radiant barrier can be a detriment during the cooling season because after absorbing heat during the day, it can continue to conduct that heat into your home throughout the evening.

Energy Saving Tips

Tip #1

Minimize ceiling and attic heat retention during summer.
As much as 83% of heat gain in the summer takes place through the ceiling and roof. Reflective insulation reflects the sun’s heat before it can penetrate your home. You use less air conditioning to keep your home comfortable all summer long. According to the Department of Energy, homeowners can expect up to 17% cooling savings depending on climate, current amount of insulation in the attic, and household energy use. Many Georgia Energy Audits customers claim to have seen even higher results, but these results have not been scientifically verified by a 3rd party.

Tip #2

Minimize ceiling and attic heat loss during the winter
Just as your ceiling and roof retains heat during the summer, it releases heat during the winter as the hot air rises and escapes through your roof. As you run your furnace during the winter to heat your home, reflective insulation in your attic reflects that heat right back into your home. You spend less money on heating while staying warm and comfortable.

Tip #3

Install Solar Attic Fans.
Consider using a solar attic fan along with your air conditioner to increase your home comfort. They can lower your air conditioning bills by up to 30%. When your attic temperatures rise in the summer, proper ventilation can reduce those high temperatures by up to 50�F. With an attic fan you can be just as comfortable with the thermostat set at 78 degrees as you would with air conditioning along set to 72 degrees. For each degree you raise the thermostat, you save you 3-5% on air conditioning costs.

Tip #4

Insulate your windows with solar screens and blinds.
Block the sun – not your view – with energy saving blinds and screens. The home cooling and energy savings potential of solar window screens and blinds is exceptional, with room temperature reduction of up to 15 degrees and savings of up to 25-30%. Solar films can also provide huge benefit when it comes to keeping a room cool. At the same time, solar screens and blinds help your home retain heat in the winter.

Tip #5

Brighten rooms naturally with tubular skylights.
Tubular Skylights allow natural sunlight to be directed from the rooftop down through a highly reflective tube, and then diffused at the ceiling level. Tubular skylights capture direct and ambient light, providing exceptional illumination, even on cloudy days and in early morning or late afternoon when the sun is low in the sky—all without using a single watt of electricity.

Tip #6

Insulate your duct system.
Duct losses from heat gain in hot attics or heat loss in cold basements or crawl spaces reduce your comfort, wear out your HVAC system and waste energy every time your unit turns on. Then, while it's off, heat moves readily through the ducting wall and either chills off or heats up the air inside. There is no need to replace your existing ductwork. A trained installer can complete the job in half a day

Tip #7

Install a programmable thermostat.
The use of a programmable thermostat to manage use throughout the day can save big money. Through proper use of pre-programmed settings, a programmable thermostat can save about $150 every year in energy costs. It’s important to adjust for you summer living habits.

Tip #8

Replace incandescent with CFL light bulbs.
In addition to the significant energy savings CFL bulbs provide for lighting your home, they also produce virtually no heat. If you have 30 standard light bulbs on in your home, they collectively put off as much heat as a small space heater. You can keep the house much cooler by installing CFL lights.

Tip #9

Add insulation to your hot-water heater.
Since the standard hot water heater is on all the time, adding extra insulation will save more energy than you think. Experts estimate that adding insulation to your water heater and any exposed pipes can knock up to 15 percent off the costs of heating water. Caution: Be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions before taking this step.

Tip #10

Insulate with radiant barrier paint.
Truly a space age product, radiant barrier paint delivers powerful insulation to your home mixing non-toxic, chemically stable ceramic microspheres with any paint. It can be applied to the exterior and interior of your building in order to insulate it from the radiant heat of the sun. The increased reflective insulation lowers energy bills and provides protection from thermal shock.