If anyone tells you that batts are the best, they’re wrong. After being in business long enough and researching the latest and greatest products, my pick is cellulose fibre as being the best ceiling insulation product on the market.
Why? Cellulose is a loose product, however with the humidity in the air after a few months it forms a slight crust on the surface and wont blow around inside a ceiling. It can be moved aside for a worker in the ceiling but it’s not going to fly around everywhere (its individual particles are heavy and not so lightweight they will float).
The key reasons why I recommend cellulose over batts (any style) are:
Cellulose has a better performance rating than batts (its 100% coverage as opposed to batts are only about 98% coverage as they are cut into the ceiling), which results in a one to two degree better performance than ANY kind of batts.
Its energy footprint to produce is up to 40 times LESS than any style of batts. It’s the only insulation which Planet Ark and Greenpeace support and it’s all round a much more sustainable product for people to use in their roofs
Fire proof wise cellulose fibre has proven to be the best product on the market – most batts will shrink and melt (most have toxic fumes) in a fire. However, cellulose won’t burn so it effectively adds a fire proofing barrier between house and ceiling (which is where fires get really dangerous and go up quickly), meaning the fire can be contained until the fire fighters can get there
The cellulose fibre products we use at Sustainable Man are produced in Brisbane by a company that has been making it for 30 years.
If you are still not convinced then take a look at the wikepedia entry for cellulose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_insulation
Why batts are inferior
The vast majority of batts available in the current market are imported. The quality of these batts is not as good and in some cases is downright dodgy. For example, fiberglass batts are widely imported from China at the moment (and filling our market in Australia – my guesstimate is that up to 50% of all installations at the moment use this material).
They are the correct size and R rating when they leave China and are issued with their Australian Standard Certificate in China. However, they then get loaded into containers - vacuum ceiled and squashed into the container – arriving in Australia at about 70 to 80% of their original size. Most batts never regain their shape and this means they are no longer compliant with Australian Standards. Further, the batts may not provide the reduction in temperatures expected of them. Worse, they are cheap and nasty and installers are cleaning up with the $1600 on these.
Foil batts aren’t effective either, because when they are covered in dust (which happens very quickly in ceilings) they are meant to reflect heat but they become ineffective when dusty so I definitely don’t recommend them.
In short, cellulose is a great product and if you ever have the chance to go into a home where it is installed, you’ll notice a dramatic temperature difference.
Why? Cellulose is a loose product, however with the humidity in the air after a few months it forms a slight crust on the surface and wont blow around inside a ceiling. It can be moved aside for a worker in the ceiling but it’s not going to fly around everywhere (its individual particles are heavy and not so lightweight they will float).
The key reasons why I recommend cellulose over batts (any style) are:
Cellulose has a better performance rating than batts (its 100% coverage as opposed to batts are only about 98% coverage as they are cut into the ceiling), which results in a one to two degree better performance than ANY kind of batts.
Its energy footprint to produce is up to 40 times LESS than any style of batts. It’s the only insulation which Planet Ark and Greenpeace support and it’s all round a much more sustainable product for people to use in their roofs
Fire proof wise cellulose fibre has proven to be the best product on the market – most batts will shrink and melt (most have toxic fumes) in a fire. However, cellulose won’t burn so it effectively adds a fire proofing barrier between house and ceiling (which is where fires get really dangerous and go up quickly), meaning the fire can be contained until the fire fighters can get there
The cellulose fibre products we use at Sustainable Man are produced in Brisbane by a company that has been making it for 30 years.
If you are still not convinced then take a look at the wikepedia entry for cellulose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_insulation
Why batts are inferior
The vast majority of batts available in the current market are imported. The quality of these batts is not as good and in some cases is downright dodgy. For example, fiberglass batts are widely imported from China at the moment (and filling our market in Australia – my guesstimate is that up to 50% of all installations at the moment use this material).
They are the correct size and R rating when they leave China and are issued with their Australian Standard Certificate in China. However, they then get loaded into containers - vacuum ceiled and squashed into the container – arriving in Australia at about 70 to 80% of their original size. Most batts never regain their shape and this means they are no longer compliant with Australian Standards. Further, the batts may not provide the reduction in temperatures expected of them. Worse, they are cheap and nasty and installers are cleaning up with the $1600 on these.
Foil batts aren’t effective either, because when they are covered in dust (which happens very quickly in ceilings) they are meant to reflect heat but they become ineffective when dusty so I definitely don’t recommend them.
In short, cellulose is a great product and if you ever have the chance to go into a home where it is installed, you’ll notice a dramatic temperature difference.
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