I'm getting ready to remodel my bathroom and figured I would replace what
was placed in the exterior walls and called insullation back in 1957 (one
inch of fiberglass mat). I was looking at either the rigid pink foam or
styrofoam insulation. There is a big difference in price for 4x8 sheets but
only a difference in 2 R value. I've read what I could and still don't
understand what a difference of 2 R would make. Can someone explain or
point me to a site where in REALLY simple terms I can find out what an "R"
really is?

I'm no expert in R-value but what I understand is, obviously, the higher the
R number the better it insulates. Therefore, I would assume the product with
the extra 2 R-value is a slightly better insulator.

Her are some sites I thought were fairly helpful:

http://www.roofhelp.com/Rvalue.htm
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/...on/ins_16.html
http://www.powerhousetv.com/stellent...gs_000569.hcsp

"mgarvie" wrote in message
m...
I'm getting ready to remodel my bathroom and figured I would replace what
was placed in the exterior walls and called insullation back in 1957 (one
inch of fiberglass mat). I was looking at either the rigid pink foam or
styrofoam insulation. There is a big difference in price for 4x8 sheets
but only a difference in 2 R value. I've read what I could and still
don't understand what a difference of 2 R would make. Can someone explain
or point me to a site where in REALLY simple terms I can find out what an
"R" really is?
R is resistance to heat transmission. R20 isn't all that much different
than R18. R4 is very different than R2.

mgarvie wrote:
I'm getting ready to remodel my bathroom and figured I would replace
what was placed in the exterior walls and called insullation back in
1957 (one inch of fiberglass mat). I was looking at either the rigid
pink foam or styrofoam insulation. There is a big difference in
price for 4x8 sheets but only a difference in 2 R value. I've read
what I could and still don't understand what a difference of 2 R
would make. Can someone explain or point me to a site where in
REALLY simple terms I can find out what an "R" really is?

You say you want to "replace" what was "in the exterior walls?" I don't
think you want rigid foam if you are replacing it. Now if you are adding to
it by making the walls thicker, that is a different matter.

I would avoid Styrofoam. Get that stuff hot as in a fire and it is very
very nasty. You also will be required to take certain precautions to meet
building code if you use it. I don't know how much better the pink is but
it has to be better.

Assuming you are adding it, where are you adding it (interior surface or
exterior)? Have you considered the problems associated with making walls
thicker? Window trim electrical outlets etc.?

Assuming you are replacing what is there, I would assume you are then
removing a wall surface and I would choose professionally applied foam in
place or roll fiberglass.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message

I would avoid Styrofoam. Get that stuff hot as in a fire and it is
very very nasty. You also will be required to take certain precautions to
meet building code if you use it. I don't know how much better the pink
is but it has to be better.

The products of combustion a soot, water, carbon dioxide. No worse that
what an oil burner puts out. As for special precautions, it only has to be
covered with sheetrock. The foam is a modified material that will not burn
unless there is another source of ignition.

Houses are being built with eps foam on both the outside and inside. Take a
look at www.polysteel.com or www.integraspec.com Very energy efficient,
very quit, extremely strong.

R value is the fraction of heat that would be transferred compared to air.
So R-19 (6" of fiberglass) would transmit 1/19 as much heat as 6" of air. R
values are used since they can be added to calculate the R value when
insulation is combined. Example put R-19 fiberglass on top of R-11
fiberglass in an attic would give R-30.

"mgarvie" wrote in message
m...
I'm getting ready to remodel my bathroom and figured I would replace what
was placed in the exterior walls and called insullation back in 1957 (one
inch of fiberglass mat). I was looking at either the rigid pink foam or
styrofoam insulation. There is a big difference in price for 4x8 sheets
but only a difference in 2 R value. I've read what I could and still
don't understand what a difference of 2 R would make. Can someone explain
or point me to a site where in REALLY simple terms I can find out what an
"R" really is?

Jeff wrote:

R value is the fraction of heat that would be transferred compared to air.
So R-19 (6" of fiberglass) would transmit 1/19 as much heat as 6" of air.

Incorrect. Still air is a better insulator than fiberglass, per inch.
Fiberglass keeps air still and blocks radiation.

R values are used since they can be added to calculate the R value when
insulation is combined. Example put R-19 fiberglass on top of R-11
fiberglass in an attic would give R-30.

Correct.

"mgarvie" wrote:

... I was looking at either the rigid pink foam or styrofoam insulation.

Same stuff, no? R5 per inch for pink or blue or green closed-cell foamboard
with a smooth skin, and R4 per inch for the weaker white open-cell coffee
cup material with a rough skin.

There is a big difference in price for 4x8 sheets but only a difference
in 2 R value.

Perhaps you are looking at 2" pink R10 vs R8 white sheets... 2" foil-faced
polyisocyanurate boards are better insulators, roughly R14 for the board
plus R3 for each foil, if it has air on both sides.

I've read what I could and still don't understand what a difference of
2 R would make. Can someone explain or point me to a site where in
REALLY simple terms I can find out what an "R" really is?

Heatflow is like electrical flow. Ohm's law says a 2 ohm resistor with
12 volts across it will have 6 amps flowing through it. Ohm's law for
heatflow says 1 square foot of R2 wall with a 12 F temperature difference
across it will have 6 Btu/h of heat flowing through it. A 10 square foot
R2 wall will have 60 Btu/h flowing through it. A 20 square foot R2 wall
will have 120, and so on.

An 8'x32' R16 wall has a thermal conductance (U = 1/R) of 8'x32'/R16
= 16 Btu/h-F. If it's 70 F inside and 30 F outside, (70F-30F)x16Btu/h-F
= 640 Btu/h (about 200 watts of heat power) will flow through it.

A 2'x3' U0.25 (R4) window has a conductance of 2'x3'xU0.25 = 1.5 Btu/h-F.
If it's 60 indoors and 40 outdoors, (60-40)1.5 = 30 Btu/h of heat flows
out the window. Cover the inside with 2" R20 foamboard, and the resistance
becomes R4+R20 = R24, so it only loses (60-40)2'x3'/R24 = 5 Btu/h.

A gallon of oil contains about 140,000 Btu... 100 cubic feet of natural
gas has 100,000 Btu, also known as a therm... 1 kWh of electrical energy
is equivalent to 3412 Btu... 1 kW of electrical power is 3412 Btu/h.

Nick