Talk:List of insulation materials

R-values "per inch"

While R-values "per inch" are common in the U.S., the table doesn't make much sense for SI units because in this table it's RSI per 25.4 mm. A better way to display the information is by conductivity, which is per unit length. If we want to maintain this as a list of R-values then each material should specify the thickness and density. Elfstrom (talk) 23:46, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

I agree. I even would go further and say there should be a separate column for SI units. Demoting international values to parenthetical additions is very USA-centric. — Sebastian 22:49, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

the SI per inch is just ridiculous. Since no one is fixing it, it should just be deleted. Bradrh (talk) 22:52, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Conversion

I undid the conversion of December 2010, because it wasn't correct (the previous attempt to convert in dec 2010 multiplied all numbers by 25.4 it seems, the correct conversion would divide by 0.0254. Hence, if you then multiply by an inch (0.0254) you get the value per inch...

The problem with a mass conversion is that many of those numbers have already been converted from R-numbers, and many of the R-numbers have no verifiable source. I will add a third column of numbers that have a source in SI units and that can be used as a base for converting all other numbers. Any figures derived from the R-numbers ought to be marked as such. Henk.muller (talk) 08:26, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Add

Papercrete Tabby (talk) 14:34, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Sheep's Wool, currently trying to find some RSI and R-value numbers. Sheep's wool is being promoted as new insulation material for homes. Frdp (talk) 21:12, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

Hempcrete and Hemp fiber insulation are being promoted as sustainable building materials. Anon (talk) 21:12, 18 October 2023 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.2.11.59 (talk)

Resistivity/conductivity

Perhaps this could be combined/cross-referenced with http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/List_of_thermal_conductivities —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.74.252.144 (talk) 10:11, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

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Origin of table content

This table appears to have its origin in the article on building insulation. The earliest version I'm able to reach (16:06, 8 September 2006) presented a list of R-values in US units only. The only value referenced was that for straw bales, accompanied by this reference. The figures were accompanied by the following text.

The FTC's R-value Rule generally prohibits calculating R-value per inch of thickness. (16 C.F.R. 460.20.) The FTC explained the reason for this prohibition: Since the record demonstrates that R-values are not linear, advertisements, labels, and other promotional materials that express a product's thermal resistance in terms of R-value per inch deceive customers. The FTC further explained that references to the R-value for a one-inch thickness of the material will encourage consumers to think that it is appropriate to multiply this figure by the desired number of inches, as though R-value per inch were constant. (44 Fed Reg. at 50,224 (27 August 1979).)

All values are approximations, based on the average of the values listed on dozens of websites. If I saw wildly different values, then I took the lowest and highest values and expressed the R-value here as a range somewhere between them. For a more-official list, refer to one of these websites with duplicate R-value tables: [1] [2] [3]

Furthermore, comparisons per inch of thickness are mostly relevant for conductive and convective heat transfer -- not radiant heat transfer -- but some of the materials listed below are designed to prevent radiant heat transfer.

Materials such as natural rock, dirt, sod, adobe, and concrete have poor thermal conductivity (R-value typically less than 1), but work well for thermal mass applications because of their high specific heat.

The RSI-per-inch column, introduced in this article (revision as of 06:11, 5 April 2010), uses figures apparently derived from the first column. (The third column is independently sourced.) Pololei (talk) 17:49, 31 May 2016 (UTC)