How Does Attic Radiant Barrier Work

The perforations insure that moisture emitting from the house will not condense below the membrane.

How does attic radiant barrier work.

It is meant to supplement insulation not replace it. This is typically done when you purchase a new roof or when the house is being built. A radiant barrier can lower heat transfer from attics to the building below keep the attic space cooler and lower cooling costs by up to 17 in warmer climates. Does attic radiant barrier work.

By reducing the amount of radiant heat reaching the insulation in your attic the insulation remains cooler and is able to keep your home more comfortable. However there is a highly reflective perforated radiant barrier specifically designed and tested on cold climates. If the radiant barrier was not there the sun would heat the roofing materials and the heat transfer would occur into the air of the attic. Unlike fiberglass or cellulose insulation radiant barriers do little to prevent the conduction of heat or cold through the air and have no r value.

A radiant barrier works best when it is perpendicular to the radiant energy striking it. Find out whether it s worth the money to install a radiant barrier in your attic. Also the greater the temperature difference between the sides of the radiant barrier material the greater the benefits a radiant barrier can offer. Radiant barriers work by reducing the heat absorbed by solid surfaces through reflective insulation systems.

Installing 19 inches of batt insulation or 22 of blown in is the single most cost effective way to reduce your heating and cooling costs. A radiant barrier is designed to increase the effectiveness of your thermal envelope. This thin reflective material is designed to bounce the sun s heat away from your home instead of allowing your attic to absorb the heat and pass it into your home. In essence the foil barrier reduces convection into the attic from roofing materials that are heated by the sun.

A radiant barrier reduces the radiant heat transfer from the underside of the roof to the other surfaces in the attic. The answer is that there are other things you can do that would be more effective in terms of energy efficiency. Department of energy the radiant barrier s ability to lower heat transfer keeps attic spaces cooler by up to 30 degrees which can help curb energy costs. A radiant barrier will be installed as a way to prevent your home from absorbing radiant heat in the environment causing it to reduce the amount of heat in your home as a result.

Unlike traditional thick layers of insulation radiant barrier is a thin reflective material. Radiant barriers can trap moisture in your attic because they don t have any way to regulate the moisture. According to the u s. Radiant barriers work by reflecting the heat coming through your roof on sunny summer days.