What Kinds of Insulation Are There?

If you’re new to insulation, it won’t take you long to notice the sheer number of options you have at your disposal for practically any project. 

It’s enough to overwhelm even seasoned insulation professionals, so it’s no surprise that you need a hand to filter through the dizzying number of potential products at your fingertips.

Fortunately, that’s exactly why we’ve taken the time to put this post together: as a place for you to start building up a solid foundation of understanding. 

After all, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to truly understand what they’re getting from their insulation, no matter which product you decide to use.

Foil Insulation

Foil insulation is designed to protect against thermal radiation, which is an element of heat loss that has been largely left unaddressed by the majority of traditional insulation products.

Designed to reflect radiant heat back toward its source, this innovative insulation type is an impressive step forward in our ability to provide comprehensive protection against all forms of heat transfer and maintain truly comfortable living spaces, year round.

Types of Foil Insulation:

• Radiant Barriers: Specifically designed to protect against thermal radiation, Radiant Barriers are extremely thin, often being made from a single layer of foil and measuring only millimetres in thickness. Radiation is an element of heat loss that is far too often ignored in traditional insulation solutions, making Radiant Barriers a powerful tool to boost the effectiveness of existing insulation solutions.
• Foil-Backed Insulation: A “traditional” insulation product (such as Mineral Wool or PIR Boards) with an integrated foil layer attached. In essence, this is meant to combine the benefits of a Radiant Barrier with the performance of a traditional insulation product.
• Multifoil Insulation: As the name suggests, multifoil insulation is made wih multiple layers of reflective foil, typically combined with several layers of insulating wadding. The result is that multifoil products combine the benefits of Radiant Barriers with the performance of more traditional insulation products, providing a truly innovative insulation solution.

Ideal Applications:

The real strength of most foil insulation products lies in their flexibility and verstaility.

With the exception of Foil-Backed Insulation Products the majority of foil insulation products are thin, lightweight, and flexible; making them ideal for use in a huge variety of applications.

These products are capable of providing a significant boost to the performance of insulation solutions for roofs, walls, floors, conservatories, and even in vehicles like campervans.

Fibre Insulation

Fibre insulation is perhaps the most traditional and widely recognised type on the market. It’s typically supplied in large, thick rolls (often called blankets or batts) or as more rigid slabs.

As with most “traditional” insulation solutions, it boosts insulation performance by resisting heat transfer via convection and conduction by trapping air within its fibrous structure.

Types of Fibre Insulation:

• Mineral Wool: This category includes Rock or Stone Wool, which is created by spinning molten rock into a fine, fibrous material.
• Fibreglass: Also known as Glass Wool, this is made by spinning molten glass into fibres.
• Natural Fibres: Often considered as a more sustainable alternative to traditional fibre insulation, the materials used to create “natural fibre insulation” include sheep’s wool, cotton, and even wood fibre.

Ideal Applications:

Thanks to its bulk, fibre insulation is most commonly used to fill large, open spaces like lofts and attic floors. It’s also frequently used in stud walls and between floor joists in new-build properties.

Foam Insulation

A plastic-based product that relies on the insulating properties of the gas bubbles trapped within its structure to resist the transfer of heat via conduction and convection. Foam insulation offers high levels of performance and is considered by many to be the “gold standard” for insulation performance.

Types of Foam Insulation:

• Rigid Foam Boards: These are dense, solid sheets of insulating foam materials, like PIR (Polyisocyanurate) or PUR (Polyurethane). By condensing these foam insulation materials into a solid board, this kind of insulation is able to provide exceptional performance in a form that is far more familiar to most construction professionals than their foam counterparts.
• Spray Foam: This is a liquid foam that is sprayed directly onto a surface and expands to fill the space before setting into a solid, rigid layer.

Ideal Applications:

Rigid foam boards are incredibly versatile and are often used to insulate floors, walls, and roofs.

Spray foam, on the other hand, is particularly useful for insulating complex or irregular spaces where cutting boards to fit would be difficult. However, it is also important to note that spray foam is often considered as problematic due to its potential impact on the mortgage value of properties where it is used.

Loose-Fill / Blown-In Insulation

Loose-fill insulation is exactly what it sounds like: a loose material made of small particles that can be blown into a space. This method allows for the insulation of enclosed or awkward areas without needing to carry out major structural work.

Types of Loose-Fill Insulation:

The material itself is often made from recycled substances.

Common examples include cellulose (made from recycled paper), granulated cork, or even small beads of fibre insulation (such as fibreglass or mineral wool).

Ideal Applications:

Blown-in insulation is primarily used to retroactively insulate existing, enclosed spaces. It’s ability to non-destructively boost the insulation of these spaces means that it is often seen as a go-to option for insulating cavity walls (and similarly enclosed spaces) in older homes.

However, the nature of this insulation type also makes it difficult to ensure an even application of insulation materials, which is why it’s essential to properly vet your installer when working with products like these.

Structural Insulation

Structural insulation refers to any type of insulation that is integrated directly into the structure of the building itself. Rather than being an addition, it’s a fundamental part of the walls or roof.

Types of Structural Insulation:

• Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs): These are prefabricated panels made with a core of rigid foam insulation sandwiched between two structural boards. These panels are then used to form the walls and roof of a building.
• Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs): These are hollow blocks or panels, usually made from expanded polystyrene foam, which are stacked to form the shape of the walls. Concrete is then poured into the hollow core, creating a highly insulated structural wall.
• Insulated Concrete Blocks: These are concrete blocks that are manufactured with insulation beads mixed in or with hollows that are filled with insulation.

Ideal Applications:

Because they are part of the building itself, these insulation types are almost exclusively used in new-build projects where their structural and thermal properties can be planned from the very beginning.

The structural nature of this type of insulation does, unfortunately, make it quite a niche option and generally inaccessible to anyone without the right skillset to use it.

Which Type is Right For You?

So, with so many potential options to choose from, you might find yourself wondering how you could possibly know which insulation type is right for you and your project.

Fortunately, you don’t have to figure that out on your own, because we’ve put together an entire post to cover that particular topic.

So, if you want learn how you can find out which type of insulation is right for you and your project, then it’s time to take the next step in your insulation education journey and take a look at our next post: “Which Insulation is the Best?”