What is an R-Value?

There are many ways to represent the effectiveness of an insulation product. R-Values are one of these, and could be considered the most useful measure for direct comparison between products because they take thickness into account.

“An R-Value, or Resistance-Value, is a measure of the thermal performance delivered by a specific thickness of a particular material or combination of materials. The higher the R-Value is, the better the thermal performance it delivers.”

Additional Details:

It is very important to remember that there is a significant difference between R-Values calculated using metric and imperial units.

In the UK and Europe, we use the metric system, where R-Values are measured in square metres Kelvin per watt (m2K/W). However, in other parts of the world, like the United States, they will measure R-Values using the imperial system, which results that look dramatically different, even though they are presenting the same information.

This is the exact same issue that you run into when comparing speed in miles per hour and kilometres per hour. They are measuring precisely the same thing, but because the units are different one number is substantially larger than the other, despite the fact that the actual performance of product is not different.

That is why you should always make sure you know which measurement system you are dealing with, and especially why you need to make sure you aren’t comparing one against the other.

Want to Find Out More?

If you’re interested in finding out more about R-Values and how they’re helping to keep homes warm; then you might be interested in checking out some of these posts…