It’s completely understandable that you would be concerned about your wireless signals being blocked by your insulation. But, the thing you have to understand is that SuperFOIL isn’t going to seriously get in the way of the signals you’ve come to rely on at home; and we’re happy to explain why…

The Root of the Problem

It might be best to start with an explanation of where this concern came from, just in case you’re wondering why people are even worried about their insulation blocking signals in the first place.

What it comes down to is the reflective nature of SuperFOIL – let’s explain…

Heat can be transmitted via conduction, convection, AND radiation, but of those the hardest to effectively stop is thermal radiation, aka Infrared. Hot things give out a lot of this radiation – it’s one of the main ways you can feel heat coming off a fire, for example – but that presents a problem for insulation: it’s really hard to stop heat moving like this.

However, that’s where reflective insulation comes in. Similarly to how mirrors reflect light – another kind of radiation – the highly reflective surface of SuperFOIL products works to not just block, but actively reflect thermal radiation away. This is a huge help in keeping your home temperate – but it’s also where the idea of this signal strength “issue” begins.

Wireless signals are just another kind of radiation – that’s what makes them wireless. Because of that, it might seem like insulation good enough to block thermal radiation would also block these wireless signals. The bottom line, however, is that your wireless signals aren’t going to be messed up by reflective insulation. In fact, your Wi-Fi might even be better off, but we’ll get back to that later…

Your Signals are Safe

So, why are we so sure that your signals aren’t going to be blocked by multifoil insulation?

Well, aside from the experiences of our team members with SuperFOIL installed in their own homes, it comes down to a simple fact. Regardless of anything else – you are never going to completely, perfectly cover your home with SuperFOIL insulation.

Windows, doors, and other openings in your home mean that – even if SuperFOIL blocked 100% of wireless signals; which it doesn’t – wireless signals would still be able to enter your home reliably. It simply isn’t possible to even mostly block those signals, let alone keep them out of your home entirely, even if you wanted to.

Think of it this way, if reflective insulation could completely block radiation like this, then it should do the same for thermal radiation too. So, if you need more than your body heat to keep your home warm, you know that your signals won’t be blocked off either.

Of course, having SuperFOIL between you and the source of a signal will slightly weaken it, but that is true of any material – and particularly insulation products, both reflective and otherwise. However, the key word here is slightly.
The impact on signal strength is minor, and is generally determined by the frequency of those signals, since that tends to determine how well they can pass through most materials – even reflective ones. This is clearest to see in phones that operate at higher frequencies – generally those with 4G and 5G – which won’t have any issues at all.

And Maybe Even Better Off…

Far and away, the internet is the wireless signal type that people rely on most commonly – which is fantastic since your Wi-Fi is even better off.

As we’ve already mentioned, the wireless internet connection in your home is actually produced directly from your Wi-Fi router, shot out in all directions like a fountain. But why does this mean that your internet is better off?

It’s simple. Any amount of signal that would be reflected by the surface of your SuperFOIL would be sent back into your home, rather than kept away. What this means is that your Wi-Fi strength is at zero risk of being reduced by reflective insulation like SuperFOIL – and might actually end up stronger given that some of that Wi-Fi would be reflected back into your home, rather than escaping through walls!

Sidestepping the Issue

If you aren’t quite convinced that reflective insulation isn’t going to be a problem for your wireless signals, we thought that you might also like to know that you can actually sidestep the issue entirely, too.

In fact, it’s pretty simple to do…

You see, since the “risk” of multifoils weakening your signal strength is entirely due to their reflective properties, the core of the issue goes away entirely if these signals are originating within your home in the first place.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to make that happen. In fact, there are a few cases where this is already the case…

Wi-Fi routers are easily the most common example of this. Acting as a wellspring of Wi-Fi, they send wireless signals out in all directions, thus allowing your devices to connect to the internet. The crucial point is that your devices are wirelessly communicating with the device itself, which in turn is connected to the internet via a direct wire connection.

In short, Wi-Fi signals don’t need to cross the boundaries of your home at all!

What’s more, there is no real reason not to do the same thing for other wireless signals. In fact, there are plenty of devices that do exactly that. From landline phones to cable TV to placing antennas outside of your home, utilising wired connections is as simple as using the right device.

And if you aren’t interested in purely wired connections, then there are plenty of devices – such as powerline adapters – that are dedicated to boosting wireless signal strength; or even to directly creating those signals within your home.

Ultimately, this means that there are a plethora of options to address your signal woes: from direct connections to booster devices, you can choose what will suit your needs best.

Considering Giving SuperFOIL a Go?

If you’re thinking about investing in some SuperFOIL yourself, but want a little more information, then you should get in touch with our technical team.

Whether you want to learn more about the reflective properties of SuperFOIL, want some advice about the best product for your build-up, or just want some general insight into our products, our brilliant tech experts would be more than happy to help you out.

Just call 01636 639900 – or send an email to [email protected] – to find out what we can do for you!