Wall Insulation

[maglite]

Hello All,

I have searched the site and havent had much success.
I am planning to insulate the walls of our new renovation and have no idea what is considered the best in terms of both noise and thermal insulation, or is it more a case of 1 or the other.
The polyester seems ok but from what im aware fibreglass is cheaper and the possible health effects from fibres ect are neglible if the batts are happily ensconced behind cladding and not disturbed.
Is this correct?

Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Steve

[Barry_White]

Hi Steve (Maglite)

Fibreglass is fine when it is enclosed within the wall. When insulating you should have a vapour barrier on the inside such as foil under the plaster to stop condensation and you should use a perforated foil on the outside over the insulation.

That is the ultimate but a lot of people don't use the foil.

If you want to get the best of both worlds of acoustic as well as thermal insulation it is best to use Rockwool insulation from Bradford Insulation as it is much denser.

[stephenmeddings]

you may like to do a search for insulation on http://www.csiro.au/ which may help or even have a talk to/look at CSIRO Enquires (http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=blank&id=enquiriesIndex).

Stephen

[Ben from Vic.]

Steve.

CSR have plaster that is designed to insulate for sound (and a whole range of other properties).

See here (http://www.gyprock.com.au/common/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=Gyprock&category%5Fname=Plasterboards)

I believe that any thing that reduces sound will also reduce heat (or vise versa).

[Barry_White]

Here is the link to Bradford Insulation on installing fibreglass or rockwool insulation.

http://www.bradfordinsulation.com.au/technical/specifications/bradford/Insulation_of_Framed_Walls.pdf

[Wildman]

For walls, I would go a reflective insulation way before bulk insulation. A product like foilboard or concertina foil batts are the way of the future, quick and easy to install, excellent in both summer and winter. The problem with bulk insulation in summer is that it heats up and takes ages to cool down again where reflective insulation doesnt store heat and doesnt transmit it either.
http://www.solartex.com.au/view_article.asp?id=1&cat=7

Dont know about noise though.
Cheers
Ben

[rsser]

The climate determines your insulation strategy.

If it's often hot, wildman is right - bulk insulation creates a heat bank and reflective foil is a better option.

I don't have the url but there's a good website on insulation and climate somewhere on vic.gov.au so do a google advanced search limited to this domain.