Foil Insulation

How does Foil Insulation work?

Foil or reflective insulation works by taking advantage of aluminum foil and adjacent air space’s high reflectivity and low emissivity properties to create a radiant heat barrier within your home and reduce the radiant heat transfer between outside and inside.

But, very simply put: The sun (radiant heat) beats down on your home and heats your roof tin or tiles, which then start to emit radiant heat into your attic space. The air in your attic space heats up, and eventually, the ceiling of your living space heats up, and the heat then passes into your living space.

Aluminum foil only emits (releases) about 5% or less of the radiant heat that strikes its surface. So when installed next to air space, it will reduce the transfer of radiant heat by up to 97%, thus reducing the heat build-up in your attic space and into your home.

Air Space is vital. Without an air space on one side of reflective foil insulation, the product will have absolutely no insulating value.

Suppose reflective insulation is in contact with other elements of the building. In that case, it will merely transmit the heat energy that strikes it to the other building elements by conduction, so the correct installation of reflective insulation is of paramount importance to its effectiveness.