Radiant Barriers
Dazzle Your Checkbook with a Radiant Barrier.
We know what you’re thinking: just what is a Radiant Barrier?
It’s a layer of aluminum placed in an air space to block radiant heat transfer between a heat-radiating surface, such as a hot roof, and a heat-absorbing surface, such as conventional attic insulation. They’ll add comfort to your home and cost efficiency to the process of cooling it in the summer and heating it in the winter.
Figure 1 illustrates the locations in which a radiant barrier may be installed in an attic. Only locations 1 and 2 are recommended for radiant barriers because dust will accumulate on the barrier if installed at location 3. Other types of barriers and multi-layer products are acceptable for location 3. We know it can get a little technical, but CTHandiMan can explain it all in ways you’ll easily understand.
World’s Most Efficient Attic Insulation… PERIOD!
If you live in a cold climate and really want to impact your heating bills, make your home warmer in the winter, and make it cooler in the summer, then consider installing CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System.
Benefits of the CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System:
- Multiple layers are effective even when covered in dust (attics are dusty)
- Keeps heat in during winter, out during the summer
- Lifetime performance warranty (more than 20 years of installations)
- Never need to add more insulation again
- Easy to install (video instructions)
Millions of reflective metalized film pieces stack on top of each other, which is very effective at limiting the flow of heat. Think of a blown-in Thermos bottle — that’s how it works. Unlike most radiant barriers, which are only one layer and susceptible to degradation of performance over time from dust, CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System have a lifetime performance warranty. We can back this up because we’ve been installing them for more than 20 years.
If you are considering adding more insulation to save energy, you owe it to yourself to read this page first. Reductions in heating bills are 25% to more than 40%, and result in an immediate difference in how your home feels.
Use this product in low-pitched or hard-to-access attics or areas. The chips can be blown from the machine up to eight feet away. For conventionally framed attics that are easily accessible (in hot/humid climates only), we suggest using our latest product, Thermal Control Membrane, a sheet type product that is rolled out over your existing insulation.
Your home during the summer
CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System is being installed. The higher that energy costs rise, the higher the return on your investment.
Your home CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System.
COST
First of all, our Radiant Chip System doesn’t “cost” — it pays! This is an investment that will offer you a minimum of a 25% reduction on energy costs and becomes more valuable as energy costs rise. Secondly and more importantly, what is a more comfortable house worth to you?
Millions of Radiant Barrier Chips change the direction of heat very effectively with layers of highly reflective surfaces. Time-tested and proven in all climates. The only radiant barrier patented to be protected against dust and has a lifetime performance warranty.
CTHandiman.com Radiant Barrier Chip System retains heat in winter.
Radiant Barrier Chips keep heat in and helps prevent ice dams. It makes drafty rooms feel toasty warm.
TCM stapled in the crawl space has been proven to instantly change the way a home feels in cold seasons.
If you are considering placing a radiant barrier in your attic, ask the manufacturer if they offer a lifetime, transferable performance warranty.
Radiant Chip System is blown over your existing insulation.
Before
After
If you currently have blown-in fiberglass or bats of fiberglass in your attic, it is recommended that a 2″ cap of blown-in cellulose insulation be installed prior to our Barrier Chip System. The cellulose allows for a more level surface and better performance from our Radiant Barrier Chip System.
People will read that dust will degrade the performance radiant barrier in my attic.”
That’s true; dust is highly absorptive and has high emissivity. This means that infrared heat can actually be collected instead of reflected once the top layer gets dusty. Since most radiant barriers come in roll form, there is no protection against dust.
CTHandiman.com Radiant Chip System is blown in so there are eight to ten layers of metalized surfaces facing each other, each separated by airspace. Dust will collect on the top surface but these surfaces are sacrificial to the layers below. This is the basis of the patent on the Radiant Barrier Chip System . . . it is dust proof.
Since the purpose of a radiant barrier is to reflect heat, it stands to reason that the more reflective the surface, the better it will perform. Also, testing has shown multiple layers of reflective surfaces work much better than one.
Fact is, dust is the Achilles’ heel of all radiant barrier products only having a single membrane. A true radiant barrier, as invented by Sir James Dewar at the turn of the century, is two highly reflective surfaces facing each other with airspace or a vacuum in between. Our products are designed this way. Our membranes are not laminated. Laminating a reflective surface to anything reduces the performance by conductivity.
Three years of dust on a perforated radiant barrier.
The radiant barrier you see here was once very reflective. If you look closely, you can still see how reflective it was where the flash hit. This is because it’s vertical and dust did not settle on it. The long thin line at the far end of the attic is the Radiant Barrier Chip System going up the gable wall a few inches, reflecting light. Light and heat move together at the same speed. The camera easily picked up the once-reflective Radiant Barrier Chip System from the darkest and farthest point from the lens. Infrared heat is the same.
Our Radiant Barrier Chip System has been proven to overcome the dust problem as can be seen below.
Fact: Dust is the Achilles’ heel of the radiant barrier
Here is a picture of the Radiant Barrier Chip System installed in the attic of a home in September 1991. What you see here is more than 15 years of dust accumulation and no reflectivity left to change the direction of infrared heat from the roof decking. If this was only one layer, it would absorb more infrared heat than reflect it.
Look at the tip of the ball point pen. Still reflective and just like a mirror after more than 15 years of being in a dusty attic. Lifting up just the first layer of the Radiant Barrier Chip System shows that the second layer, just below it, is still as reflective as the day it was installed. Going deeper would be cleaner yet. This clearly shows why investing in our Radiant Barrier Chip System, even though more costly, is a sound investment that will last forever. Before you purchase any radiant barrier, do some research, ask for a sample, and ask how it’s to be installed. Our products offer a lifetime performance warranty. Invest in your home.
The multiple layers of Thermal Control Membrane addresses the dust issue if you are building a new home or remodeling. Make sure this product finds its way into your home. With rising energy costs, nothing else makes $ence.
INFRARED PICTURES! See how heat moves and the effects of dust. Click here facts about dust and radiant barrier.
Testing of Dust on Radiant Barriers
Here is information regarding the negative effects of dust on radiant barriers. The following tests were not performed by a government agency, approved testing facility, or NASA. A 24″ square infrared heating panel was used as a background source of heat with an emissivity of .95 and a measured surface temperature ranging between 192f to 210f. Temperatures shown in the images below were taken with a Raytek IR surface reader and IR images using Cincinnati calibrated infrared camera. Recorded using a Sony PC-105 dv. Draw your own conclusions from the information presented below.
Controlled conditions surrounding this test:
Inside dry bulb air temperature: Maintained at 86F + – 1.5F
Emissivity of inside surfaces of test cell: .95
Surface temperature of cell: (sheet rock) 80F
Camera distance: 17′
Lens: 36mm
Shown here is a foil/paper/foil laminate removed from an attic. The clean and reflective sides clearly indicate where the overlapping pieces protected the surface below because it still reflective. The 12 years of dust in the center is what this test is focused on.
Where Should CTHandiman.com Radiant Barrier Chips Be Installed?
Fact: There is more bad information about radiant barriers than there is good.
Fact: Many sites are outdated. (The #1 hit site on Google was last updated June 27, 2001.)
Fact: Radiant barriers are not rated using the R-factor.
Fact: Radiant barrier was not invented by NASA. It was invented by Sir James Dewar, a Scottish physicist who invented the Thermos bottle, among other things, at the turn of the century.
Fact: Lowering the emissivity of a surface (which is one aspect of a radiant barrier) can have negative consequences, such as making your home use more power and become more uncomfortable if placed in the wrong area.
(Note: The information on this page only applies to buildings in hot climates.)
Under the Roof Decking
- This application has absolutely no benefit during the winter, despite how mild your winters are. Would it not make sense to purchase and install a product to control heat gain and heat loss? This way your investment pays off all year and increases comfort all year.
- Lowering the emissivity of a roof decking the attic with silver paint, laminated foil, or stapling a radiant barrier up under the roof decking raises the temperature of the surface above it. That’s just basic physics and common sense. If radiant heat is restricted from emitting from a surface (as in the bottom of your roof decking, a chrome car bumper, or a chrome socket in your toolbox), heated by the sun, where does this heat go? With lower emissivity, it’s going to increase the roof temperature and have to radiate back out. One problem: the sun is beating on it at the same time. Is that going make your roof hotter? Of course it is. Is this going to extend the life of your roofing system? (shingles or on tile roofs, the underlayment?). I’m not going to leave myself open telling you my experiences, so let me tell you what the largest shingle manufacturer told me during a recent phone call: (question) “Yes, I have a question. Will installing a radiant barrier under the roof affect the warranty of your product?” (answer) “Our 25-year warranty covers manufacturers’ defects.” When pressed for an answer regarding the installation of a radiant barrier and elevated roof temperatures, I was again told: “Our warranty only covers manufacturers’ defects; that’s all I’m going to say. Goodbye.” It seems I’m not the only one afraid to touch on this topic, so that leaves you on your own to decide if increasing the roof temperature is going to lessen the life of the roofing system by making it hotter and drying it out. Really a problem with concrete tile roofs that rely on a thin piece of bitumen based (tar), felt (paper), to keep the ceiling dry. Think twice before spraying paint under your roof, buying foil-backed OSB, or stapling a reflective membrane up under the roof deck.
- If increasing the roof deck temperature when lowering the emissivity under the roof increases roof temperature, how is this going to affect the air in the attic that is in direct contact with this hotter roof? It stands to reason that if the roof deck is hotter, the attic air is going to get hotter from the increased convective air movement from the hotter roof deck. If the air in the attic is getting hotter via convection from the hotter roof, won’t this in turn make the insulation hotter and the ducting in the attic hotter? Hotter than a house without the Radiant Barrier System on the bottom of roof deck? Basic physics and the laws of thermodynamics guarantees it will and the graph below illustrates it. Note: This is not true in flat roof homes, only in homes with a pitched roof. In flat roof homes, installing a radiant barrier under the deck is a perfect application.
- Next question: If the attic insulation gets hotter with the radiant barrier than an attic with bare wood, what happens when the sun goes down and the roof cools off? What is this superheated insulation now facing? A radiant barrier. A radiant barrier which now effectively holds the heat in the attic for hours after the sun goes down. (Again, see the graph below). We would rather see the Radiant Barrier System right above the insulation, keeping heat out during the summer and heat in during the winter, with multiple layers to ensure a lifetime of performance. This also does not affect roof temperature because the emissivity of the roof has stayed the same. Covering the ducting in the attic with the Radiant Barrier System is also another significant energy-conservation method. Note: Installing a radiant barrier in the attic must also be accompanied with increasing the attic ventilation. The combination of a radiant barrier and increased attic venting will have a significant impact on energy use and home comfort.
Before you spend your energy conservation dollars on anything, especially a radiant barrier product, do some research, follow the logical path, and ask a lot of questions. Specifically, ask for a lifetime performance warranty and compare samples.
Radiant Barrier System Placement in the Attic is Very Important
In the summer of 1993, an Arizona electric utility began testing the performance of three types of Radiant Barrier Systems in three different placements in four identical unoccupied homes. One home was a control house with no Radiant Barrier System. Data collection included time, temperature, and measurement of power usage. All power was shut off in these homes except for the heat pump. The results of this testing brought to light some interesting data, as shown below. Our product, the Radiant Barrier Chip System, is outlined in green.
The graph above illustrates some interesting points: Depending on the climate in which your home is located, Radiant Barrier System placement is critical not only to performance, but to prevent damaging condensation problems within your walls and insulation.
Under the Roof Decking
Placing a radiant barrier directly under the roof decking as illustrated here raises the attic temperature (and energy consumption) between 2pm and 8pm. The reason is simple: when the inside roof deck surface emissivity is lowered from .95 (bare wood) to a lower value, the result is a hotter substrate, hence the logic behind the radiant barrier. This is a perfect application for a flat or nearly flat roof deck. The reason is because the increased temperature of the roof deck will not create convective movement since the roof is not pitched. The steeper the roof, the more convection there will be, which in turn heats up the attic insulation and, once the sun goes down, the elevated attic insulation is now facing the radiant barrier on the bottom of the roof. Again, this only applies to pitched roofs. Spraying a roof silver underneath the roof deck or using a plywood decking product with a radiant barrier laminated to it as can be seen here is an improper installation, especially if the attic is vented to standard venting code.
Solution: In hot climates, our Thermal Control Membrane product is best. The CTHANDIMAN, INC RADIANT BARRIER CHIP SYSTEM is perfect for cold climates where moisture egress is a consideration.
Thermal Control Membrane installed between the trusses in the attic.
The CTHANDIMAN, INC. RADIANT BARRIER CHIP SYSTEM is the most efficient attic insulation in the world… PERIOD.
This is the logic behind the Radiant Barrier Chip System and our TCM product. Dust will settle on the top layer and is sacrificial to the layers below. The Radiant Barrier Chip System and TCM have a lifetime, transferable performance warranty. The Radiant Barrier Chip System is the only recognized radiant barrier for reducing heat loss in the winter. Years of applications have proven the associated problems with blanket or sheet type radiant barriers, such as moisture condensation, mold growth, and ice formation, which have been overcome by the Radiant Barrier Chip System. Why? Because moisture can easily egress through the many layers of the Radiant Barrier Chip System.
Be sure to ask about a performance warranty before purchasing radiant barriers. Contact us if you are a custom home builder, remodeler, or a home owner looking to “do it right the first time.”
“Isn’t installing radiant barrier in an attic difficult?” It is if you are stapling it up to the rafters (not recommended for optimum performance). However, blowing millions of reflective 1″ square chips from our 4-lb. blower is simple and allows for better coverage. It’s also fun to watch! Another benefit of the Radiant Barrier Chip System being on top of the insulation and not stapled up to the rafters is the reduction of heat loss during the winter. The Radiant Barrier Chip System is the only radiant barrier that has sufficient permeation to allow the migration of moisture in cold climates without causing condensation problems. Some of our strongest testimonials come from cold weather users.
The CTHANDIMAN, INC RADIANT BARRIER CIPS SYSTEM is costly.” The age old adage of “you get what you pay for” really applies here. In most applications of radiant barrier in sheet form, there are 2000 square feet of radiant barrier in a 2000 square foot attic. There are 20,000 square feet of Radiant Barrier Chip System material in a 2000 square foot area due to the multiple layers being approximately 10 layers deep. This redundancy is the basis for the higher performance, dust protection, and trapped air spaces.
Further, metalized film is slow and expensive to manufacture, especially when both sides of the product are coated. This is the same product NASA uses in space to protect astronauts and equipment.
Think of this investment like this: The better it performs, the better your investment year after year. And as energy prices go up, so does the return on your investment.
