How to choose a heater for walls inside the house
Have you ever thought about saving on heating your home? If the answer is yes, then you are probably the owner of an old building, which is heated not only from the inside, but also from the outside. Such houses can lose up to 50 percent of the useful energy spent on their heating, and this, you see, is a considerable amount.
In this article we will talk about heaters for the exterior walls of the house, and we will reveal the secret of significant savings on heat carriers.
The content of the article
What you need to know about insulation
Owners of newly built houses rarely encounter such a problem. The thing is that their homes have already been built using the latest materials and modern technologies. But the residents of the old foundation should not despair, the technology of warming the outer walls of houses allows solving the problem with saving energy, even if through holes began to appear in the walls.
The main thing is to choose the right insulation, but this is just not an easy task. The modern construction market is littered with all kinds of materials, and each manufacturer praises precisely its products, and claims that it has no equal and is universal.
In fact, this is far from the case, there is no universal insulation, since there is such a factor as the heat calculation of the outer wall of a residential building, and when choosing it is necessary to start from it. In addition, in order for the external thermal insulation of the walls of the house to turn out to be high-quality and reliable, you need to clearly know what requirements are imposed on the material (seeWe choose materials for wall insulation from the outside).
So let's try to figure out what characteristics a high-quality insulation should have:
- Degree of thermal insulation. Of course, the most important factor that does not always depend on the total thickness of the material. Some heaters, with a relatively small size, are able to retain heat much more than others. This is due to the density and reflective qualities, due to which the effect of a thermos is created.
- Ease. Weight is of great importance, especially for old houses built from fragile materials, or on a weak foundation. High-quality insulation should not create an additional load, but at the same time, it is necessary that it does not lose quality as well.
- Price. Of course, you should not chase the cheapest materials, as a rule, this means that they are of poor quality, but it does not make sense to overpay. Often, the value is formed due to the brand’s eminence, that is, we pay not for the material itself, but for its name. It is important to find the very middle ground here, and in fact, it is not as simple as it seems.
- Resistance to temperature changes. Temperature changes affect the facade both from the inside and the outside, therefore it is so important that the insulation does not lose its shape and does not deform under this influence.
- Durability. Some heaters, over time, lose their insulating qualities and simply stop working. In this case, there is only one way out - to completely change the facade, and this is very expensive and time-consuming.
- Vapor permeability. Due to constant temperature changes, condensate constantly accumulates under the insulation layer, and it needs to be able to evaporate, otherwise, it is likely to form mold, which can not only harm health, but also spoil the decoration and building materials of the walls.
- Moisture resistant. Insulators for the walls of the house outside are constantly exposed to natural influences, and moisture is a threat to many materials, therefore it is so important that the water permeability rate is the highest.
These are far from all selection criteria that should be based on, but this is quite enough to make the right choice.
Conventionally, the technology of warming the exterior walls of a house can be divided into two categories:
- Dry application method.
- Wet application method.
You will understand which one to choose by the end of the article, since it largely depends on the characteristics of your home and the climatic conditions of the region.
Immediately, we note that our article is not an instruction for the installation of heaters of different brands. We will simply tell you how to properly insulate the walls of the outside of the house so that the savings of coolants become noticeable already in the first heating season.
Dry insulation
As the name implies, this is the insulation of walls outside the house in a dry way, that is, this is a professional generalization of all types of heat insulation of the solid fraction.
The assortment of such materials is very wide, so we list the most basic and popular ones:
- Mineral wool. A soft insulation that does not cause an allergic reaction, unlike its predecessor, is glass wool. Mineral wool is one of the most popular and inexpensive heaters, which is used everywhere today (see.How is insulation of walls outside with mineral wool).
- Cotton wool basalt. One of the types of mineral wool, characterized by a high degree of thermal insulation and resistance to extremely high temperatures. Basalt cotton wool is most often used for sealing furnaces and chimneys, that is, those places where there is constant contact with high temperatures, and no other material can withstand them.
- Styrofoam. Everyone is familiar with this material, but today, thanks to modern production technologies, he completely changed his technical characteristics (seeHow is warming the walls with foam yourself) Firstly, flame retardants appeared in its composition, which prevented fire, and secondly, harmful formaldehydes were excluded from the composition, so modern foam can be used not only as insulation for the walls of the house outside, but also for internal work.
- Penoplex. A new generation of styrene based insulation. Unlike foam, it has a higher density, due to which it is possible to significantly reduce the thickness of the material while fully preserving the quality characteristics.
All of the above materials can be used as insulation for the walls of the house outside under siding. They are mounted directly on the wall, between the guides of the battens, and are finally fixed with a facade finish.
Important! Non-combustible foam has a special marking PSB-S, where the last letter means the presence of flame retardants. This material not only does not burn on its own, and prevents the spread of fire. The secret of this effect in the special composition of the foam, which under the influence of high temperatures and decay into components, simply passes into carbon dioxide, which, as you know, is able to extinguish an open flame.
I would also like to talk about penoplex. This is a truly unique material, the insulation of the walls of a private house outside of which can reduce heating costs by several times.
The technology of its production is similar to how polystyrene is made, but the polystyrene foam produces a fraction of a much smaller size, due to which the density increases and the heat transfer characteristics increase. Another characteristic feature of the foam is the presence of special grooves on the edges, due to which the plates are connected to each other, and create a solid monolithic coating without cold bridges.
Penoplex is attached to the wall using special glue, or plastic dowels with wide caps, and it is recommended that the joints be treated with mounting foam for better thermal insulation.And before moving on to the next section of the article, I would like to say a few words about the installation.
Some useful tips
In principle, it is possible to make insulation of the outer wall of the house using any of the listed materials, with your own hands.
There is nothing complicated or specific here, but in order for the decoration to last for many years, here are some small secrets:
- Before you insulate the walls of the house outside, they must be carefully prepared. Soil and impregnate deeply with penetration that inhibits the formation of mold.
- The more fastening dowels will stand, the more reliable the coating will be. Over time, the facade begins to deform, and with it the insulation, so it is so important to pay special attention to their fixation.
- Mineral wool needs to be attached to the facade especially carefully, since it has the ability to accumulate moisture, and over time it can simply sag. Something similar happens with synthetic jackets after washing, and if you have encountered such a problem, then you probably know that nothing is impossible to fix.
- If there is a need to cut the foam plastic plate to size, be sure to treat the cut-off site with special impregnation, since later, in this place, moisture will begin to penetrate into the structure of the insulation, and it will simply lose its quality.
Well, that’s all that we wanted to say, which means it’s time to move on to the next category of insulation materials for outdoor use.
Wet insulation
Dealing with how to insulate the outer wall of the house, many prefer the wet method. This largely depends on its relatively low price, since any materials, which will be discussed below, will cost even cheaper than mineral wool.
Moreover, wet insulation is also a decoration at the same time, which means lower costs and facade materials.
Important! Insulation of the walls of the house with an external wet method is only possible if there are already insulators from the inside, but they are simply not enough. Wet method is not a complete isolation, and serves only as an addition.
Warming paint
For many, this material has become a real find. Over time, some solid heaters lose their original qualities.
This can happen for many reasons:
- Incorrect operation.
- Incorrect initial installation.
- Counterfeit materials.
- Deterioration of the walls of the house.
In any case, once having noticed that the cost of heating the house has begun to increase, this is a signal that the insulation materials are worthless. In this case, insulation paint is an ideal solution. Of course, it cannot replace mineral wool or polystyrene, but it will serve as a good addition and protection, thanks to which it will be possible to inexpensively extend the life of the facade.
There are no problems with this paint, it is easy to apply, as well as other coatings, but before you insulate the wall of the house from the outside, it must be thoroughly cleaned of the old coating. This will protect the paint from cracking and extend its life.
Insulating plaster
Difference warm plaster from simple in that it contains small stone chips, which creates a reflective and warming effect.
Typically, such a plaster is used as an auxiliary insulation applied to solid insulators such as polystyrene or foam. The use of plaster with a reflection effect, allows you to install heaters of much smaller thickness, and, accordingly, cost.
As for the application method, it does not differ from how the cement mixture is installed, and a thicker consistency also allows you to create various effects, such as a bark beetle or a fur coat.That is, in fact, the insulating plaster is both an insulator and a finishing facade material, which, of course, is very convenient and beneficial.
Advice! Using both plaster and heat-insulating paint, try to give preference to one manufacturer. This will ensure maximum adhesion of materials, and extend their service life.
Penoizol
The more familiar name for this material is polyurethane foam. With its help, windows and doors are installed, and the same is closed joints and cracks in places where it is necessary to remove the cold bridges.
The main and most significant drawback of penoizole is that, unlike the other materials described above, it cannot be applied alone, since for this, in addition to experience and special knowledge, expensive equipment will be required. We will not describe in detail the principles of working with penoizol, and just suggest you watch the video in this article, which shows and talks about the insulation of the outer wall of a private house using this material.
For our part, we want to note that this is the most effective and reliable way of insulation. Foam does not lose its qualities over time, and thanks to the method of application, there are completely no bridges of cold on it.
Well, that’s probably all, now you know how to properly insulate the outer wall of the house, and you can proceed not only to the choice of materials, but also to their installation, and if there are any difficulties with this, then on our site you will find a lot useful information that will surely help you.
Now everything is so expensive that durability is really one of the important selection criteria. And then if you dig, then one after another the vapor permeability, moisture resistance, etc. everything is as described and will ensure durability. Thanks for the tips!