Hey this is Ed with AtticFoil.com. In this video I'm gonna explain how installing
AtticFoil Radiant Barrier helps to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient
in colder climates. Now, if you've been doing some research on installing a radiant barrier,
you've probably seen all kinds of wild claims. Claims like, "You'll save 50% on your utility
bills!" all the way down to, "It's a scam, don't waste your money, it's not worth it."
The truth is, it's somewhere in between. You're not gonna save 50% but it's definitely gonna
help make your home more comfortable and energy efficient. In this video I want to explain
the science behind radiant barrier and how and why it works. Installing a radiant barrier
should be part of an overall strategy to make your home more efficient. Hopefully with this
information you can decide if installing a radiant barrier is right for your home. The
first thing to remember is that heat always travels from hot to cold. So in cold weather
it's the heat getting out, not the cold getting in. We call this heat loss. The key to energy
efficiency and comfort in cold weather is to reduce the amount of heat loss. Installing
a radiant barrier will help in two ways. First, by reducing heat loss in its radiant form
and second, by minimizing what's called "convective looping." Convective looping is the airflow
within your attic insulation that significantly reduces it's R-value. First, let me be very
clear: radiant barrier is NOT a substitute for traditional attic insulation. They'll
actually work TOGETHER to maximize the comfort and efficiency in your home. Regular insulation,
whether it be fiberglass or cellulose, works to reduce CONDUCTIVE heat loss, whereas a
radiant barrier reduces RADIANT heat loss. When you install AtticFoil Radiant Barrier
directly over your attic insulation, it's gonna work off two qualities: reflectivity
and emissivity. Reflectivity is the ability to literally bounce radiant heat back towards
where it came from; this is just like a mirror. Emissivity is the ability NOT to transfer
heat (stored energy) into it's radiant heat form. When you wrap a potato with foil to
keep it hot, it's working off its emissivity quality. So essentially your attic insulation
becomes like a big baked potato with the foil on top. Heat (energy) that is stored within
the insulation, does NOT want to transfer into the attic because of the emissivity quality
of the radiant barrier (foil). The second way installing AtticFoil reduces heat loss
is by minimizing convective looping within the insulation. What that means is that installing
a radiant barrier will help make your existing insulation even more efficient. Traditional
insulation works to reduce heat loss by slowing conductive heat flow - this is called R-value.
However, to maximize R-value, the air inside the insulation must be perfectly still, or
what we call "dead air." Think about how a wall is built. The air inside the wall is
pretty much dead, or still, air. The problem is your ceiling is just a wall turned sideways.
Unfortunately there is no air barrier on the top side. This allows air to flow into the
attic insulation and significantly reducing its effectiveness. If you were to take the
outer wind-layer off a jacket, it would have the same effect because now the air between
the two layers is no longer still, or trapped, or dead air. Here's how convective looping
works: in the attic, warm air near the ceiling rises and cold air, which is heavy and dense,
will fall through the insulation. This air movement can significantly reduce the R-value
of the attic insulation. The colder it gets, the more air movement. This is one reason
R-values DECREASE in colder temperatures. By installing AtticFoil on TOP of the insulation,
it helps act as an AIR barrier and will reduce the amount of air movement in the insulation
and help maintain the R-value. So when you install AtticFoil radiant barrier, you're
gonna achieve two things: first, reduce the amount of radiant heat LOSS and secondly,
reduce the amount of air movement within the insulation, which will cause it to be more
efficient. Installing Radiant Barrier AtticFoil is a great do-it-yourself project and you
can save hundreds or THOUSANDS of dollars by installing it yourself. Finally, don't
forget about the summer benefit of installing AtticFoil Radiant Barrier. Radiant heat that
would normally come off the roof and be absorbed by the attic insulation is now gonna be reflected
back. That means the insulation will stay cooler - that means less heat gain into your
home. Less heat gain means your air conditioner will run less, it'll save you money, AND your
home will be more comfortable in the summer. For more information, visit AtticFoil dot
com, your complete online source for Radiant Barrier Foil. }