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Attic insulation

976 views 7 replies 8 participants last post by  BritishSlave 
#1 ·
I'm getting a neighbor to install some roll insulation in my attic. The area over the house has insulation, but the area over the garage does not.

He was telling me about a product sold my Sherwin Williams call "E-Barrier" a reflective coating for attic decking.

E-Barrier is an aluminum finish that is applied to the underside surface of roof decks.

How it works (from the brochure) - "In the winter a building's heat is escapes through the roof surface, but with the coating the heat is reflected back into the building reducing the loss of heat. In summer, a similar amount of radiant energy from the sun is reflected back reducing the pick up of heat in the building."

Does anyone have any experiece with this? I'm wondering in the summer if the "reflective" heat will damage the underside of the asphault shingles?

Thanks
Charlene
 
#2 · (Edited)
E-barrier is a reflective paint that you apply to the underside of your roof. When I bought my house last March, our inspector recommended just painting the area over the garage where there's no insulation. I applied the paint during the heat of the summer, and, after ample drying time, it was a full 10 degrees cooler inside my garage compared to before I applied the paint.

DO NOT try to use a brush or roller. It will take forever, and the paint just drips down off the roofing nails. I bought a Wagner power sprayer, and the job took 45 minutes to complete.

BEWARE...the E-barrier pain is EXPENSIVE. Sherwin Williams only sells it in 5 gallon buckets, and it costs somewhere between $150-200. If you did the whole underside of your roof, it would take you about 12-15 years to benefit from electricity costs.

I used about 2.5 gallons for the area above my garage, then I sold the rest to my brother.

BTW...it's just a latex based paint, so it won't do any damage to the underside of your roof. Another option I thought of was to go with the foil barrier, but you have to buy the 2-ply foil for it to be effective...1 sheet foil-1 sheet bubble wrap-1 sheet foil. When I priced this stuff, it would have turned out to be more expensive than the E-barrier paint. Also, with applying the foil, you have to worry about condensation forming between the foil and the underside of your roof, which could rot the ply wood. With the paint, you don't have to worry about condensation. I you go with the just 1 ply foil, once the foil gets dusty, it losses it's reflectivity.

If you need any more information, just shoot me a pm with your phone # and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
 
#6 ·
Does the barrier cause the roof shingles to get hotter since the heat intering has to go thru the shingles to get to the barrier and then it is reflected back out thru the shingles?

I was curious if this had an affect on shingle life.
 
#7 ·
Use the paint the foil is going to be very difficult to install in all parts of your attic.. Your garage should not have insulation, only insulate what is heated/cooled. The goal is to maintain your attic temp as close to the outside temp as possible by use of radiant barrier, ridge vent, turbines etc.... just my 2 cents
 
#8 ·
tboltmike said:
Does the barrier cause the roof shingles to get hotter since the heat intering has to go thru the shingles to get to the barrier and then it is reflected back out thru the shingles?

I was curious if this had an affect on shingle life.
No, the radiant barrier only prevents the heat from penetrating into the attic. The heat on the shingles remains the same as if no barrier.
 
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