Pumped Insulation...wool or bead...which is best?

TJGer

About to insulate the cavitys in a new house. The company doing it do both wool and bead. Just curious as to which one would be better. The cavity is 180mm in a concrete block house. Any advice is welcome!

sydthebeat

which wool system do they do?? is it a dry blow such as rockwool, or does it have a glue in it??

what bead system do they do?? eco-bead? polypearl?

sinnerboy

Ask the company to show you either
Irish Agreement Board Certification or
British Board of Agrement Certification

for the proposed systems . look for
Thermal conductivity - lower number the better ( 0.038 ish or lower )
Thermal Resistance - higher number the better
U Value - lower number the better ( 0.27 min or lower)

If they hesitate to show the certs ( or worse say "what's thah?" ) - forget about it , do not use them or their system

gman2k

I was speaking to a company recently who do both systems, and the operatives recommend using the beads for the cavity, and the wool for the attic.
The reason being that the wool tends to stick to the blockwork when being blown in, clogging up the cavity.
The beads tend to settle better in the cavity, and the 'glue' then holds it all together.
Check out nsai.ie for lists of companies and relevant certs.

On a side note: I'm building a timber frame at the moment, and I was thinking of insulating the cavity between the blockwork (rendered) and the timber frame with the bead system. Has anybody come across this?
The certs for the beads state that the 2 leaves should be min 75mm masony each - but this is for fire protection....

sydthebeat

gman2k wrote: »

I was speaking to a company recently who do both systems, and the operatives recommend using the beads for the cavity, and the wool for the attic.
The reason being that the wool tends to stick to the blockwork when being blown in, clogging up the cavity.
The beads tend to settle better in the cavity, and the 'glue' then holds it all together.
Check out nsai.ie for lists of companies and relevant certs.

On a side note: I'm building a timber frame at the moment, and I was thinking of insulating the cavity between the blockwork (rendered) and the timber frame with the bead system. Has anybody come across this?
The certs for the beads state that the 2 leaves should be min 75mm masony each - but this is for fire protection....

i would have though clogging up the cavity was the idea??? the wool is blown in at higher pressures than the beads in order to provide a more comprehensive fill.... i have seen the beas in place afetr pumping and i must admit i wasnt impressed... i havent seen the wool, though i have heard good reports from builders about it....

regarding the TF question, its generally a requirement of the IAB cert to retain the cavity between the TF and the blockwork fo rventilation purposes.... so i dont think that option is a runner.

Th emain way to increase insulative vaules in TFs is to increase the size of the timber frame...!!

TJGer

sydthebeat wrote: »

which wool system do they do?? is it a dry blow such as rockwool, or does it have a glue in it??

what bead system do they do?? eco-bead? polypearl?

It's dry blow. The bead is eco.

TJGer

sydthebeat wrote: »

which wool system do they do?? is it a dry blow such as rockwool, or does it have a glue in it??

what bead system do they do?? eco-bead? polypearl?

It's a dry blow wool and the bead is eco.
Thanks for the replies everybody.

RKQ

gman2k wrote: »

I'm building a timber frame at the moment, and I was thinking of insulating the cavity between the blockwork (rendered) and the timber frame with the bead system. Has anybody come across this?
The certs for the beads state that the 2 leaves should be min 75mm masony each - but this is for fire protection....

I agree with Sydthebeat.... the cavity is for ventilation, which is very important. I wouldn't fill the cavity!
I've heard nothing bad about the wool pumped in, between masonry. IMO the beads aren't as good.

bbam

Hi..
We had the eco beads pumped in and I must say I was impressed with the cavity fill.
I had voiced some concerns on getting cavity "full fill" as I had read issues about the beads not getting in everywhere but the guy guarenteed it would ...
I checked before paying up and found that the beads indeed went everywhere and set to form a good rigid structure in the wall...

We had omitted to leave a vent in the kitchen for the extractor fan and I had to core out a hole before the dry lining was done... Removed the inner leaf and there, set like a board was the bead..

I have spoken to a number of folks with this done as a retro upgrade and they are all happy..

Cheers
bam

NickTellis

bbam wrote: »

Hi..
We had the eco beads pumped in and I must say I was impressed with the cavity fill.
I had voiced some concerns on getting cavity "full fill" as I had read issues about the beads not getting in everywhere but the guy guarenteed it would ...
I checked before paying up and found that the beads indeed went everywhere and set to form a good rigid structure in the wall...

We had omitted to leave a vent in the kitchen for the extractor fan and I had to core out a hole before the dry lining was done... Removed the inner leaf and there, set like a board was the bead..

I have spoken to a number of folks with this done as a retro upgrade and they are all happy..

Cheers
bam

Anyone have any problems with damp ingress using either of these retrofit systems? I read somewhere that they shouldn't be used in areas exposed to driving rain (I live in Galway where driving rain is the norm). Anyone care to comment on this?

Retro-Fit

If you're having cavities pumped, ask the supplier/installer if they would agree to have it thermal imaged afterwards and they agree to fill any gaps. The blown rockwool is a good product in the roof on the flat provided you put approx 1.5 meter high ply sheet as a vent from the eaves, however as most people need to use their attics occasionally, (a sealed insulated trapdoor is critical) you would need to built a floor deck over this.

Villain

Has anyone used Rockwool's product blown into the Cavity of a new build, I was told you can pick from various denisty's and the U Value was dependant on what denisty you picked, anyone know anything about this?