Radiant Barrier Insulation
Insulating a metal barndominium home kit works a bit differently than insulating buildings made from other materials such as wood/cement or stucco. To understand this further, let’s go over some basic theories.
Metal conducts temperature, that’s why you use a metal frying pan to cook with. To prohibit this transfer of temperature through the metal one needs to use radiant barrier insulation. Regular insulation (R value only) does not stop this transfer of temperature and you’re not accomplishing anything by using it without a radiant barrier.
The radiant barrier insulation we use is ¼ inch thick fiberglass core with one layer of 99% aluminum on one side and the other side is durable white scrim-reinforced facing material—this is the side that goes to the inside of your building, the side you’ll see when inside. The foil side goes to the outside (between exterior panels and frame) and will reflect 97% of the energy striking it.
As well as being EFFECTIVE, there are other advantages:
- Superior Fire Rating—meets all requirements for reflective insulation as required by 2000 International Building Code (IBC)
- Ease of Installation—lightweight rolls
- Bird & Rodent Resistant
- Appearance—Interior scrim side is off-white and gives the interior walls a clean, pleasant look.
Installing insulation in your Absolute Steel building is simple—watch the video!
Interior Fiberglass Insulation
One option that many of our customers use is the traditional rolled fiberglass insulation. In the project below, the barndominium is framed on the interior like a traditional construction house. With this, the builder can use rolled insulation (as well as run electrical and plumbing) like normal.
Wood interior frame before insulation installed.
Same barndominium with rolled fiberglass
Interior Spray-in Insulation
Another interior insulation option is spray foam insulation. In this case, the insulation was used between the steel frame members of the barndominium kit.
In addition to the spray foam, it would be very feasible to add a second layer of insulation by adding rolled fiberglass insulation (see below). This would be great for locations with extreme hot or cold conditions.
