The riddle of thin insulation

Why the debate exists

For years, thin reflective insulation and thick insulation were compared using methods designed for the latter. A product whose value lies in radiation is poorly measured by a protocol that describes conduction, and the controversy comes from there.

What a method designed for thickness measures

The passage of heat through matter. It correctly describes a wool or a board, whose main mode of action that is, and it accounts poorly for a product acting on another transfer path.

What has changed

The ISO 22097:2023 standard defines a method dedicated to reflective products. Having a shared protocol moves the debate from the ground of opinion to that of measurement, which was the condition for settling it.

What measurement still does not say

The quality of the fitting. A badly installed reflector, with no air gap or no continuity, gives a result unrelated to its measured value. No standard corrects careless work.

The right way to compare

By looking at the complete assembly and not the product alone. Two solutions are compared on what they do in a given configuration, with the same thickness available and the same conditions, which removes most false debates.

What each does best

Thickness works well in an accessible loft where there is room. The reflector works well in a closed plenum a few centimetres deep. Setting them against each other makes no sense, placing them correctly makes a great deal.

The comparison is developed on the thick and thin insulation page, and emissivity on the emissivity page.