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The price of home insulation is interesting. When I went to Builders warehouse I got three different quotes for three different sizes of Aerolite. So I sat down at my desk and drew up an excel table to get the per metre price. 100mm Aerolite at Builders was going to cost me about R50 per square metre and the first Isotherm guy I called was going to install Isotherm at R60 per square metre. The second one I called from Pretoria was all installed at R53 per square. So I went ahead without checking the facts and for some reason I thought Isotherm was better, they quoted it as being better for the environment, better at soundproofing, but no-one was willing to commit to it being better at insulation. I realise now that no-one was willing to say so because Isotherm isn't better, but no-one would give me the factual answer that it wasn't better.
So, now I've googled it after the fact and apparently the best way to compare the effectiveness of Insulation is to look at it's R-Values. This is how they compare:
R-Values comparison
| Thickness | Aerolite | Isotherm |
|---|---|---|
| 50mm | 1.25 | 1.02 |
| 100mm | 2.5 | 2.04 |
| 135mm | 3.38 | 3.14 |
So it seems looking at the reason one buys Insulation Aerolite is still superior. They go into the whole up R value and down R value, but that is quite complicated to understand and the R-Values I have quoted here are supposed to be a combination of those two values.
Conclusion:
The reason you buy insulation is to insulate your home. Aerolite is clearly better at doing this. I am sure you can find cheaper ways of getting it installed for you than going to builders so I think Aerolite is the way to go.
A lot of people say they like to install Isotherm because it is easier to install, it's not so itchy. However this is a once off, the stuff will stay in your ceiling for many years and if it bothers you that much then pay someone to install it.
Written by Mark Robson
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