Most homes in South Africa are not insulated; this includes newly built, up-market homes. With all the power cuts and the countries fairly evident power crisis insulating our homes will become even more important. As we speak, legislation is being drafted by the Mineral and Energy Department enforcing the use of insulation in homes.
The typical residential home consumes electricity as follows: water heating (geysers) 35%, food preparation 22%, space heating 18%, lighting 10%, space cooling 10% and other 5%. By adequately insulating your geyser and ceiling, you will be able to positively reduce your electricity bill.
Why Insulate?
Insulation will help maintain a uniform temperature throughout the house, keeping your house cool in summer, by preventing heat from entering you home and in winter it will keep your house warm, by not allowing the warmth in your home to escape. This will assist with reducing your heating and cooling cost. Insulation can also act as a sound absorber or barrier, keeping noise levels down. Insulation will also increase the value of your home when you decide to sell, as energy efficient homes are set to be in high demand.
R-Value
Heat flows naturally from warmer to cooler spaces. Insulation decreases the heat flow, by providing an effective resistance to the flow of heat. Insulation is rated in terms of thermal resistance, called R-value, which indicates the resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating effectiveness. The R-value of thermal insulation depends on the type of material, its thickness and density.
For South Africa, the recommendation is an R-Value of 3.2 for the roof and an R-Value of 1.7 for the walls.
Ingenious Insulation
Even if you are insulating later in your homes life, start with the main elements being roof insulation, geyser blanket and geyser pipe insulation. If you have a bigger budget then you could for example, replace all your windows with double glazed glass, and retro fit wall insulation. All this will be far less costly if you’re building a new home and insulation elements can be included in the plans.
Pipe and Geyser Insulation
Geyser insulation blankets will cut the electricity cost of running a geyser by half and only cost a few hundred rand. Once you have installed a blanket, you can also turn the geyser’s thermostat down to 60°C. The pipes leading from the geyser into the wall can also be insulated. There is a range of geyser blankets and pipe insulation available at hardware stores and specialist suppliers. If you’re building a new house, you can insulate all the pipes throughout the house, including the ones in the wall.
Types of Insulation and Installation
There are various types of insulation available on the market, but the main things to look for are R-value, non-combustibility, acoustic properties and durability. It is possible to add insulation to almost any house. You may be able to do the job yourself if the roof is accessible. Or, you may prefer to hire an insulation contractor. In either case, it is important to choose and install the insulation correctly.
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