Effective R-Value

 

Understanding R-Value & Effective R-Value…

Understanding energy efficiency in your new home can be a daunting task. What is R-Value? What is Effective R-Value? And What R-Value means to you? Are all questions that we will discuss.

What is R-Value?

Simply put, R-Value is the resistance of heat transfer through the insulation. While R-Value is a simple way to rate insulation, R-Value does not take into account, convection (air movement, through and around the insulation medium) or radiation (Heat loss through the walls, roof and windows). R-Value only relates to the insulation materials rating.

Continuing with the example of fibreglass insulation, we see that once R-20 fibreglass insulation is installed into a wall system its R-Value now becomes irrelevant and we must now look at the “Effective R-Value.”

What is Effective R-Value?

Effective R-Value is the resistance of heat transfer, taking into account all of the wall’s material components as well as convective heat loss and radiant heat loss. Here we see in the case of a fibreglass insulated wall, the Effective R-Value would now be R-16 in a wood framed wall and even as low as R-7 in a steel studded wall. Effective R-Value is the number that you should be thinking about when considering your new home’s insulation.

What R-Value means to you?

In today’s world R-Value is translated directly to dollars. The higher the Effective R-Value in your home, the less you will pay to heat and maintain the heat in your new home for years to come. Working within your budget, Effective R-Value is and should be a major concern in the planning of your new home.

At Pacific Homes we have balanced both energy efficiency and material cost to create our Pacific SmartWall® Technology.

Have a look if you are as serious as we are about Effective R-Value.