Comparison of the Thermal Properties of Different Insulating Materials

Abstract

Currently thermal insulating of the buildings is sorely needed from the point of view of energy as well as money savings. It is important to highlight that the most commonly used insulation materials in the building sector are the expanded polystyrene (EPS), the extruded polystyrene (XPS) and the fibrous (mineral, rock) ones. In this communication we confront 6 different insulating materials slabs (EPS 30, 100, 150, 200, a yellow XPS and a mineral wool by their thermal properties. Therefore two types of hypothetic building structures were created and they were insulated with the above presented materials from 0.01 m to 0.3 m thicknesses. For the calculations the thermal conductivity of each sample was determined using a Holometrix 2000 (HLS) heat flow meter. As a result their heat transfer coefficients, delaying abilities, energy storing capabilities and thermal diffusion coefficients were confronted. Besides a material constant had been defined and was paired with the measured thermal conductivity.