Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - insulating paint

Has anyone tried insulating paint? I ran across a product called Insuladd on th eweb claiming that you can reduce your utility bills by up to 40%. I neverheard of thestuff and you can not buy it locally as far as I know.

If insulated paint could save 40% every one would know about it, older home owners would use it where there is no insulation in the walls. My house needs repainting if it worked I'd use it. It sounds like a scam or unproven product.

Insuladd is a radiant heat paint. There are 3 types of heat transfer, conduction, convection and radiant. It's true that all 3 play a role as far as heat loss is concerned but the dominant heat transfer mechanism when heating a home is diffusion, which is conduction. This is why insulation plays such a large role when heating is a concern. That's because insulation deals with diffusion. Radiant heat transfer plays a role with heat loss when heating a home, but is minor is comparison to diffusion. This is not true when cooling a home because the dominant heat transfer mechanism in cooling is radiant.

Assuming that your home is not insulated and if you were to insulate the attic and the walls, an average case senario would be a 1/3rd reduction in your heating bill. A radiant barrier such as Insuladd is claiming that its saving exceeds that of insulation when the heat transfer mechanism they're dealing with is not dominant.

Perhaps this company was claiming this concening cooling and heating savings. Even then this is a far stretch. In my opinion, you will never see a 40% reduction in your energy bills as a result of installing this product. It does not mean that it does not possess some value to you. More so in cooling than in heating your home.

Wow so technical, but Thanks Resercon. It's food for thought.

I did try this paint in our newly acquired cape style house. We painted first, so I have no baseline. We used the paint on the interior. I wonder if that would tend to lessen or negate its radiant barrier properties, as far as outside heat. Anyway, the house has been not bad on heating, but the second floor was quite warm during that hot spell we had. I have yet to insulate around the second floor (almost got that durn attic hatch unjammed), so I am hoping that will help. One thought, because I used the paint on the interior, its radiant barrier properties may be reflecting the heat back in during the heating season. I know, sounds a bit nutty, but it seems like that might be happening. Here's hoping with more insulation and maybe an attic exhaust fan, the insuladd will add the extra touch of comfort during a hot summer.

Anyway, insuladd claims the equivilant of R-5, and with the low shipping from Al Abruzzi (not to shill, but the shipping was quite good), it struck me as cost effective for walls, versus having (much better, much more expensive) insulation blown in. that's my experince so far.
Ed

Thanks for the info. I am still not sure whether or not to use the paint. The exterior needs to be done real soon. So if there is anyone else out there that has knowledge of this product, I'd be glad to hear from you.