Radiant Barrier Installation In Attic For Cooling Cost Reduction
Radiant Barrier Installation In Attic For Cooling Cost Reduction A radiant barrier is one of those building products that sounds almost too simple to work: a thin reflective sheet, usually aluminum foil bonded to a kraft or polyethylene backing, stapled to the underside of the rafters in an attic. Yet in the right climate, with the right installation, it can cut the radiant heat striking your insulation by up to 97 percent and trim summer cooling bills by 5 to 15 percent. The technology was originally developed for the Apollo program to manage spacecraft thermal loads, and it migrated into residential construction through Oak Ridge National Laboratory research in the 1980s. Today, radiant barriers are standard in many new homes across the Sun Belt and increasingly popular as a retrofit upgrade for older houses in Texas, Florida, California, and the desert Southwest. This guide walks through how the product works, when it makes sense, how to install it correctly, and how to avoid...
