Superinsulating Aerogels May beHomeInsulation of Tomorrow

[LongTomH]

I got this from a post on Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy website. Phil linked to an article on the Popular Science website. Yeah, I know - the usual rule is, the more popular a mag is, the less you can rely on the science content; but, this is interesting.

The news is, that silica aerogel, the wonder material that NASA used on the Stardust comet mission is coming down in price to the point where it may be available for home insulation use, and it's a fantastic insulator. The article says it's about four times as efficient than fiberglass or foam. Quoting Dr. Peter Tsou of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot.

According to the PopSci article:

Even after the price drop, aerogels remain more expensive than common insulating materials. But since aerogels are more plastic than fiberglass or foam, permeable to water vapor, and flameproof, the extra cost may well be worth the investment when insulating masonry, shingles, or curved surfaces. Plus, since they're so light and efficient, aerogels reduce other building costs as well.

They might have added, with energy costs increasing, the aerogel insulation will pay for itself in a few years.

Edited to add: Here's the original article PopSci worked from:
http://ceramics.org/ceramictechtoday/materials-innovations/video-of-the-week-1-aerogel-insulation-hits-housing-market/

[midnight]

1. Maybe they can cut the price of areogels and have part styrofoam/areogel combination.

[Froward69]

2. SWEET!!! way cool

I have been hoping it's cost to come down, so I can do some insulating at a decent price. Then tell xcel "energy" Co. to go pound sand.

Imagine heating an entire structure with a pilot light? The cost would (for me) be $20 a month with -30f temps outside...

oh and help the environment. (I am a capitalist ya know.)

[TheMadMonk]

3. And what do you plan to breathe?

Heating with a candle is pure hyperbole. An ideal windowless "house", insulated on all sides (incl. top and bottom) AND with no exchange of air with the outside might possibly achieve this level of thermal efficiency. Anything in the real world will not even begin to come close.

Past a certain point, the limiting factor will be necessary air exchange with the outside world. Aerogels would simply allow us to achieve the same result in less physical space, with less weight.

[LongTomH]

5. For a really efficient, superinsulated house...............

............you'll need a heat exchanger or equivalent device to vent it. Most superinsulated homes already include heat exchangers.

[nilram]

6. A problem already solved

A "passive house" is a super-insulated, airtight house that reduces the energy required for heating and cooling to nothing. They have fantastic heat exchangers that bring in outside air while preserving the interior heat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house

[Froward69]

7. I have a cat...

and any cat owner knows I would be opening the door at least ten times a day (as I do now.) not to mention a complete exchange of fresh air waiting for the cat to actually come inside. /:sarcasm:
on edit/
as a licensed contractor, I know it is IMPOSSIBLE to completely make a house airtight. no matter what insulation is used. not only that but the air I and my cat exhale is easily returned to oxygen by the jungle of plant life I have growing in here.

[FBaggins]

4. Wouldn't that be great?

I suspect that the candle statement is wild hyperbole (there are parts of a home that can't possibly be insulated this way and they would leak far more than a candles-worth), but it would be wonderful to even come close.

I'll likely be finishing my attic space in a couple years... I volunteer to test the stuff. I won't even charge them a fee. :)