Hi, I'm Ed Fritz, owner of AtticFoil.com and
in this video I'm going to explain why EVERY home in mixed or cold climates should install
a radiant barrier directly OVER the attic insulation. Bang-for-the-buck, it's one of the best Do-It-Yourself
projects you can do to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient. My goal is that after you watch this video
you will want to share this information with your friends and neighbors to help them too. I'm going to briefly explain how a radiant
barrier can make your home more comfortable and energy efficient, but the main purpose
of this video is to help people who live in mixed or cold climates understand how a radiant
barrier helps them. I'm also going to explain something that most
people (even people in the radiant barrier business don't fully understand) and that
is exactly HOW a radiant barrier, when installed over the attic insulation - the mechanics
of how it helps keep your home more comfortable and energy efficient when it gets colder and
the air temperature drops. Here's a hint: it's not so much from reducing
radiant heat loss - it's from the single biggest energy efficiency mistake we make when we
build homes. It's something we've been doing for over 50
years and I promise you, you're going to have an "AHA!" moment and understand WHY you need
to install a radiant barrier in your attic. First, let me briefly explain how radiant
barrier helps in the summer. The sun emits radiant heat, radiant heat travels
at the speed of light until it's absorbed by your roof. Then, that roof radiates heat across the attic. Radiant heat is heat transfer by non-contact. Basically, heat from one object transferring
to another object without the two ever touching. Here is an example: if you put your hand a
couple inches away from a hot iron, eventually your hand is going to get hot without the
two ever touching. This is radiant heat. Anything that gets hot will emit radiant heat;
different products absorb or reflect heat at different rates, this is called the reflectivity
of a product. The higher the reflectivity, the less radiant
heat it will absorb. Essentially the object will stay cooler. Most products absorb radiant heat, in fact,
most roofing products are great at absorbing radiant heat. A typical dark colored roof can easily reach
over 160 degrees on a hot summer day, once this happens, the roof starts emitting radiant
heat just like the iron. The next thing you know, the insulation - which
is supposed to keep the heat out - starts to heat up just like your hand near the iron. It's common for the top surface temp of the
attic insulation to reach over 125 degrees and this happens even in lower temps. For example, on a 70 degree day, the roof
might be 110 degrees, but the top of the insulation could be 100 degrees. This is why you often need to run your air
conditioner in the afternoon on days that are considered mild or moderate outside (maybe
in the 60-75 degree range). How do we keep the attic insulation cooler? Simple, by installing a radiant barrier directly
on top of the attic insulation. When you do this, radiant heat that's coming
off the roof is going to be reflected back. When you do that, the top surface temp is
going to be close to ambient (or the outside) temp. Now the air actually inside the attic may
be a little warmer, but what we're really worried about is that top surface temperature
- that's what drives the heat into the home. Pure aluminum has a reflectivity rating of
97% so it reflects virtually all the radiant heat. Only silver and gold reflect more, at 98%
and 99%. Want to try this yourself? Take a hot iron and put your hand a couple
inches away and see how long it takes before you've gotta pull it away from it getting
too hot. Then take a piece of either regular kitchen
foil, or get a free sample of AtticFoil, and put it between the hot iron and your hand. You should be able to keep your hand there
for as long as you want since the AtticFoil radiant barrier is reflecting 97% of the radiant
heat. Now, if you have an infrared thermometer,
try this with a piece of wood with and without a piece of foil between the iron and the wood. The wood should get hotter without the foil. This wood represents the wood on your attic
floor. Your attic is no different. Putting AtticFoil radiant barrier directly
on top of the attic insulation will make your insulation cooler, just like your hand. Less heat into the attic insulation means
your home will be more comfortable and energy efficient. Also, a lot of days in the spring and fall,
when you normally have to run your air conditioning in the afternoon, you'll notice that once
you install the radiant barrier you'll be able to go all day without turning the air
conditioner on. What about installing radiant barrier in cold
climates? Installing a radiant barrier directly over
your attic insulation will help some at reducing radiant heat loss. The problem, quite honestly, is that there
is not that much radiant heat loss to begin with. But, here's the big secret that most people
(people who even work in the insulation and radiant barrier business) just don't get:
radiant barrier helps by making your existing attic insulation even more effective. Let me explain. In a typical ventilated attic, you have the
roof, the attic space, then the attic insulation, then sheetrock above the living space. In a ventilated attic, you have the air entering
the soffits and leaving through the exhaust vents to help remove moisture and to keep
the roof cold to prevent ice damming. so basically the only thing between the warm
living space and the cold outside air in the attic is the layer of sheetrock and the layer
of insulation. This is a HUGE mistake that we have been making
when it comes to building energy efficient homes, and we've been doing it wrong for over
50 years! The problem is that historically energy has
been cheap and plentiful. Energy efficiency was not a top priority,
so this method works ok if you aren't really worried about your heating cost. It's stupid to just blow in insulation without
a top air barrier, but it's cheap, and it's fast and too often that's the driving force
(even today!) when it comes to building homes. And YOU'RE paying for it everyday, but you
can EASILY fix this problem! Before we get in to the details, you must
understand exactly how insulation is supposed to work. Insulation works by creating millions of little
dead air pockets. If you've ever heard the term R-value, this
is the measurement of how fast (or how slow) heat travels through insulation. However, the test is done in a sealed box
without ANY air movement, so the insulation maintains all of its dead air and keeps its
maximum R-value. Unfortunately, this is not how attic insulation
works in the real world in most attics. The biggest mistake we make in most attics
is that we just blow (or roll) the insulation out and forget the top air barrier. Air can go right through most insulation. Think about what would happen if you took
off the outer wind barrier on a jacket and walked outside on a cold, windy day - the
jacket would be almost worthless since the air can go right through the insulation layer! The same thing happens in an attic, it's called
convective looping and it doesn't even have to be windy to happen. Cold air is heavier and denser than warm air
so the cold air in your attic will fall through the insulation almost like you were pouring
water on it. The cold air settles to the bottom of the
insulation and displaces the warm air against the sheetrock. Since heat always travels from hot to cold,
the cycle of air movement and heat loss will continue AND the colder it gets, the more
air moves, making the problem even worse! How do we fix this problem of convective looping? Simple. Just like the jacket, we need to install an
outside AIR barrier on top of the attic insulation. When we do this, it's gonna stop the cold
air from falling through the insulation. Now, would a product like plastic sheeting
work? Yes, it would help stop the AIR movement,
however we need a product that won't trap the MOISTURE inside the insulation, moisture
that is trying to leave the house. This product is AtticFoil brand PERFORATED
radiant barrier foil. Simply install AtticFoil over your existing
attic insulation and AtticFoil radiant barrier will do it all! In the summer it's going to reflect the heat
to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient and in the winter it's going to
help retain radiant heat, but more importantly it's going to act as an air barrier to reduce
the convective air looping inside your attic insulation - effectively making your attic
insulation have a higher R-value. We have thousands of customers in cold or
mixed climates, in fact - it's the fastest growing part of our business and the one thing
that we consistently hear from customers is after they install AtticFoil directly over
their attic insulation, that the cold spots in their home seem to be significantly better. Some people say, "I'm not exactly sure what
it is, but my home just feels more comfortable after I installed the AtticFoil." Original AtticFoil is PERFORATED; that means
it has millions of tiny pinholes that allow moisture to pass through while still acting
as an excellent air barrier. AtticFoil will not trap moisture, so there's
no worries about the insulation getting damp or mold issues. Finally, if you live in an area with lots
of snow or ice, installing a radiant barrier will help keep the heat in the insulation
where it belongs. That means a colder roof and less risk of
ice damming. Did you have the "AHA!" moment? That's right - your attic insulation NEEDS
an air barrier on top. Installing AtticFoil radiant barrier is an
effective, low-cost method to save money and improve comfort. Whether you do it yourself, or hire someone,
you need to get it done! Plus, check with your local utility company,
many utility companies offer rebates for installing radiant barrier in order to reduce energy
usage. In fact, some of the rebates are MORE than
the actual cost of the material. So that's WHY you should install AtticFoil
radiant barrier in your attic. Now, check out the video on HOW to install
your attic radiant barrier. Plus I'll cover the most common questions
and concerns during installation. For more information visit the website: www.AtticFoil.com. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe
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