R-30 Panel – Wanessa-Sue ?
JackofAllTrades777| Posted inEnergy Efficiency and Durabilityon
This manufacturer is claiming an R-30 panel and no thermal bridging. Looking at the design, the steel goes from exterior to interior, so this would be a thermal bridge. Anyone heard of or researched these panels?
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Replies
Peter,
The web site has all of the warning signs that can be found when a company is exaggerating about energy performance.
1. There is no link to a lab report with third-party testing of the product's R-value.
2.没有解释为什么这些电池板/form at R-5.45 per inch (as claimed) when the materials are EPS (usually R-4 per inch, although occasionally higher) and steel (a conductor, not an insulator).
3. The company uses the phrase "Effective R-value," a phrase which has no legal definition and is often a sign indicating "exaggerated claims ahead."
4. The company doesn't explain why the steel studs aren't acting as thermal bridges.
5. The web site doesn't know how to spell "thermal break," instead referring to a "thermal brake."
So, until the web site improves, I advise: Stay away from this company.
One more warning sign--the company name sounds like what you'll be asking yourself when you discover the high energy costs in your newly built building: "Wanna sue?"
I suspect the quotation marks around the R in '...EFFECTIVE "R" VALUE = 30...' indiecate that they mean something different than R30 continuous insulation. It's whole wall performance may be comparable to R30 insulation in 2 x 10 framing, at a 25% framing fraction, but even that might be a bit of a stretch.
Dana,
It's a marketer's dream!
1. "Effective R-value" has no legal definition, so it can mean whatever the marketers want it to mean (and readers are left in the dark).
2.As the company's lawyers will confirm, when you put quotation marks around something, you are speaking ironically -- so the company isn't really talking about R-value at all, just a number that isn't really R-value. Result: No FTC fines!
I got to see this system being put together here in Flagstaff, Arizona. At a glance, things look like they are thermally broken, but once you factor in the actual installation requirements there is steel thermal bridging everywhere. At the top and bottom of each panel, there is a steel C channel. That c channel connects the interior and exterior steel studs at every transition – bottom of wall, top of wall, intermediate floors, etc. In addition at every corner of the house, steel goes through the building assembly. The steel C channels range in size, with some with a 12 inch vertical leg. Quite the area to collect heat and move it through the assembly.
Flagstaff has pretty cold winters and I bet they will have condensation on the interior face of finishes. Everyone assumes it's a dry climate here, but I have seen mold and moisture issues in many of the wood frame structures I've worked on.
I can't wait to put an infrared camera on this project.