Selecting the best Roofing Insulation for your home is essential. Most South Africans are aware of the new SANS-building legislation. In fact, for most homeowners, their home is their most significant investment. As a result of this legislation, all new homes must comply with the latest legislation.

However, many homeowners and some officials are still confused about this. So, how do you select the best roofing insulation for your home? Ideally, all insulation materials should be Non-Combustible; however, this is not the case now. 

Three Major factors should be taken into account when insulating your home.

Firstly, the Fire Rating of the insulation material is essential. Ask yourself if the Roof Insulation you want to install in your home is safe for hospitals, schools, and public areas.

Secondly, the R-value of any insulation installed on your roof is essential. The R-value requirements are 3.70 Upwards.

Thirdly, the lifespan of the Roofing Insulation is essential. Insulation should not collapse with time and must not have water absorption problems.

The picture on the right shows the heat loss areas of the home. As one can see, the highest areas of loss via heat gain are via the roof space.

How to Select the Best Roofing Insulation for Your Home or Building

Notably, one must consider several factors. Let’s have a look at these factors.

Required Fire Rating Of Insulation for Roofs

Insulation in Hospitals, Schools, and shopping malls must be Non-Combustible. Aerolite and Ecose insulation are safe to install in these buildings. We must also insulate Entertainment and public Assembly points with Non-Combustible Roofing Insulation.

Places of detention and hotels and dormitories must be insulated with Non-Combustible Roofing Insulation.

Homes CAN are insulated with thermal Insulation and classified as combustible, typically found in cellulose. Insulation polyester insulation products.

Because of the fire rating and insulation benefits, the legislation specifies that all high-traffic areas, such as Shopping Malls, Hospitals, etc., must be insulated with Non-Combustible Insulation materials.

Types Of Roof Insulation Available In South Africa

Most importantly, Tipsasa must test all roofing insulation materials in South Africa to check fire ratings and R-values. Most homeowners know the legislation, so be careful when selecting.

Ecose Thermal Insulation For Roofs

Imported from Germany Ecose Insulation is a Formaldehyde Free insulation. As a result the Ecose thermal insulation is one of the few insulation materials for roofs that is safe to all including Hospitals and Schools Etc. Formaldehyde free means their is no cancer potential in the binder of the insulation. In fact, Ecose is manufactured from volcanic rock and naturally occurring silica sand.

Aerolite Insulation For Roofs

Aerolite with Ecose above are the only Thermal Insulation products that are regarded as the safest products available for schools Hospitals and high traffic areas like Shopping Malls.

It is arguably one of the largest insulation manufacturing plants in the world, Isover St Gobain, and it manufactures insulation in many countries, including South Africa.

As it was called in the past, modern-day Aerolite Insulation (Think Pink ) is regarded as one of the home’s safest and best Roof Insulation products.

Therefore, Aerolite is now one of the few non-combustible ceiling insulation products. The modern-day Aerolite has a 30 to 50-year lifespan.

More than 70 years of evolving as new technology developed in making Aerolite the brand it now is considering that Aerolite is the oldest brand in the world. The modern-day Aerolite is produced with the new TEL FIberizing technology. It increases the insulation performance and lifespan, improving the indoor temperature in summer and winter.

In the early days, many insulation products even contained Asbestos. As we all know, Asbestos is now illegal in all homes and buildings, including Roof Sheets.

• Isover St Gobain celebrates 350 years in 2o15. It is the largest insulation manufacturer in the world by far, with manufacturing plants in 64 countries.
• More than 180,000 employees Worldwide.
• In South Africa, Isover employs 1361 employees.

A far cry from the old Think Pink manufactured in South Africa by Acoustical Fiberglass Insulation.

Polyester Insulation For Roofs

There are several Polyester Insulation manufacturers in South Africa. Most Polyester Insulation plants are medium size plants.

However, the British non-woven plant that manufactures isotherm insulation is often the size of the far smaller factories that manufacture polyester insulation.

Polyester insulation is manufactured from recycled PET plastic bottles. Unfortunately, the Polyester Insulation materials are rated COMBUSTIBLE with a BB 1/2 FIRE RATING.

Polyester insulation products may not be installed in Hospitals and Shopping malls. However, Isotherm can be installed in homes.

Isotherm Insulation is by far the most consistent of the polyester insulation products on the SA market. As a result, Isotherm is the only polyester insulation with a SANS-compliant insulation product for all regions.

As mentioned earlier, the only drawback of all polyester insulation materials is the Combustible fire rating.

Insulation For Drywalling

For drywall partitioning, we recommend installing either CavityBatt or Cavitylite insulation.

Cellulose Insulation For Roofs

Cellulose Insulation is a relatively new insulation material. It is manufactured from recycled newsprint, including all the inks, dyes, and approximately 25% chemical compounds.

Unfortunately, because this dust-like cocktail is pumped into the roof, it would be a favourite for rats, etc. Chemicals include fire retardants and rat repellents to create a reasonably safe environment.

Cellulose Insulation is regarded as COMBUSTIBLE, with a BB 1/2 FIRE RATING. Therefore, unlike Aerolite and Ecose, it may not be installed in hospitals, schools, or shopping centres.

Pitfalls of Cellulose include water absorption. If you have a roof leak, it can become a disaster as the inevitable ceiling collapse will result. Hopefully, no family members are below at this time.

Added to this is the Wind factor in the Cape. When we remove the Cellulose with our industrial vacuum trailers, we often find large quantities of the Insulation have shifted with the wind to the opposite side of the home.

One of our products is glass wool pumped-in insulation. However, we would not install this insulation again as the wind factor will also affect the insulation’s shifting over time.

Factors To Consider When  You Select Roofing Insulation For Your Home

Fire rating is the first factor to consider. Most homeowners lean toward the safety of the AA 1/1 Fire ratings of the Ecose Insulation and the Aerolite insulation.

Install the best roofing insulation you can afford. The proper Insulation will reduce the need for heating and cooling. As a result, Insulation is expected to be installed with SANS-compliant Insulation.

Ensure all wires are laid above the Insulation installed on your roof wherever possible. From safety insulation, this is very important.

All downlights must have a slight breathing hole, even with the class A1 Non Combustible insulation. However, with the BB 1/2 Fire ratings and BB 1/2 fire ratings, these breathing holes should ideally be a little bigger for home safety.

It is not ideal to fit downlight cones over downlights as they can melt into the wiring, as we often see in homes when we remove the Cellulose.

If you have Insulation installed that will absorb water, be aware of the effects of Insulation paper dust.

Wind in the roof space does not affect roll-form insulation, so the Insulation will not shift.

The lifespan of home insulation is essential.