ASTEC is an excellent means of preventing solar radiation from being absorbed into a surface. However, most of the overheating of vehicle interiors occurs from sunlight through side windows, with only a fraction of the heat gain occurring through the roof. ASTEC would reduce the heat gain but the effect would not be as effective as tinting the windows would be.

Radiant Barrier is a material that is a poor re-transmitter of infrared waves (radiant energy). By definition, this re-transmission characteristic (emissivity) must be at or below 10%. The emissivity of Reflectix? products is approximately 3%. Therefore, when a Radiant Barrier is installed in a residential attic, it "blocks" 90% + of the radiant energy that is being radiated by the hot roofing materials.

From a scientific point of view, the formulae used to calculate heat transfer by conduction and radiation are as follows: effective conductive heat barrier (insulating against heat transfer by conduction) reduces the heat transfer by copnduction by providing thermal resistance (R-value). This is where mass insulation such as fiberglass wool. polystyrene, etc. come into play. The main drawback to conductive insulation relates to thickness. The thicker the better.

Savings of up to 15% off your air conditioning usage are typical. This can be a larger number if you have ducts mounted in your attic space.

Ventilation is not required, but it is extremely helpful when addressing convective heat transfer. If an attic system has a mass insulation, (such as fiberglass), a Radiant Barrier and a ridge vent, it has addressed all three types of heat flow; conductive, convective and radiant.

Define dry film thickness, theoretical coverage, and solids by volume, solids by weight, in relationship to ProTek Products.

Most heat is radiant heat. Solar heat is one and heat radiated from a hot surface or body (heat escaping from a car engine, for example) is another. Conducted heat is heat absorbed by a substrate or surface and allowed to travel through the substrate or surface. The heat felt when touching a cup of hot coffee is an example.

No. Products with R-values reduce rates of "conductive" heat transfer and are tested for this characteristic. Radiant Barriers provide benefit by dramatically reducing "radiant" heat transfer which is just as quantifiable but not related to R-value type performance.

During cold winter days in the northern hemisphere, heat will tend to travel from inside the building towards the colder outside (ambient) air. Although ASTEC has a very low k-value (which indicates a high R-value), its thickness will not be enough to act as a conductive insulator for heat transfers through the ceiling and through the roof towards the outside air.

Reflectix is the Industry Leader! We manufacture the highest quality, most extensively-tested, readily-available, foil-based insulation and radiant barriers in the United States. With Reflectix? products, there is no middleman. We are the manufacturer and we operate with a quality management system certified to ISO 9001:2000. Our testing regiment is second to none.

Dust only comes into play when the product is installed in blanket fashion on the floor of the attic. Dust should be removed periodically for the product to maintain its effectiveness. Installations with the product on the roof deck or underside of the rafter require no maintenance.

Reflectix? has a Class A/Class 1 Fire Rating on the Foil/Scrim/Foil Radiant Barrier meeting all fire and smoke safety requirements of federal, state and local building codes. (Satisfies UL 723, NFPA 255 and UBC 42-1.) Company Profile | About Reflective Technology | Applications & Products | Literature | News | Contact Us

Not very effective. Fiberglass, foam and cellulose slows down various forms of heat but have very low reflective ratings and very high emissive ratings. This makes them particularly poor insulators against radiant heat.

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With radiant heat, the temperatures the floor temperatures tend to be stable and low. These are favorable conditions for wide pine floors. It is best to use material that has low humidity from the beginning. Probably not, if the building will be energy efficient. While heat will tend to rise, you are asking one floor to do the work of two and you may want to over design the first floor.