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Insulation Boards that can help reduce your air conditioning and heating load and save electricity

By on April 22, 2016

We all like to live in the comfort of air conditioners or heaters, but most of us are also aware that these appliances significantly increase our electricity bills. Although there are multiple ways of reducing electricity bills due to air conditioning or heating but nothing can be better than having a good insulation in a room. A good insulation can even help you avoid using these appliances if the temperature in your room is comfortable enough. Through several of our previous articles we have highlighted the importance of insulation as we feel that it is one of the most neglected way of saving electricity. There are several materials that help in insulation and we got to know about one when we met representatives of a company Supreme Petrochem Ltd. that manufactures Extruded Polystyrene Thermal Insulation Boards.

What are Polystyrene Boards?

Polystyrene is a synthetic polymer made out of liquid petrochemical. A very common form of Polystyrene that we use is what we call “Thermocole”.  The technical name for “Thermocole” is Expanded Polystyrene (EPS). Although “Thermocole” can also be used for insulation but it has a lower insulation value (R-value) as compared to another form of polystyrene called Extruded Polystyrene (XPS). XPS is a lot more dense form of polystyrene that has very less air in it. Thus it is much more sturdy (stiff) as well as has a higher insulation value (or R-value) as compared to “Thermocole”. Even the surface of XPS is much smoother as compared to Thermocole. But it is as light as Thermocole.

How can Polystyrene Boards help?

RCC (or concrete) walls are great conductors of heat (source), which results in a good amount of heat flow from outside if a wall or roof/ceiling is exposed to sun. This happens quite a lot in summers, which increases electricity bills due to air conditioning quite a lot. But this heat can be avoided by using a thermal insulating material on the inside or the outside of the walls/ceiling. XPS boards are good thermal insulators that can stop the heat flow from outside into a room if put on the walls or ceiling. It can provide temperature reduction of about 5 oC if applied on walls/ceilings that face the sun directly. With the decrease in internal room temperature you may either completely avoid using air conditioners or even if you use them, the amount of electricity required to cool to a comfortable temperature will decrease significantly.

These boards are long lasting and the manufacturers claim that they provide excellent thermal insulation through out the lifetime of a building. They are easy to install as they are quite light-weight.

Installation options

  • For Ceilings: These boards can be installed either as a terrace floor (over the deck installation) or as a false ceiling (under the deck installation). Using these boards instead of POP false ceilings can help save electricity as well as help in giving the right looks to a room. It is also quite easy to fabricate and install. To make it look as per the room décor, wall putty and paint can be applied on it.
  • For Walls: The board can be installed either on interior or exterior of the walls without any problems. Wall putty and paint can be applied on it to make it look as per the required décor.

Conclusion

If your electricity bills are high due to air conditioning and few of your walls and ceiling directly faces the sun, then using XPS boards can be the solution for you to reduce your electricity bills. These are easy to install and quite economical as well and can give you good savings for a long time.

Here is a short video for tips to buy the best air conditioner in India

Source of Information

IGBC website

Wikipedia

Energysavers.gov

About the Author:
Abhishek Jain is an Alumnus of IIT Bombay with almost 10 years of experience in corporate before starting Bijli Bachao in 2012. His passion for solving problems moved him towards Energy Sector and he is keen to learn about customer behavior towards Energy and find ways to influence the same towards Sustainability. .

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