Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
One concept that might help things make more sense...there is no such physical thing as cold...cold is a condition related to the absence of heat. Heat is quantifiable, cold is not. A thermometer measures the amount of heat.
Heat moves in any of three ways, and often by more than one of them at the same time:
- conduction
- convection
- radiation
and, it's always trying to move to spread out...IOW, it's trying to make everything the same average temperature.
Insulation doesn't keep cold out, it slows the movement of heat out to cooler areas. Often the goal is to make that movement as slow as possible. A refrigerator or air conditioner doesn't make cold...it moves heat...just feel the outlet of the fan on the condenser...it's removing the heat, not making 'cold'.
With the understanding of that principle, it can make more sense of whatever you may be doing with your hot water system, heating system, cooling system, or insulation in your home...you want to slow the movement of heat, either in or out, depending on your current needs.
R-value is a measure of how well insulation works.
While not in widespread use, vacuum insulated panels (VIPs) are a VERY efficient way to provide insulation, but are expensive to buy, and can be tricky to install, so aren't in widespread use. If you puncture one, it becomes useless, so they aren't viable for every insulation application. Vacuum insulated glass panels are a little more available, and are much more efficient than argon filled panels and expect them to become a bit more available on the market in the next few years. The hassle is to maintain the seal so it holds the vacuum. To keep it from 'bending' the glass panels, they have to put spacers distributed around between the glass panels to keep the vacuum from sucking the panels together, creating distortion like a lens because of the curve.
Hope this helps a bit. When dealing with your home, you will need to take care of all three means of heat movement to make it as efficient as it can be.
Heat moves in any of three ways, and often by more than one of them at the same time:
- conduction
- convection
- radiation
and, it's always trying to move to spread out...IOW, it's trying to make everything the same average temperature.
Insulation doesn't keep cold out, it slows the movement of heat out to cooler areas. Often the goal is to make that movement as slow as possible. A refrigerator or air conditioner doesn't make cold...it moves heat...just feel the outlet of the fan on the condenser...it's removing the heat, not making 'cold'.
With the understanding of that principle, it can make more sense of whatever you may be doing with your hot water system, heating system, cooling system, or insulation in your home...you want to slow the movement of heat, either in or out, depending on your current needs.
R-value is a measure of how well insulation works.
While not in widespread use, vacuum insulated panels (VIPs) are a VERY efficient way to provide insulation, but are expensive to buy, and can be tricky to install, so aren't in widespread use. If you puncture one, it becomes useless, so they aren't viable for every insulation application. Vacuum insulated glass panels are a little more available, and are much more efficient than argon filled panels and expect them to become a bit more available on the market in the next few years. The hassle is to maintain the seal so it holds the vacuum. To keep it from 'bending' the glass panels, they have to put spacers distributed around between the glass panels to keep the vacuum from sucking the panels together, creating distortion like a lens because of the curve.
Hope this helps a bit. When dealing with your home, you will need to take care of all three means of heat movement to make it as efficient as it can be.
