Staycool Ceiling Insulation - My Findings And Advice Wanted...

[linno2]

I understandthat there are paper based products and even sheep wool based products for the blow in version of insulation - of course the paper one has to be treated to be fire retardant. There was also the sue of urea formaldehyde which may be available hre but has been banned in many countries due to the high long lasting concentrations of formaldehyde as a result - a carcinogen with many bad outcomes!

[KunMatt]

So typically on the day that I install these fans and my new super duper garden sprinkler system, it rains all day and the outside temperature doesn't go above 30° at the peak of the afternoon.

The bedroom right now is 28° which is cooler than usual but I cannot say yet whether it is because of the ceiling fans or because it was such a cold wet day (Outside is currently 25° as it has been for the last 10 days when it would usually rise to 29°/30° inside without the aircon...)

Anyways, the manual for these fans says that the air moved is 0.48m3 / min / w, is this supposed to mean 0.48m3 of air per min per Watt of the fan i.e. in this case 23W = (23W x 0.48m3 x 60mins) = 662.4m3 per hour? (which equates to approx 10 changes per hour of my room volume).

Or is it just 0.48m3 x 60mins = 28.8m3 air per hour?

[Naam]

Or is it just 0.48m3 x 60mins = 28.8m3 air per hour?

yes! the watts are not part of the equation.

[Naam]

The bedroom right now is 28° which is cooler than usual but I cannot say yet whether it is because of the ceiling fans or because it was such a cold wet day

window open, bedroom door closed? what time and at what temperatures (inside and outside) did you start the fan?

[doglover]

Or is it just 0.48m3 x 60mins = 28.8m3 air per hour?

yes! the watts are not part of the equation.

w = whatever!

[KunMatt]

The bedroom right now is 28° which is cooler than usual but I cannot say yet whether it is because of the ceiling fans or because it was such a cold wet day

window open, bedroom door closed? what time and at what temperatures (inside and outside) did you start the fan?

Last night = windows closed because it rained all day and I have no bug screens on the windows. Room temp dropped to 28° when before was 29°.

Tonight = Living room and bedroom windows open. Still finding out what the temp will go down to but it is 26° outside, my room was 28.8° before I turned the fans on and opened the windows, so far the living room has dropped to 27.4° after about 20mins (bedroom has stayed at 28.8° but my partner and son are in there and they are using a normal fan blowing across the bed, so maybe that is affecting the flow. Also, I have a ceiling down blowing fan which seems to negatively affect the flow in the living room, I will experiment with various factors and find out what is the best setup as I assume other fans should not be used when these ceiling extractor fans are in use but first thing on the shopping list is bug screens for the windows!

So you were right Naam, I had an airflow problem and probably the heat radiating from the concrete block but the last two days have been too cold to find out for sure. The insulation reduced my daytime temperatures but kept the rooms warm at night.

To me, that 28.8m3 airflow per hour didn't sound like much, especially when I found other smaller fans on the net that claim to move 85m3, but I have vertical blackout blinds for each window and when both the fans are on, windows open and blinds closed you can see the pull on the window as the blinds are sucked in about 6 inches so it's not too bad. I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting something that could move furniture and dry our hair but it's better than nothing.

Thanks for the advice.

[Naam]

get an insect screen for your window and switch on the fan hours before you go to bed (if outside temperature is lower than bedroom temp).

[Mike45]

The bedroom right now is 28° which is cooler than usual but I cannot say yet whether it is because of the ceiling fans or because it was such a cold wet day

window open, bedroom door closed? what time and at what temperatures (inside and outside) did you start the fan?

Last night = windows closed because it rained all day and I have no bug screens on the windows. Room temp dropped to 28° when before was 29°.

Tonight = Living room and bedroom windows open. Still finding out what the temp will go down to but it is 26° outside, my room was 28.8° before I turned the fans on and opened the windows, so far the living room has dropped to 27.4° after about 20mins (bedroom has stayed at 28.8° but my partner and son are in there and they are using a normal fan blowing across the bed, so maybe that is affecting the flow. Also, I have a ceiling down blowing fan which seems to negatively affect the flow in the living room, I will experiment with various factors and find out what is the best setup as I assume other fans should not be used when these ceiling extractor fans are in use but first thing on the shopping list is bug screens for the windows!

So you were right Naam, I had an airflow problem and probably the heat radiating from the concrete block but the last two days have been too cold to find out for sure. The insulation reduced my daytime temperatures but kept the rooms warm at night.

To me, that 28.8m3 airflow per hour didn't sound like much, especially when I found other smaller fans on the net that claim to move 85m3, but I have vertical blackout blinds for each window and when both the fans are on, windows open and blinds closed you can see the pull on the window as the blinds are sucked in about 6 inches so it's not too bad. I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting something that could move furniture and dry our hair but it's better than nothing.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm starting to think that perhaps the insulation was a waste of money. My thinking is if the second floor bedrooms stay cooler during the day so what. I don't use them during the day. If they are now retaining heat at night because of the insulation the situation has gotten worse.

[KunMatt]

I'm starting to think that perhaps the insulation was a waste of money. My thinking is if the second floor bedrooms stay cooler during the day so what. I don't use them during the day. If they are now retaining heat at night because of the insulation the situation has gotten worse.

Yeah, I used to think the same (this was my thread!) but my house is quite a few degrees cooler in the daytime with the insulation installed, it was just the night time I was feeling warmer than before and as you can see from the progression of this thread I just needed to ventilate the built up warn air that was being held in by the insulation. So ventilate your house at night when the outside air is cooler than the inside of your house.

I have one of these in my main living room

http://www.amazon.co...59788825&sr=8-3

So I can see the temperature difference between outdoors and in therefore knowing when to open the windows and turn on the extractor fans.

And I have several of these posted around the house

http://www.amazon.co...59788825&sr=8-1

So I can monitor the temp is all rooms to see what works to cool my house at different times.

The ceiling extractor fans I was talking before are these and cost 1200 Baht from HomePro. I have them in my living room, my bedroom and the hall (center of house) and they make a HUGE difference to dropping the temp of rooms quickly (as long as it is cooler outside and you open your windows!).

I posted before about the equation in the instructions saying the fan moved 0.48m3 / min / w and concluded that they only moved 28.8m3 of air per hour but I later found the datasheet showing that they actually expel 670m3 per hour which is about 1 room change of air every 6 mins for me. For some reason the "w" does mean Watts and it is part of the equation, or they have reverse engineered it to be.

Even just turning one fan on, the window blinds suck in about 6" and you can feel the draft of air being sucked under a closed door, also when you try to close a door you can feel the suction of the fan pulling the door open.

Edited February 2, 2013 by KunMatt

[klikster]

Comments or recommendations on this material, which is installed under the roof tiles?

"CPAC Monier REFLECTIVE INSULATION

TECHNICAL DATA

Type

Double Sided And Fire Retardant Aluminium Foil Radiant Heat Barrier For Roof Insulation"

edit: single story house

Edited February 5, 2013 by klikster

[klikster]

the blow-in insulation commonly used in the Americas is not cellulose but mineral wool which is not hygroscopic.

That sounds similar to some of the acoustic material (mineral fiber) we used in one type of our panels and silencers. The suppliers described it as "spun steel-mill slag". Itches like crazy if it gets down your clothing.