Photo: Anni Roenkae

Is there a paint that acts like insulation?

Insulative paint is a new technology, alternative to regular paint, designed to increase the insulation of a building. It contains ceramic and glass microspheres that have low thermal conductivity (λ) and high thermal insulation (R) values.

thermtest.com - Does Insulative Paint Work? - Thermtest

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Conducted Studies

This kind of paint should increase the R-value of a building as discussed, hence it is a technology worth exploring although there are some studies opposing its effectiveness. This is because it is a relatively new technology resulting in a lot of debate. Below are two studies providing evidence for the effectiveness of insulating paint. A study conducted in 2015 investigated the thermal insulation of a room with interior walls coated with paint containing ceramic microspheres. This study tested whether paint containing ceramic microspheres could be a solution to fix uneven temperature distributions within a room. A balanced distribution of heat within the indoor area is important for the comfort of inhabitants. Typically, the warm air rises up to the ceiling leaving the cooler air below where the inhabitants are. This results in them increasing the temperature of their apartment to achieve their desired comfort. This would not be necessary with a more balanced heat distribution inside the room. Two rooms with identical dimensions and building envelope construction were used in this experiment. The interior walls of one room were coated with paint containing ceramic microspheres. The interior walls of the other room were covered in vinyl-cloth wallpaper. For two years, during summer and winter months, the following parameters were tested for: room temperature, humidity level, energy consumption during HVAC (heat ventilation and air conditioning), thermographs, skin surface temperature and subjective thermal comfort feedback from participants. The insulation value for the clothing of the participants were also tested to account for bias. The results indicated that the room coated with thermal paint did not have more ideal temperatures for summer/winter. However, there were less temperature fluctuations for the room with interior walls coated with paint containing ceramic microspheres. The participants indicated higher thermal comfort for this room which could be a result of less temperature variance. Another study conducted in 2014 indicated that paint containing ceramic microspheres increased the insulation of a building and that this could help in cutting down energy costs for heating/cooling. This experiment was done using three iron boxes whose interiors were coated with paint containing ceramic microspheres, regular paint and highly reflective paint. The thermal resistance values (R) were calculated to be 0.0100 (K·m2/W), 0.008 (K·m2/W) and 0.0016 (K·m2/W) respectively. Therefore, the box coated with thermal paint had the highest R-value, the box coated with regular paint had the second highest and the box coated with reflective paint had the lowest R-value. The thermal paint had 12.4 times more insulation than regular paint. It was also found that there is 16% less heat loss with thermal paint compared to regular paint.

Conclusion

Insulating paint is a new technology designed to further improve the thermal insulation of buildings. It is necessary to have a strong building structure made with insulating materials to protect the building from heat loss in cold climates and heat gain in warm climates. New varieties of paint can be tested by consumers. Insulating paint is useful for increasing the R-value. Further research and studies would need to be done to learn more about the uses of this kind of paint.

Bibliography

Oda, T., Nakai, T., Toba, K., & Jianbo, H. (2015). Measurement of Amenity in Buildings Interiors Coated with Ceramic Insulating Paint. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 1728–1733. doi: 10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.488 Oda, T. (2014). Evaluation of the Energy-Saving Performance of Heat-Resistant Paint. Science Journal of Energy Engineering, 2(5), 53. doi: 10.11648/j.sjee.20140205.11

Author: Selen Yildir | Junior Technical Writer | Thermtest

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