Thermal Insulation

Should we prefer the insulation applied to the outer surface of the outside walls or inner surface of the outside walls?

The insulation applied to the outside of the outside walls. By this way we take advantage of the heat storage capacity of frontage material  as well as the condensation risk of heavy mass inside the wall section, due to being subjected to high temperature with the inside surface of the wall,  is eliminated. Additionally, since the entire frontage is protected by insulation material, no heat bridges form. However, if heating is an essential in a short period of time, the insulation applied to the inside of the outside walls should be preferred.

Especially the north side of the building is influenced by chilliness. Is it sufficient if we implement insulation only to the north frontage?

Insulation applications have to be applied to the entire building continually. Heat bridges are formed as a result of the insulation applications applied to only one frontage of the building and the heat losses will continue from the other frontages. That’s why the entire constituents of the building such as roofs, walls, floors, windows and joineries have to be well insulated.

There is a water leakage into the building from outside, can we obtain a permanent solution by plaster or asphalt coating?

First of all the reasons of the leakage have to be searched and precautions have to be taken against these obtained reasons. If there is no deep cracking or fracture or cavitations on the wall and the formations of black spots, mold and plaster upheaval are noticed on inner surface, those show that your building has no insulation.

Primarily, insulation to the outer or inner surface has to be carried out and the problem is solved. If the leakage occurs only during rainy days, the cavitations and cracking in the structure have to be filled with water-tight materials.

Is it possible to provide thermal insulation by painting walls?

The expected thermal insulation performance cannot be provided by the insulations executed by thin materials such as paint or plaster. Thermal insulation is maintained by the materials heat transfer coefficient of which are low and the thickness of which conform to the standards. The thicker the thermal insulation material is the greater the insulation performance is.

Do we need to have thermal insulation made for our building even if the outer walls of the building are made of pumice concrete, brick or gas concrete?   

Although gas concrete, brick and pumice concrete are construction materials, they are not thermal insulation materials. Whatever the construction material of the building is thermal insulation has to be applied to all the frontages, roofs, floors as well as the windows and joineries.

Do we need to have thermal insulation made for our building even if the outer frontages are covered with glass mosaic,          PVC, aluminum etc.?

The outer frontage covers do not provide thermal insulation. Those covers form the desired outer view of the building in a general manner and in some conditions they provide strength of the building against the possible impacts at the human reachable heights. Energy efficiency of building is maintained by the thermal insulation materials just behind those covers.

What are the thermal insulation materials?

Thermal insulation materials are the ones that are light and high resistant to heat transfer. Moreover they are specially used for reducing heat gain or loss. The most common used thermal insulation materials,

-Glass wool, stone wool, wooden wool, EPS, XPS and polyurethane are used in walls, floors and roofs

-Heat, sun and heat + sun control covered insulation glass units and insulated joineries are used in windows.

-Glass wool, stone wool, polyethylenefoam, elastomeric rubber foam, polyolefin foam are used in thermal insulation of air ducts, pipes and valves.

Is it necessary to insulate the mechanical plant for energy savings?

Thermal insulation in mechanical plant generally is desired for preventing heat loss in hot lines, heat gain in the cold lines. Additionally, by the aid of thermal insulation the form of corrosion caused by condensation is prevented in the pipes.

Is it possible to provide thermal insulation by increasing glass thickness of windows?

It is impossible to provide thermal insulation by increasing the thickness of glasses in windows. The first solution for insulation at windows is using insulated glass.(double glass). Double glass is made of two separated part and in between those separated parts dry air bubbles are placed in factory conditions. This usage decreases the heat losses by %50 compared to the single-glazing applications.

Does triple thermal insulation glazing provide a better insulation?

The triple thermal insulation glazing, made of smooth glasses, provides better insulation compared to standard insulation glazing (double-glass). However, for this application we need special joineries thus this is not an economical solution. By using thermal insulation glazing mechanisms, which is formed by heat control coatings (low E), thermal insulation is provided more efficiently. They are applied onto smooth glass and it reflects the heat flux, getting out, into the room as an invisible mirror. By this way the heat loss from the room reduces.

What kind of precautions can be taken for thermal insulation of windows?

Precautions taken for thermal insulation can be classified into two:

Solutions for the purpose of thermal insulation;

Using heat control coated glazing at windows is appropriate for the houses which are only heated. In winter seasons heat flux, from the heated room to outside, occurs. Heat control coated glazing has to be used so as to prevent this heat flux; as a result energy will be used efficiently.

Solutions for thermal insulation and sunshine control;

In the houses which are not only heated but also cooled, the use of heat and sunshine control coated insulation glazing is proper. Sunshine control is controlling the undesired heat coming from Sun in summers. Heat and sunshine control coated glazing has to be used for providing the necessary comfort condition, for decreasing the consumed energy in the houses cooled by air conditioners and for restricting the heat gain coming from windows.

Is it possible to execution of heat insulation for windows without changing the joineries?

If the joinery in use has the sufficient properties, heat control or heat and sunshine control glazing which has better thermal insulation performance and has larger clearance gap(12-16mm), can be installed by tiny revisions in the mounting housings.

Woodworks, compatible with single glazing, can be had compatible with the thermal insulation glazing by adding partition joint.

We live in a torrid zone. Do we have to have thermal insulation?

Thermal insulation provides savings from fuel that we pay for heating in winter and provides savings from energy that we pay for cooling in summer; as a result thermal insulation maintains a comfortable living ambience. Since the amount of energy needed for cooling a building is greater than the energy amount needed for heating, thermal insulation is a must in torrid zones.

Can I execute thermal insulation by myself or by the aid of known old hands?

Your building has to be analyzed by experts and the thermal insulation applications have to be applied by the firms that have background information about thermal insulation.