Thermal Insulation is the process adopted to prevent heat transfer between outside and inside of the building. Nowadays thermal insulation has become an essential part of building construction due to its various advantages. Buy our PE roof Insulation

The rooms or buildings that are thermally insulated remain warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Hence, Thermally insulated building provides great comfort both in summer and winter.
A building provided with thermal-insulation requires less power to maintain the desired temperature conditions in the building. This saves energy and extra costs.

Advantages of Thermal Insulation

• No need of AC, cooler, heater etc.
• Thermal-insulation prevents the roof deck from cracking.
• Expansion joints are not required in a structure during construction.
• The materials that are used in thermal-insulation are lightweight than concrete which reduces the dead weight on the roof slab.
• Thermal insulating materials are manufactured from recycled materials.
• It is easy to install.
• It is fire resistance.
• Maintenance is not required.
• It is environment-friendly.

Thermal Insulation Materials Available in Kenya

Bellow is a list of Thermal Insulation Materials available at our stores in Nairobi, Kenya

• Ceramic Fibre Insulation
• Mineral wool Insulation
• Fiberglass Insulation
• Polyethylene (PE) Foam Insulation
• Armaflex Insulation
• Styrofoam Insulation
• PE Roof Insulation
• Rockwool Pipe Insulation
• PE Pipe Insulation

Performance Terms used in Thermal Insulation

Thermal Conductivity / λ (lambda)

Thermal conductivity measures the ease with which heat can travel through a material by conduction. Conduction is the main form of heat transfer through insulation.  It is often termed as λ (lambda) value. The lower the lambda, the better the performance.

Thermal Resistance (R)

Thermal Resistance is a figure that connects the Thermal Conductivity of a material to its Width – providing a figure expressed in resistance per unit area (m²K/W) A greater thickness means less heat flow and so does a lower conductivity. Together these parameters form the thermal resistance of the construction. A construction layer with a high Thermal Resistance, is a good insulator; one with a low Thermal Resistance is a bad insulator.
The equation is Thermal Resistance (m²K/W) = Thickness (m) / Conductivity (W/mK)

Specific Heat Capacity

The Specific Heat Capacity of a material is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1kg of the material by 1K (or by 1oC). A good insulator has a higher Specific Heat Capacity because it takes time to absorb more heat before it actually heats up (temperature rising) to transfer the heat. High Specific Heat Capacity is a feature of materials providing Thermal Mass or Thermal Buffering (Decrement Delay).

Density

The density refers to the mass (or ‘weight’) per unit volume of a material and is measured in kg/m3. A high-density material maximizes the overall weight and is an aspect of ‘low’ thermal diffusivity and ‘high’ thermal mass.

Thermal Diffusivity

Thermal Diffusivity measures the ability of a material to conduct thermal energy relative to its ability to store thermal energy. For example, metals transmit thermal energy rapidly (cold to touch) whereas wood is a slow transmitter. Insulators have low Thermal Diffusivity. Copper = 98.8 mm2/s; Wood =  0.082 mm2/s.  
The equation is: Thermal Diffusivity (mm2/s) = Thermal Conductivity / Density x Specific Heat Capacity