The chart data enclosed is taken from a mechanical engineering handbook along with opinions from thirty years field experience.

EXPLORING THE LEGITIMACY OF CLAIMS OF CHARACTERISTICS, TEST PROCEDURES AND “R” RATINGS FOR THERMAL INSULATIONS USING MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HAND BOOK DATA AND FORMULA

Confusion about the performance of various insulation materials is not a recent phenomenon. Some of the confusion comes from the fact that various materials control heat energy transfer according to the specific physical properties of the materials and their assembly for use.

Another problem is that large manufacturers, with government sanction, literally control the methods used to test their product and competing products. This has been an ongoing fight for over fifty years in this country. Some products, commonly used here, are not allowed in other countries because of low performance and serious health issues.

The most common testing problems are:

(1) The tests do not reflect actual “installed summer / winter conditions”, which can reveal up to fifty percent difference in performance compared to “accepted tests”.
(2)  Most tests favor conductivity resistance and limit the effects of radiant energy. Most homes have about 12-15% conductive surfaces, about 7% is convection and air spaces accounting for up to 80% radiant energy gain or loss.
(3)  Some tests do not reveal the serious performance degradation from condensation, actually storing and increasing heat flow, and how it affects the interior humidity levels.
(4)  Some tests do not reveal possible mold and other problems.
(5)  Some tests, or labeling, do not reveal the health problems due to toxic chemicals. This information is classified as proprietary information and given only to the government.
(6)  The tests or labels do not reveal the ratio of material to air volume This ratio can be as low as 1% mass to 99% air volume allowing radiant energy to travel through like an open door, plus air infiltration. The exception to this is radiant barriers which rely on the air space to perform efficiently. If insulation tests were performed with the best interest of the consumer at heart, there would probably be only two insulations available to the consumer.
(7)  The other subject ignored by the bulk insulation manufacturers is the approximate 80% heat gain/loss in buildings through radiant heat, infrared energy. This can be expected because most bulk insulations are only about 10 – 20% efficient in rejecting radiant energy, compared to about 97% for radiant barriers.
(8)  The “R” factor for bulk insulations are based on the reciprocal of a “u” factor, a conductive test ( for a material that is about 99% air spaces?). The efficiency of radiant barriers are based on a “k” factor. You cannot obtain a “R” value from a “k” factor.

The independent, non competitive, method presented here is based on long established data of energy exchange between two surfaces, ceiling/floor, at a given Delta T” (temperature difference between two surfaces) and will tell you what amount of heat energy is radiated into and out of the home summer and winter.

This method depends on no tests and incorporates the characteristics of the insulation, building materials and the effects of any climate condition. It can be performed by anyone with a thermometer. Conventional “R” factor calculations cannot tell you this, due to the problems mentioned above and that the calculations are usually for material only. With “R” factors you can calculate for one set of condidtions and then find out the calculations had no reference to what is actually going on in the structure.

The common denominator for all insulations is; what is the temperature of the drywall and the floor it is radiating to? This “in situ” method incorporates all the variables because the drywall temperature determines your heating / cooling costs. You can use either Btu calculations or temperature calculations. You can see why the manufacturer of low efficiency insulation will not want to use this method.

The drywall emission rate, about 90%+, is used in the following chart because that is the most commonly used material. The source of this information, and the following chart, is from an emissivity chart and formula of a mechanical engineering handbook. You may not be familiar with this source of information. It is a manual of materials charts, characteristics, formulas and numerous other factors used by engineers to manufacture most every thing you use. For many professional engineers it is the engineer’s “bible”.

THE HUMAN FACTOR: The average person believes that the air temperature is the dominant factor in comfort. This might be true if it wasn’t for the energy radiating into and out of the building with its effects. It is this energy ratio between the interior surfaces and the surface of the body that ultimately determines the comfort factor and energy consumption.

For maximum energy savings you want the lowest rate of absorption and re-radiation of energy. Lower is better. The determining factors of any insulation’s performance are:

1)  The rate of absorption and re-emittance ( radiating ) of energy. From the “bible” we see that wood (cellulose), and glass (fiberglass) is about 90%+ efficient in absorbing and re radiating energy. Base foam materials are about 20% efficient. Aluminum foil about .03%.

2)  Other than the basic material and its construction features, moisture, either from humidity or condensations can cause substantial energy flow. Using the ratio or 5% increase per 1% of moisture by weight, data published by the National Bureau of Standards shows that fiberglass and cellulose can increase energy flow about 45 / 72% due to moisture in an uninhabited structure. Even the relative humidity can account for a dramatic increase in energy flow. Increased humidity levels in an inhabited structure can cause even more energy lose / gain along with the 1,000+ btu used to convert vapor to liquid. Since radiant barriers do not cause condensation and are superior vapor barriers, the interior humidity levels can be lower than with other insulations.

3)  The low quality of installation can also be a detriment to the effectiveness of insulation.

The following chart shows Btu transfer for various ceiling temperatures. Calculations for infiltration, doors and windows are separate as they will be the same for any insulation installed. To increase the envelope efficiency even more, Insulation Specialists has developed a simple method of installing radiant barriers to reduce to about 1% the conductivity surfaces of studs and ceiling joists from the normal 12-15 % surface area.

In summer you can measure the drywall temperature which can reach up to 110 degs on a 95 deg day with the lower efficiency insulations and no roof shading. If the floor temperature is 75 degs the ceiling, using temperature figures, will radiate about 99 degs/sf/hr. The 110 deg ceiling temperature is about 25 degrees hotter than a winter radiant heat system, causing the air conditioner to run continuously to try to compensate. Without the air conditioner the interior temperature could exceed 100 degs.

If the radiant barrier is 110 degs it will radiate about 2-3 degs /sf/hr. In a properly designed ranch home the interior temperature, with radiant barrier, will be about 80-81 degs without air-conditioning. The humidity levels can also be lower as the radiant barrier does not cause condensation which can be forced into the home by the high temperatures in the structure as with some of the lower efficiency materials.

Question; if the indoor temperature can be hotter inside than outside without the air-conditioned, how can the manufacturer claim their material is insulation?
As you use the chart keep in mind these two questions;

1:  If bulk insulations are about 99% airspaces and radiant energy travels through space at about the speed of light, and the base material absorbs and re-radiates the energy at about a 80-90 percent efficiency, how can a manufacturer claim their material is an insulator? More importantly how can an “R” value be assigned to them?

2:  If the function of a radiant barrier is to reflect energy, how can an “R” factor be assigned to it? How can the government and the manufacturers of bulk insulations legitimately force the use of “R” factors in evaluating radiant barriers? More importantly, why?

3:  Why has the US Senate interfered with, at least twice, the governments fair trade polices, including FTC regulations, when it comes to insulations? Regulations which would have provided for a fair playing field. Answer: Over $100,000,000,000.00 tax revenue per year due to the excessive use of energy.
Because of this and other reasons the American home owner is using up to two to three times the amount of energy to heat a cool a home than what should be used.

In summer you can determine the temperature of your ceiling drywall by taping a thermometer to the drywall surface.

This chart is based on a 75 deg floor temperature. The chart can be validated by using the emissivity data and formula from Mark’s Mechanical Engineering Handbook. FG values are for insulation between joists and include joist heat transfer. The radiant barrier value is for the joists surfaces covered with the radiant barrier and a furring strip to separate the radiant barrier from the drywall. “A” is the dry wall temperature. “B” represents the Btu’s radiated for the FG installation. “C” represents the Btu’s radiated for the radiant barrier installation. “D” the Btu difference between the fiberglass and radiant barrier.  Although the mechanics for side walls will be slightly difference this method can be used for approximate comparisons.

The 110 deg is high lighted to represent a 95 deg day. The 30 line is highlighted to show the similarities of the summer winter conditions. Note the jump when the temperature gets down to zero degs. Because of the rapid drop off in FG efficiency as the material thickness is increased it is difficult to extrapolate the radiant barrier and FG data for “R” value comparison. Compared to the advertised “R” value for FG the RB “R” factor could exceed “R”100 value by a considerable amount, and it is impossible to have a “R” value of 100 much less 100 plus.

Myth: Dust adversely affects the radiant barrier performance. A: Dust has little or no effect on a horizontally installed radiant barrier with airspace both sides. The top surface could be painted black and the bottom surface might emit 1 or 2 extra Btus. Most ceiling installations have one or more layers, so any increase in heat flow is doubtful. There is little or no dust on vertical installations. Even with dust present the radiant barrier is superior to other materials. These comments never reveal the test material type or test method or actual performance differences.
Myth: Holes adversely affect the radiant barrier performance. A: Some radiant barriers are manufactured with vapor escape holes. I know of no laboratory tests showing an increase in heat flow, particularly in multi layer installations. Obviously you don’t want large holes, these should be repaired.
Myth: Radiant barriers are not as efficient on up heat (winter) as summer. A: The engineering handbook does not make such a distinction. The mechanics of up heat vs down conductive heat flow are different; therefore any given material may exhibit slight differences for winter. However these comments never note that the radiant barrier is still superior to other materials.
Myth: Aluminum corrodes. A: Pure aluminum, such as the 99.9% pure foil used in radiant barrier, does not corrode under normal atmospheric conditions.
A light, invisible, oxidation does occur preventing any further oxidation. You would not want to breathe the fumes that could cause severe corrosion. Corrosion can and does occur in some unfinished alloy aluminum because of the dissimilar metals used for alloying the metal.
Myth: Radiant barrier loses its insulation values over time. A: Since radiant barriers do not corrode, the answer is self evident. I know of installations over 30 years old that work just fine.
Myth: You can’t use radiant barriers in very cold climates: A: When Perry and other scientists went to the poles they use aluminum foil to insulate the structures. The Navy SEALS used multi-layer foil (mfg’d to mil spec HH I 1252) in 1964 in the Artic buildings where the mineral wool was failing. Radiant barriers are used quite extensively and exclusively, in severely cold conditions, such as, cryogenics and space platforms.
Myth: Radiant barriers are not very efficient in attic add-on application. If the application is not proper then this is a true statement. However, the retrofit tests so far conducted are not the most effect application method. I have found that a double layer installation directly over the existing material can reduce a/c run time 50% or more. Why test the most inefficient method?

Most commonly, what is called a Radiant Barrier Roof is a roof which has had modifications to its underside to control the flow of heat. During the summer, the radiant barrier roof keeps the heat from the sun from heating the attic and thus the house or structure under the attic.  And, during the winter the heat from your furnace is partially controlled from loss to the outside.

Heat always moves to cold. By placing the radiant barrier roof in the path of the flow of heat, the heat flow can be reduced, by a variable amount depending on the type of radiant barrier product used.

There are numerous products that can be used to produce a radiant barrier roof.  One example is aluminum foil types of sheeting that can be applied to the rafter bottoms. Care must be used to place this foil in the correct position. If the foil is sandwiched between two other solids (decking, foil, rafter) or (decking, foil, shingles) the radiant barrier roofing will fail. It will act as a conductor! Other products that can be described as a radiant barrier roof modifier include solid ceramic particles, aluminum powders and flakes and hollow glass bubbles that can all be mixed with paint and applied to the underside of the roofing deck and rafters.

Typically, a radiant barrier roof is thought to protect a structure during the summer by preventing the full radiant heat of the sun from entering. But it can also help during the winter by keeping some of the radiant heat from your furnace from leaving through the attic. For people who live in colder climes, an application of a paintable radiant barrier placed on the ceilings and interior perimeter walls will control furnace heat loss much better than the radiant barrier roof.

With a combination of applications; radiant barrier roof, radiant barrier coatings on interior and exterior walls and on interior ceilings, you can provide your structure with an excellent way to prevent unwanted heat loss, lower your energy bills and keep your structure much more comfortable.

Many homeowners are searching for ways to save money and lower their energy costs. If there was a way for you to be more comfortable in your own home while saving money, chances are you would consider it a no-brainer!

A significant amount of heated or cooled air is lost through the attic in your home. This translates to heat loss in the winter and higher cooling costs during the summer. Because so much loss takes place in the attic. it’s a good place to start.

There are various products and applications that can reduce the loss of warm or cold air through your attic. The most common are called Radiant Barriers.  Reflective Insulation is a type of Radiant Barrier commonly known as aluminum foil.  There are many different types of reflective insulation to choose from. Some are nothing more than a single sheet of foil, others are foil bonded to plastic either with or without air bubbles, like bubble-wrap. Some have aluminum foil on both sides of the plastic sheet or bubble wrap, others only have foil on one side. Reflective Insulation and radiant barriers like KoolCoat can and do stop the majority of unwanted heat transfer and loss in your home.

Reflective insulation is much more effective at reducing heat transfer than typical insulations. As a matter of fact, reflective insulation and some radiant barriers can block as much as 97% of radiant heat flow. Most typical insulations only slow the heat flow down, but do not block it.

Products like reflective insulations and KoolCoat radiant barrier paint additive can provide the user resistance against three different types of heat flow:

1. Radiation
2. Convection
3. Conduction

Reflective insulation is easy to install. It is compact, light and pliable. Yet, it is also strong enough to resist punctures and tears. It is flexible enough that it can be easily formed around shapes, angles and corners. Reflective Insulation is a great do-it-yourself project and installing the insulation yourself makes it somewhat more cost effective. But the initial cost can be very expensive compared to other radiant barriers that will provide the same results.

With the same results as reflective insulation and at an installation cost of about fifty times cheaper per square foot than reflective insulation, the pay-back is fast with KoolCoat. With both products, reflective insulation or Koolcoat, you will see a reduction in fuel costs or utility bills, your furnace and air conditioner will work with less wear and tear, and your home will feel more comfortable at a lower cost.

If you are looking for a way to reduce your energy costs (and who isn’t!) consider the benefits of applying Koolcoat. Your home will be more comfortable with less cost to you!

Summer can be brutal.  The heat, the humidity, temperatures rising into the nineties can take a toll.  Keeping your home cool seems to cost more and more each summer.  Homeowners like you continue to look for new ways to reduce energy costs.  However, there is an option that has been around for years.  The often overlooked, yet effective, option is called a radiant barrier spray.  Using a radiant barrier spray in your attic is a smart, cost-effective way to protect your home from soaring summer temperatures.

A radiant barrier spray can literally keep your cooling costs from going through the roof.  It will even help in the winter!  Radiant barrier spray will help reduce your air conditioning costs in the summer and help reduce your heating costs in the winter by preventing heat loss.

During the hot summer months, as the temperature increases, heat will actually radiate from the surface of your roof.  A significant amount of this heat is transferred into your attic through conduction.  This heats the air in your attic, making it uncomfortable and miserable for you when you need to go into your attic in the summer.  Further, air conditioning ducts as well as the air conditioning machinery are often in the attic, forcing your air conditioner to work harder.  Radiant barrier spray can help to reduce your air conditioning costs by 30 percent!  It will also significantly reduce the temperature in your attic, increase the efficiency of your air conditioning ducts, and can help to reduce the temperature in other areas of your home that are not air conditioned (such as basements, laundry rooms, and garages). One recommendation is to apply the radiant barrier spray on every surface of the roof deck including rafters and any other wooden support members and all the duck work and the air conditioning machinery cabinets and plenums. If your attic is well ventilated and you apply an adequate coating of the radiant barrier spray, the air temperature in your attic can be the same as the outdoor air temperature.

A radiant barrier spray will work with the insulation in your home to keep the radiant heat from moving into your home.  A radiant barrier spray goes even further by reflecting the warm air away from the interior of your home.  Using a radiant barrier spray will provide an even greater energy savings than insulation alone.

Radiant barriers are an innovative way to save energy and money.  Some homeowners are looking to go green.  Most are very concerned about balancing their monthly income to the monthly cost of living. The cost of fuel is skyrocketing and it is completely understandable that homeowners are concerned with the expense of cooling and heating their home.

If you are concerned about saving money spent on energy bills, there are many things that you can do.  Check your home or office for air leaks, caulk up cracks and install weatherstripping, buy energy saving appliances, make sure that your house is properly insulated,  turn the air up or the heat down during the day when you are not at home, and use radiant barriers under your roof, on your roof, on your ceilings and on both interior and exterior walls in order to reflect outside heat and keep your home more comfortable.

Radiant barriers will control the flow of heat.  One option is a radiant barrier paint.  A radiant barrier paint is basically a type of liquid foil.  Properly used, radiant barrier paint can reflect up to 75% of the heat.  In order to use radiant barrier paint effectively, it is important to completely cover the rafters in your attic.  It is also important to make sure that you use a thick enough layer of the paint.  In order for your radiant barrier paint to be as effective as possible, be sure that you do not dilute the paint with water.  It may be tempting to do so in order to increase coverage but you will be seriously undermining the product effectiveness.

Another option is a radiant barrier paint additive.  A paint additive is cost effective and simple to use.  You can mix the radiant barrier additive with any paint and can be used on the interior or exterior of your home.  The added protection of using a radiant barrier paint additive will provide you with lower energy costs.  You will also save on labor costs because the additive is simple to use and install on your own.

Radiant Barrier History

The history of the radiant barrier begins as far back as the early 1920′s when radiant barrier was used to insulate residential and commercial buildings in the United States.  In 1945 the product was produced commercially by a New York company, but the government ruled the company a monopoly and shut down production.  Radiant barrier was lost to the world until the mid 1950′s when Clark E. Beck, P .E. refined and led the Team Wright Labs pioneered the development of the product for NASA. In the mid 1950s, when Clark E. Beck, PE, of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base discovered and pioneered the development of radiant barrier technology for NASA and the space program, he couldn’t have envisioned the variety of applications for which this insulation material would someday be used.  But today, radiant barrier technology has been spun-off into products as diverse as energy-conserving building insulation, agricultural insulation, automobile insulation, protective clothing (like used by firemen), and many other products.

NASA was trying to find a way to protect the astronauts during space walks from the extreme temperature shifts ranging from -273 degrees Celsius to +238 degrees Celsius.  They discovered that they would have to have a seven-foot thick protective layer on the space suit if they attempted to use conventional insulation.  Obviously, this was way out of the question.  Instead of trying to insulate the suits, they turned to reflective technology and used a radiant barrier to solve the problem.  NASA reflected the heat of their own body back at the astronauts to keep them warm, while at the same time they used the radiant barrier to reflect the deadly direct radiation from the sun (radiant heat) out of the space suit to keep them cool. The material provided a reflective surface that kept more than 95 percent of the radiant energy from reaching the interior of the space suit.  Small holes allow moisture to escape, while keeping longer heat waves from getting through.  Weighing only slightly more than 17 pounds per thousand square feet.  The material maintained constant, comfortable temperatures inside the space suit.

Radiant barrier has been in use by NASA since the Gemini and Apollo missions.  The radiant barrier insulation was the prime element of the environment control system that allowed Apollo astronauts to work inside the Command Module in shirt sleeves, rather than in bulky space suits.  Since the Gemini and Apollo missions, the radiant barrier has been used on virtually all spacecraft, including unmanned missions where instruments required thermal protection.

IMPORTANT ISSUES LEARNED FROM CLIENTS’ SUCCESSES (AND FAILURES)

In this document I will try and address as many concerns, pitfalls, tips and hints about applying KOOLCOAT on the underside of a roof deck as come to mind. As new ideas come forward or I remember something I left out; I will update this list. Any and all of you are welcome to add your own experiences to this list of do’s and don’ts. Email your ideas to me and I will consider their addition.

The most difficult part of applying KOOLCOAT radiant barrier in your attic is getting up there. It is hot and dusty and hard to move around. Sometimes it’s cluttered with stuff someone stored away and forgot. There are sometimes loose wires or un-protected electrical connections. There are things to bump your head on and the always unexpected step through the ceiling drywall. But with some pre-planning and the ever conscience effort to stay safe and sound and get a good job done, you can eventually protect your building from the impact of radiant heat that drives your energy bill up.

Lets get started!

PLANNING:
What paint should you use? This is a question I hear regularly. Latex is the logical choice and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. I recommend looking for miss-tinted paints at the paint stores. Sometimes you can get some really good prices on expensive paints. The colors don’t matter that much, actually you can pour them all together and mix them up.

There are some who would prefer to not hunt around and fool with a bunch of different cans and colors; so for those I would recommend a “Construction-Grade Latex Primer”. Why?  Because it covers bare surfaces very well and provides a thick coat. It also is available in five gallon buckets which make application easier and the cost usually runs around $7 per gallon. Later in this document I will discuss how to determine the amount of paint you will need.

Should you spray or roll?

Rolling a roof deck is hard work. The shingle nails or staples eat rollers pretty fast (figure on using three or four rollers on a 2000 square foot roof deck) and reaching all the spots is difficult without a long handle. Of course a long handle is always getting caught in the roof beams and you have to do everything upside down. Rolling is DOABLE, just be prepared for a two or three session application. Spraying with an air-less sprayer is the preferred way to go. Air-less rentals aren’t cheap and you may have to buy a “tip” or spray orifice that you will keep. To minimize clogs you need to use a .021” tip. The rental unit must have a gun that will accept that large of a tip. Be prepared to give the rental guy all this info so he can set you up with the proper machine. If you want to buy your own or if you already own an air-less, keep the tip size in mind so you get home with all the proper equipment. There are ways you can match a smaller pump with a large gun, and for shooting KOOLCOAT in the attic it works great. Email me and I’ll tell you details about mixing and matching different size parts.

No matter if you have your own or rent a machine, you must remove any filters otherwise the filters will collect all the KOOLCOAT and you will have to do the job over again. Painting with the .021” tip will result in heavy spray volume so plan on being able to move around quickly. To accomplish fast foot work, move any stored stuff so you can get you and your paint hose around without interruption. You may want to have some boards placed in various areas to walk on. I like split sheets of 3/8” plywood. A 2’x8’ plywood plank is just right to scramble around on and they are easy to move from place to place. Whatever you use, it has to go through the man-hole into the attic. Check your clearances before you spend time and money on walking boards.

How much paint will you need?

You need to do some measuring so you know how much paint and KOOLCOAT your project will require. Here’s one easy way to do that. Roughly figure your building’s square footage. If the roof pitch is moderate (not too steep, not too flat) add 15% to the total floor square footage. For example, if your floor area covers 1800 sf, add 15% (1800 x 1.15 = 2070) 2070 square feet is a close approximation of the roof deck area. You can also go up in the attic or on top of the roof and measure from the peak down to the eave, double that number; measure the length of the roof, and then multiply the length times the doubled width. That will result in total square footage of the roof deck.

Since I first put these tips and hints together, my customers and I have discovered that coating the rafters makes a lot of sense. For example if your roof has 2”x6” rafters set 16” apart, the three exposed sides of all the rafters will add about 65% to the surface needing to be coated. Why? Because, if you only coat the decking, heat will continue to conduct down through the roof and into each rafter and then that heat is radiated into the attic. In our above example of the 2070 square feet of roof decking, the rafters will add an additional 1345 square feet! To figure how much paint you need in gallons, divide the total sq. footage by 300. Using the above example, 3415 (2070 + 1345) divided by 300 = 11 gallons per coat. And you need to apply two coats, resulting in a total of 22 gallons.

Many customers report back to me that after two thick coats of KOOLCOAT and paint on deck and rafters (with a well ventilated attic) their attics don’t get any warmer than the outside temperature. So, on average each gallon of paint is going to cover 300 sq. feet of roof deck and rafters. That average is based on the fact that paint mixed with KOOLCOAT may be a little thicker than normal latex and the large tip puts out a lot of paint quickly. The 300 sf/gallon estimate may vary depending how fast you can move and how thick the paint becomes when mixing. It is just an estimate but it is a good number to determine paint volume needs.

So, you now know how much paint you will need for each coat; how many coats will you want to apply? Roof decks get very hot every day of every summer, and this heat dries the moisture out of the wood. Don’t be at all surprised if the first coat disappears into the wood grain. If that first coat has KOOLCOAT mixed in the paint, it will lose about half of its radiant barrier effectiveness. To test your roof deck to see if it is overly dry, spray or roll a small patch of deck with plain paint and watch if it stays on the surface or is absorbed by the dry wood grain. Your test patch should be about the size of a sheet of plywood (4’x8’) so you get a good idea of the wood grain condition. After the paint dries, there may be large spots where it looks like the paint disappeared. This would indicate that you are going to have to apply a “seal coat” of plain paint to seal the dry grain from absorbing your KOOLCOAT. Putting on a seal coat is of course an added expense, but necessary to obtain the best radiant barrier results from KOOLCOAT. Any radiant barrier needs to have an air layer next to it to be effective. No barrier works well sandwiched in wood grain or between layers of construction material.

Thinning your paint for the seal coat application is acceptable. Once the seal coat is on and it is beginning to become tacky, be prepared to start applying the first coat of paint with KOOLCOAT. Actually, the time involved is not long, if your roof deck is 1500 sq. feet or larger, by the time you finish the seal coat the other end where you started will be getting tacky so you can just keep on going without shutting down except to change paint buckets. To obtain the best results from coating your attic, let’s summarize the important points:

• Count in all the square footage of decking AND rafters.
• Test the wood for dryness and paint absorption.
• Once you are satisfied that your paint and KOOLCOAT won’t be lost into the wood grain, apply two thick coats.

Having too much paint and KOOLCOAT is never the problem, you will always find another use for the radiant barrier mix; running out during the middle of the job complicates things. Complex roofs and vaulted false ceilings make measurements and application difficult. If you are having problems arriving at suitable estimate for the amount of paint and KOOLCOAT you will need, please call or email me, as I will be happy to help you.

APPLICATION:
Now you have determined how much paint your project will require and you have located a source for it, you have ordered the KOOLCOAT and made the decision to either spray or roll it on. I have covered some application techniques in the planning discussion, but here we can look at some optional measures to reduce your energy bill even more. While you are painting the roof deck, you are probably straddling duct work about half the time. Your ducts may have some insulation already covering them, maybe not. In any event I would suggest measuring the temperature coming out of the vent furtherest from the air handler, then apply one coat to the duct (top and sides are usually all you can get to without doing contortions) and then take another temperature reading. One customer reported a five degree drop in air conditioning temperature after painting his ducts. This is a simple task and doesn’t require too much additional paint and makes a tremendous impact on the efficiency of your A/C. If it is apparent that the latex paint may not want to stick well to the duct work, let the first coat get tacky and put on another coat. Up in the attic, without the rigors of weather affecting it, the paint should remain on the duct work for several years, adding extra value to your radiant barrier expenses. If the latex does begin to crack and peel after a time, there’s a good chance you have saved enough energy money to go back up and apply a more suitable paint to the ducts. An elastomeric would be an excellent choice for long life and great results. You’ll need to add KOOLCOAT to any type of paint you apply to the ducts. Some older homes have water piping running through the attic as well as ductwork. KOOLCOATING the water lines can also help in reducing energy costs. When coated with a radiant barrier, warm water stays warmer and cold water stays colder.

While applying the KOOLCOAT in the attic, you need to consider any gable end walls that may face west or south. If these walls are not shaded by trees on the outside they can contribute to keeping the attic hot. Applying a couple of coats of KOOLCOAT to these walls will help reduce heat build-up and add to the beneficial results of the project.

Another item to consider while working in the attic is your insulation. Most forms of insulation trap molecular air within their web of fibers and slow down the rate of heat gain by posing as a “dead air space”. Insulation does work, if it hasn’t settled and if it is covering all of the ceiling area. If you see areas of ceiling that are bare or the insulation is matted down, purchase a roll and add to it. It will only help in the long run.

Outside the realm of using a radiant barrier, but still an important issue in keeping your attic cooler is ventilation. An inspection of the existing vents and their sizing will determine whether this is an area of importance or not for you. To be sized correctly, your building should have more intake area than exhaust. In other words the total area of soffit ventilation should be larger than the total area of ridge ventilation. Powered vents and turbines will work as well as the static vent caps along the ridge. But if you really desire to get full ventilation through your attic, you should consider installing a ridge vent. There are several good ones on the market; the highest rated for air flow is Cor-A-Vent. They have been around longer than anyone else and I personally have used them and their product works wonders.

Getting back to KOOLCOAT application, there are several minor issues that come to mind. Mixing the paint and KOOLCOAT is fairly simple. Whether you are working with five gallon buckets of paint or a bunch of one gallon cans, the most efficient method to get everything mixed is to get at least one (two is better) empty five gallon bucket. In the event you bought a five gallon bucket of paint, mix all the paint and then pour half the paint into the empty bucket. Then add the KOOLCOAT into each half-full bucket. This is accomplished by pinching about half the bag of KOOLCOAT into each half-full bucket. Be sure to wear your dust mask as KOOLCOAT becomes airborne very easily. Stirring KOOLCOAT into the paint will result in some lumps forming; these lumps can be mixed into the paint by working the lumps against the side of the bucket with the stick and breaking them apart. Usually it will take a couple of minutes to thoroughly blend the KOOLCOAT into the paint.

If you are working out of a bunch of one gallon cans, you can follow the same procedure pouring two and (about) a half gallons into the five gallon bucket(s). Once you have the KOOLCOAT mixed into the paint, and if you are working with two five gallon buckets, pour one bucket into the other. You will have some left over, in the second bucket, which can be used a little later once you have used a gallon or so out of the full bucket. Describing this paint/KOOLCOAT mixing procedure takes longer than actually doing it. Because KOOLCOAT is made of tiny hollow glass bubbles, they are very light and mix well into the entire volume of paint. The bubbles don’t sink to the bottom and they don’t seem to float to the top in the time it takes to apply the paint. That said it still makes good sense to occasionally stir the bucket you are working out of. And if you made up several buckets beforehand, you need to stir them up before applying just to make sure all the products are well mixed.

When using the .021” tip, as stated before, a large volume of paint can be applied quickly. Unless you are very careful, there can be and usually is a great deal of over-spray and splatter. If there are items in your attic you don’t want ruined by over-spray and drips it is important to cover these items with a plastic painter’s tarp. I would recommend you get the cheap disposable kind and cover everything you want to protect before starting the painting operation. Don’t worry about any drips and spray that lands on the insulation, it won’t hurt it and may even add some additional protection.

There have been concerns voiced about where to place the paint pump when spraying with an air-less sprayer. Pulling the pump and several buckets of paint into the attic only complicates the operation. It is much easier to add the hose to your equipment and have a helper monitor the pump and change paint buckets when necessary. With enough hose to reach the entire attic without moving the pump and leaving the pump on the floor below the attic access door, you will have less to move around, nothing more than yourself to fall through the ceiling and clean-up is much simpler.

Applying a radiant barrier to your attic is great way to begin to save energy money. With good planning and attention to a few details, you can make an unpleasant job safe, quick and get great results!