Foil Faced Rigid Insulation Vs Unfaced

Air migrates from warmer spaces toward colder spaces and insulation is designed to help prevent or at least slow that migration.

Foil faced rigid insulation vs unfaced.

It is important not to mix them nor use the wrong faced insulation product for each task. There are many types of insulation that are unfaced such as spray foam and loose fill fiberglass. Faced insulation products not only use paper they can also use aluminum foil vinyl and even aluminum paper. When it s batts or rolls of unfaced insulation it s meant to be used to add r rating values but should be installed behind the faced insulation.

When to use paper faced. Mostly paper faced insulation is the best choice for neophytes in insulation installations. Kinds of insulation that don t involve facing of any sort include spray foam blown in insulation and rigid foam boards. Any type of rigid foam will work from a building science perspective.

Faced insulation has a vapor barrier or a vapor retarder the facing that helps prevent moisture from moving from one space to another. Unlike faced insulation unfaced insulation lacks a vapor barrier or retarder meaning it does not provide moisture control but it s more economical than its faced counterpart. From a green building perspective as dana dorsett correctly notes either eps or polyiso is preferable to xps. His method employs zip system sheathing for structure and air sealing 2 in.

What is the right insulation for an attic. The upside is you save money by not having to pay to add your own vapor barrier. Unfaced insulation is a type of fiberglass batt insulation which is normally used over existing insulation. Choosing the right thickness of exterior foam rigid foam must be thick enough to prevent condensation on the roof sheathing.

Faced insulation is a little but not a lot more expensive than unfaced simply because of the extra material it includes. Foil faced polyiso is easy to tape.