Aerogel Sheets vs. Fiberglass Batting

I want to do an efficiency and cost comparison of using aerogel sheets vs. fiberglass batting in residential homes. I have found a resource with different construction material R-Values that I will use to compare the thermal loss of traditional fiberglass batting vs aerogel with a price comparison at the end.

Any critics/improvements of the math involved would be appreciated.

Thermal Comparison

Using US standard wall construction: every wall is composed of 2"x4" studs (actually 1 3/4" x 3 3/4") separated by 16". This makes each wall 11% thermally bridged by studs and 89% fiberglass-insulated.

1 3/4" / 16" = 11%
(16" - 1 3/4") / 16" = 89%

Using the R-values from the link above, where 2x4 studded wall portions are rated at R-5 while fiberglass-insulated portions (without polyurethane, the yellow foam, and polystyrene) are rated at R-15. This leaves a standard wall with a rating of R-13.9

  • (0.11 * 5) + (0.89 * 15) = 13.9

Since aerogel is applied in a sheet, there is no thermal bridging at the location of the studs. This makes 100% of the wall rated at the R-value of commercially available aerogel which is R2.8 W/K/m² (metric) or R-16 imperial

  • 2.8 * 5.7 (hr ft2 oF/Btu) / (W/K/m²) = 16.0

This makes a single sheet of 5mm aerogel 15.1% more efficient than a fiberglass-insulated wall

  • (16/13.9) - 1 = 15.1%

Cost Comparison

Commercially available aerogel is available at $4/sqft This is the cheapest I could find; if you find cheaper please let me know.
Bulk purchase fiberglass batting is available at $0.34/sqft

Conclusion

Even though aerogel is more efficient than fiberglass, the price does not justify the ~15% home heating and cooling savings. A hybrid solution is to cover 89% of the wall in fiberglass while aerogel protects the other 11% from thermal bridging across the studs. This leads to an R-value 4" wall of R-15.1

  • (0.11 * 16) + (0.89 * 15) = 15.1

With a 6" wall, this hybrid solution is entirely mute since 6" batting has an R-value of 23 which leaves a 6" wall R-value at 21.0

  • (0.11 * 5) + (0.89 * 23) = 21.0

Any thoughts/solutions for improving thermal efficiency/cost? I did not include spray-in polyurethane foam in this comparison.

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It’s interesting to see your thoughts on this. I’ve often thought about the pros and cons of different insulation options, but I don’t have the engineering background to easily approach the subject. As an alternative to spray-in foam, I’ve seen someone use the kind of foam that comes in slabs, and “glue” it between the studs using the little spray cans of expanding foam insulation. I don’t know how that would compare to regular spray-in or fiberglass.

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The only thing familiar to me in this regard is wall construction for acoustic isolation, so from that perspective, have you considered some heavier insulation, like the Owens-Corning stuff? Also double layered drywall on the interior? I have a wall that is floated in 2 sections with 2x insulation, but that’s basically doubling material costs, so I dunno about that being viable. In any case, it works almost too well. 30° difference in room temps is not uncommon (one room has 2x ext walls + windows, the other has just a few feet of ext wall and then all int).

Hope it helps in some way.

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I have a more nitpicky comment: most new(er) construction uses 2x6 for the outer walls, 2x4 for inner. Many inner walls aren’t insulated for temperature because it doesn’t matter much, but some like the bathroom and bedroom walls will be insulated to dampen noise.

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I suppose I should have prefaced this: I am looking to design this for a residential “tiny house” that is 8ft x 20ft where every inch counts. An excellent solution to the insulation issue is the make all the walls 6 or 8 inches instead of 4 and use ladder framing of 2x4" studs to eliminate bridging except at the corners but in a tiny house space is very limited.

4" walls brings the space down to 7’4" x 19’4" while 6" walls change it to 7’0" x 19’0". Maybe this is acceptable? The walls are approaching human wingspan and I need to create an indoor layout mockup to see how this affects the living space.

However, your point about acoustic dampening immediately changes my mind away from aerogel.

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30° difference between rooms sounds incredible. 50°F bedroom is perfectly acceptable. External wall acoustic insulation is of high importance so the heavier the better.

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Less expensive to build thicker walls.

I’d put more thought into appliances (automation), windows and doors.

Hmm, at $4 per square foot aerogel is way too expensive in my opinion. The next best option might be some polystyrene foam boards. Those can have up to R5 per inch of depth, so R20 for 2x4 construction. It still isn’t all that cheap though at ~$1 per square foot.

Overall I think your best bet would just be fiberglass insulation and making sure the structure is built well.

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2" x 4" lumber is not 1 3/4" x 3 3/4", as the link you provide says, so you would need to readjust your math. That 1 1/2" thickness takes up space in the 16" spacing, so it is 14 1/2" between each stud.

As mentioned, some newer style construction uses 2" x 6" (1 1/2 x 5 1/2) studs 24" on center (22 1/2" between), but stupidly it isn’t as common as online articles would have you believe. Being in Florida with very hot temperatures and hurricanes, you would figure people would not make houses from under 1,200 sq. ft. to over 12,000 sq. ft. with 2" x 4" exterior walls because of the large energy savings and ability to use larger hurricane tie down hardware, but it’s pretty rare in my experience. The government mandates cars by efficiency, yet houses that use much more energy don’t have efficiency ratings. Construct as cheap as possible and pass the buck.

Another thing to note is the sheets of aerogel would have to be structurally capable of being used with an adhesive in order to get zero thermal bridging, as any nails or screws would be highly conductive. Maybe only a small percentage of the total area, but still a measurable number. It doesn’t look like it can be sandwiched without compression, and thus a drop in efficiency, but maybe other products have it sandwiched in structural panels.

Those links for aerogel available for purchase is great, thanks. If it had a slightly higher temperature threshold it would have even more uses. I wonder if it is the aerogel or the batting it is contained in that is the limitation.

Since you are looking at doing a tiny house, you might want to look into ones that have been Built With SIP’s. If they aren’t available locally, you could probably construct your own. That might not be feasible for a huge house, but with a tiny house you could make it exactly how you want it while laying on the ground and then just stand it up. I know I have seen a few on YouTube like that so a search should yield some results.

My understanding is that R13 insulation made for 4" walls is derated to R11 at 3 1/2". I think there are some fiberglass batts out there now which do slightly better. A big problem with fiberglass is installation. If it gets compressed and isn’t fluffed out again when installed it has a big drop in effectiveness. Having to cut and piece things together in some of the odd shaped bays can easily lead to gaps that allow thermal transfer from one side to the other. You can end up with an entire bay that effectively has about R1.

If this tiny house is fixed in place it might not be as bad, but one that gets dragged down the road will likely experience a lot of settling. The same goes for cellulose insulation. It fills better than fiberglass, but I would be afraid of it settling quite a bit if it is moved around regularly. This settling would lead to large gaps. I guess you could leave the tops of the bays open and stuff more cellulose fiber in as it settles. Spray foam and foam panels would not settle and would be a better choice for houses that see a lot of time on the road.

Unfortunately this ignores what most houses ignore, and that is the surroundings. If it is constantly changing then you may not have control over this, but the surroundings of a house have an Effect On The Microclimate which can lead to a significant loss of efficiency. I think there are calculators online which can show the energy savings of using trees to block the sun and reduce the need for cooling. Having shade to the South and West would be good in warm climates and bad in cold climates. Having a large masonry wall a short distance North could absorb sun all day and radiate that heat through the night. Keeping this in mind for a mobile house could help if you have choices of where to park.

Even something as simple as having a white or reflective roof in a warm climate or a black or charcoal gray roof in a cold climate can make a noticeable difference. I always see people so happy to get a great deal on cheap black roofing and wonder why their air conditioner is running all the time.

Permanent shutters that actually work and can be manipulated from the inside could also increase safety and efficiency. They could provide protection from road debris and prevent someone from breaking a window. When closed it could trap an air pocket to reduce heat transfer. Being able to open them from the inside would be mandatory in case of a fire or other emergency.

I’ve framed a lot of houses and been a fan of tiny houses for a long time. I personally like the idea of a small permanent house and large work spaces with plenty of space for gardens and trees and nature. If you have any other info about your build or take pictures along the way, then post them up! Good luck!

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Kinda cool a material used in the NASA stardust mission is finding commercial applications.
https://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/tech/aerogel.html

I heard straw was a good insulator. Didn’t even know these were viable options.

Did you do a comparison of how long it would take to pay for itself, and then the estimated savings in heating costs you would rake in after they were paid off?

Very observant! Though I don’t think they will be unregulated for much longer. The amount of energy wasted in heating and cooling a house is simply ludicrous.

The thicker wall option seems the best so far. I’m rearranging furniture to create a tiny house “fort” in my living room to see if the extra 9 sqft loss is livable. 6" walls brings the house from 142 to 133 sqft without the loft but this can be made up by going to a 24’ trailer instead of 20’.

I will make a separate thread for low-energy appliances. Since heating/cooling is typically 40-50% of home energy use I figured this should be tackled as its own topic.

Lastly, home automation is its own topic and since I’m in at build time I can do a simple wired solution. Overall I’m excited about this project and thanks everyone for your input!

Looking back at the link for nominal lumber dimensions I noticed that there are some Ken M.-level comments on that article and yes they’re 1 1/2" wide.

One user on the subject of how drying and planing reduces size:

This helps to explain why a half gallon of most ice cream brands is only three pints. They have to dry & plane the ice cream which is why you get less.

Back on topic:

This will be in a hot climate so I can park it partially shaded. For the roof I was planning to do a simple tin roof then cover it with solar panels (which will not be thermally coupled to the tin) and a couple skylights. On the subject of lighting one of the keys to making the tiny house feel larger than it actually is is lots of windows (I have personally observed a ~250 sqft cabin that felt bigger than a ~550 sqft house due to windows and an open floor plan; however, the permanent shudder options sounds great for the when I’m not home which is most of the time.

This scares me as well. I think it could be mitigated with faced batting that is heavily stapled. I already know I’m going with steel studs instead of wood to save weight. I would like to go permanent as well but I don’t fully know where I want to live yet and this could be a 5 to 15 year decision period. I don’t know how structurally sound those foam SIPs are but I’m building everything from scratch minus the trailer so I’m doing my own walls.

As far as theft goes I’m more concerned about someone taking a diamond blade to the trailer lock and driving off with the whole thing but gps fixes this issue.

Thanks for your input!

Hello from a former sheetrock installer and painting contractor!

Also, I found those aerogel sheets from the source in bulk pricing:
5mm aerogel - $3.79/sqft (what I was using in efficiency/cost comparison)
10mm aerogel - $5.72/sqft

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Update: having 6" walls instead of 4" walls is not problem at all as far as living goes so I will be going the fiberglass route. From my indoor mockup I made with couches and cardboard boxes, a 8’x24’ trailer is perfect for one person living. Thanks, everyone!

I was going to go on a nice trip about the work that Greg La Veradera has been doing with the New Wall building technique to make up for the deficiencies in regular stick built techniques. It’s cool, look it up.

But for your purpose, go with the usual. I would still go 2 x 6, but don’t do fibreglass. Use rock wool batts. It has better R value without the liabilities of the pink stuff. Look at cladding the outside wall with polystyrene to increase the Rvalue as well but this all has to figure into your budget. Your biggest hurdle is going to be municipal not architectural. Most cities loathe small footprint dwellings. And if they’re mobile as well it’s even more of a headache with that moved into “RV” status.

I noticed that the rock wool is more expensive which is fine. In home depot’s installation video, the installer is not wearing a dust mask or long sleeves; is that really advisable with a rock fiber material?

Found Greg La Veradera’s "New Walls"
Video
Blog

A tiny house magazine on municipal laws solutions

Sleeves is fully your choice, some people find it scratches others don’t, but either way the effect is gone very soon without much long term risk… even if you end up with glass in the skin, it works out with time (unless you’ve broken a large section like a drinking vessel or window, where it can push chunks beyond the outer skin layer… and these are hard to find and need removal as they neither get broken down by immune system or will leave on their own…).

Masks is common sense… in theory (unlike asbestos) it should all be long washed fiber, so no glass small enough to inhale, but in practice it does always break strands as handled, and while the fiber DOES eventually leave lungs (and much faster than asbestos), any scaring caused is basically permanent, moving you slowly closer to a horrible death (once the scarring causes coughing, it self worsens till you get decreasing lung function and fluid inundation, leading to pneumonia cases, shortness of breath and eventually death to drowning… but it can be many months of feeling like your being waterboarded first). Admittedly few people even get this sort of exposure unless they work with materials that carry this risk daily… such as quarrying high silicate materials, cutting fiberglass or the like… however how much of an inconveince is a mask really? Its less than a dollar for a cheap bulk mask thats heaps to block 99% of the glass that would be in your lungs.

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Right. I always wear sleeves and a mask with fiberglass or other insulation I was just wondering “how wrong is home depot for this video?” and how many newbies will be ill-advised by watching it?

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Fair enough, and yeah, some of the electrical content on similar trade supplies places can be good for a laugh for the same reason… they get a staff member with no clue to do something on camera and then just post it without considering codes or the like… and it can be shocking.

Spend the money. You have to. Fibreglass is not an insulator per se, it’s the air it traps in the fibers. Packing it into a wall densely is as bad as not enough. Your “house” is going to be transportable. That means vibration and jarring bumps. As such a properly pink insulated wall will settle and you’ll find after a few years the tops of your walls are always cold. Doh! Use the rock wool and you avoid the hassles. It’s far more dimensionally stable.

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