Cotton wool or penoplex? Insulation from the USSR or modern with small air cells (harm to insulation)

Insulation is undoubtedly a useful thing in our climate. At the moment there are a great many different types, subspecies, brands, classes, etc.

However, the two most popular insulation materials are:

• Expanded polystyrene foam (mainly penoplex),
• Basalt wool.

And from the moment the first two packs of these heaters were released on our market, there have been furious disputes among builders, sometimes reaching ridiculous fables. Let's honestly understand this ridiculous problem and choose our own, insulation.

Composition and characteristics

Expanded polystyrene, foamed styrene on scientific basis. It is the material of the new century. This, in the literal sense, air insulation, is 90% carbon dioxide enclosed in foamed shells. It is precisely the air structure that endows the penoplex with heat insulating properties.

Of the features of this insulation, one can single out high properties of retaining heat, an almost endless shelf life, minimum weight, as well as the simplest installation and the actual possibility of filling with cement and other water-containing solutions.

Basalt wool. The material is more traditional, one might say loved by older generations. It consists of molten volcanic rocks, which are molded under pressure into briquettes of a well-known insulation.

The main advantages of basalt wool are high resistance to heat transmission, excellent sound absorption and zero fire hazard, as well as elasticity allowing you to insert briquettes into whatever space.

Cotton wool against penoplex (harm to insulation)

Expanded polystyrene withstands moisture, cement pressure, it incredibly justifies itself in flooded floors, insulation of cellars, basements, wet facades, it is also indispensable in insulation of foundations and so on. But flammability the material based on carbon dioxide is incredibly large. Now imagine how the penoplex will behave in the attic by the chimney. A slightly higher temperature, some kind of spark and open expanded polystyrene burns like a match.

Harm penoplex is carried out only when it starts to burn.

Basalt the same cotton wool does not burn in principle, this is the insulation that is often used in saunas, wooden houses as insulation of residential premises and so on, but if it is rolled into concrete or properly moistened, the thermal insulation properties will be forever lost. Harm comes from construction work. Fine dust is formed, which is harmful to the lungs. There is a modern insulation for sale (almost no dust and does not prick).

Experienced builders they will say that in the process of building a house, one type of insulation usually does not do. There is no perfect insulation. All types are good, but only in certain situations.