Wednesday, July 18, 2007

[papercreters] Re: Papercrete as rigid insulation?

Papercrete varies in insulation value. It depends upon what exactly
is put in the mix. The more sand, clay, cement, lime, or other
mineral content that is in the mix, the lower the insulation value.
Papercrete also increases in insulation value the more densely packed
the paper fibers are. (This may seem counter intuitive, but it's
true.)

R2.5-R3.5 per inch is most typical. R4 per inch or greater can be
achieved with specialty mixes, especially if the slurry is compressed
into forms. I haven't done it, but my personal opinion is that R5
per inch might be achieveable if everything were done perfectly, but
I doubt the effort would be practical. It would be far easier to
just use a thicker layer of R3.5-R4 papercrete.

Typical expanded polystyrene runs R5 per inch.
Polyisocyanurate is less than that, but I don't remember how much. I
think it's less than most papercrete.

To have a paper-rich low mineral content light weight papercrete mix
that is insect/vermin/fire resistant, borax would almost certainly be
included in the mix.

The biggest difference between papercrete and polystyrene in this
application is that polystyrene resists moisture far better. This
issue can be mitigated with proper planning, but can't be ignored.

Some people are using both paper and expanded polystyrene beads in
their mixes effectively. Clyde Curry is one. Check his Eve's Garden
website and our Papercreters archives for his past posts for more
information.

Maybe if we smile really nice Clyde might even post the urls for his
Eve's Garden website on the Papercreters Links Page.


--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, Greg House <ghunicycle@...>
wrote:
>
> Since papercrete has some insulating value, do you think it'd be
effective to use in place of rigid foam type insulation? Perhaps a a
paper-rich mix to save weight and cost?
>
> If so, any ideas on how well it'd insulate? Would it be resistant
to insects/vermin?
>
> Greg
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________________________________________________________________
______________
> The fish are biting.
> Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing.
> http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php
>



Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/papercreters/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/papercreters/join

(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:papercreters-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:papercreters-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
papercreters-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/