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Despite their appearance, wooden floors are highly permeable to both heat and moisture. In windy areas, cold air and moisture is driven into living space through gaps between floorboards. Effective under-floor insulation and ground moisture proofing saves heating costs and creates a healthier and more comfortable living environment by keeping feet and playing children warm, and preventing moisture rising from the ground to enter the building.
Under-floor insulation makes a huge difference to the experienced comfort in your house because a warm floor will provide a more even vertical temperature distribution in your living space. We get cold feet easily, so a warm floor gives you better comfort than warm air around your head. Ground moisture proofing reduces condensation by preventing ground moisture ingression.
Three Problems of Uninsulated Floors
· Uninsulated timber floors feel cold and are one reason for high energy costs due to insufficient thermal resistance of the floorboards (Floor system R-value R 0.3 - R 0.5),
· Drafts through leaky floorboards bring in cold, damp air, pushing warm, heated air up to the ceiling,
· Moisture rising from the ground diffuses easily through floorboards and most floor coverings, causing condensation problems inside the house.
Three Products in One - Air-Cell Under-Floor Insulation
When you are going to the trouble of installing underfloor insulation, it pays to install a product that will be working for you for many years into the future. That's why Negawatt has chosen Air-cell as its preferred underfloor insulation product.
Air-Cell consists of a 7 mm thick polymer bubble blanket in between two reflective foils that is installed through stapling to floor joists with overlaps being taped. It comes in 1350mm x 22.25 metre rolls, is very light to handle and will span 2.4 metres unsupported. The tape is a pressure sensitive moisture barrier foil tape, 48mm wide x 50 metres long.
Air-Cell offers all three functions required for insulating suspended timber floors in one product:
· Thermal insulation as a result of 97 % reflection of heat radiation (two reflective foils) and thermal conductivity separation (enclosed air-cells),
· Draught stop (all joints will be overlapped and airtight taped),
· Ground moisture proofing (Vapour barrier),
Negawatt's Air-Cell under-floor insulation combines high performance thermal insulation with a ground moisture proofing vapour and air barrier. Its performance and longevity is unmatched.
Double the Performance of Common Under-floor Insulating Materials with Air-Cell
Air-Cell is the most effective and easiest to install under-floor insulating material for suspended timber floors. Installed correctly it will provide double the performance of perforated reflective single foil.
The R-value of the floor system insulated with Air-Cell varies between R 2.0 and R 2.3 with a minimum 100 mm air gap, because it depends not only on the thermal properties of the insulation material, but also on factors such as the flooring type, thermal bridges and still air spaces.
Maximum thermal performance depends on creating a still air zone between the flooring and the insulation blanket, which is stapled underneath the floor joists. Thus, all joints and penetrations must be airtight sealed by using Air-Cell pressure-sensitive foil tape. To ensure maximum reflectivity the upper surface of the insulation blanket must be kept clean when installing.
Another advantage of Air-Cell versus other alternatives is that if, after installation, you need to access floor space underneath your home you can simply pull the Air-Cell down and then reattach it. You will not damage the product and you will again achieve 100% performance.
Air-Cell Specification
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· 97% foil reflectivity
· Strong, tough durable anti-tear surface
· Spans 2.4 metres unsupported
· Water resistant and not affected by humidity
· Rodents, insects, bacteria and fungi resistant
· Fibre-free, non-allergenic, non-irritant and non-carcinogenic
· Complies with AS/NZS 4859.1 : 2002
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Your Choice: You Do or We Do
Air-Cell Supply only: $424.00 per 30 m2 roll plus shipping (Add about 8% to the actual floor area for overlapping and down-folding). Size of bales: 1350mm x Ø450mm. Tape for securing joins: $25.00/roll. Allow 1 Foil Tape Roll for 2 Air-Cell Insulation Rolls. Staples: Stainless Steel 12mm $72.11 Qty 2000 staples. Normally you need 2000 per house. These are commercial-grade, long-life stainless staples, which will ensure that your Air-cell installation is there for the life of the house.
Air-Cell Supply and Installation: Contact us for a quote to get Negawatt's experienced installers to install it (Installations outside the Greater Wellington area on request only - we have accredited installers in many other areas of New Zealand).
Preparation for DIY - Installation
Air-Cell under-floor insulation is safe and easy to install.
Check the under-floor access: Because the insulation is installed from underneath, a minimum height of about 40 cm between the ground and the floor joists is required. Check for the presence of services (e.g. pipes and electrical wires) or other obstructions, which could hinder the work. If you find access difficult, do not hesitate to ask Negawatt for advice.
Calculate the area of your home: Note that when measuring your house you need to allow an extra 8% for overlapping and off-cuts.
Read our Under-Floor Installation Instructions.
Find out more
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DIY installation instructions
Negawatt prides itself on its independence. We do not sell just one product. Instead, we carefully analyze the needs of a home and recommend only the measures that will produce the best results - from a health perspective, and in cost/benefit terms. We will advise you with the selection of the under-floor insulation system, which is most suitable for your home, provide DIY installation instructions or arrange a detailed quotation for a complete installation or supply only.
Contact Negawatt for a quote and more information.
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