Go Green - Energy Efficiency in Your Home

Simply put… YES, radiant barriers work. Now don’t worry, I’m not just going to stop there, you will get a detailed explanation.

The reason a radiant barrier works at reducing energy costs is because they lessen the strain on a structure's heating and cooling system. Regardless of whether or not you are heating a structure, or cooling it, radiant foil barrier will stop the transmission of radiant heat (95-97% of it anyway).

Radiant heat is the most efficient form of heat transfer there is. It’s more efficient than convection and conduction put together. The best radiant barrier foil, stops at least 95-97% of radiant heat transmission.

What this means is that in the summer, when the sun is beating down on your roof and radiant heat is raising the temperature in your attic and interior spaces, a properly installed radiant barrier will drastically reduce that radiant heat gain. Vice versa, in the winter, when you are trying hard to keep your home warm, while the heat is rising and leaving your home through the ceiling, properly installed reflective radiant barrier insulation will reduce that heat loss by reflecting radiant heat back into the home.

Some individuals say that reflective radiant barriers are not effective and point to a specific government website (www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/radiant/rb_tables.htm) as their proof. However, after thoroughly analyzing that data, it only shows that radiant barriers are not effective in certain circumstances: when massive amounts of insulation (R38) are used and where there is no heating or cooling duct-work located in the attic. I will agree, that if you don't have any heating or cooling duct-work in the attic and your ceiling / attic space is very well insulated, then a radiant barrier will do very little towards reducing your energy bills.

Being from the construction industry however, I must say that many homes, especially in the southern regions, do have duct-work and air handlers located in their attic spaces, so even if they have the proper amount of insulation, a radiant barrier would still be quite beneficial.