What Does Insulation Actually Do?

Simply stated, it slows down the movement of heat. Heat is like a river in that it always flows in one direction—from warm surfaces to cooler ones. Hence, heat will flow out of a house in cold weather and into it when temperatures soar. This flow takes place in three ways: by conduction, by convection and by radiation. Conducted heat travels through solids such as bricks and concrete, while convected heat is transmitted in fluids. Thus a wooden-frame house with air space in the walls, or one that is not insulated, will lose heat by convection, since air acts like a fluid. Radiant heat travels through space (as in the instance of the sun) and heats the object it strikes (as in the case of the earth).

Experimentation indicates that air is a poor conductor of heat. Therefore, what insulation accomplishes is this: It makes tiny traps or pockets of still air, and these slow down heat transfer. Also, insulation material itself is a poor conductor.

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