The Problem: Thermal Bridging
You may have a hidden energy leak in your walls that you don't even know is there, and it is costing you money every day! The cause of this leak is the wood framing in your walls; heat by-passes the batt insulation (pink stuff) that is in your wall cavity by transferring through the studs and other framing members, allowing energy to leak right through your walls. Building scientists call this phenomenon "thermal bridging".
You may be wondering how dramatic thermal bridging actually is. Picture this: nearly 25% of your home's wall surface is made of wooden studs and other framing members. If you slammed all of those studs together, it would be like having one whole wall of your home with zero cavity insulation!
Unfortunately, siding products were not designed to solve this problem; they were intended to beautify and protect your home, but add hardly any insulation value. The United States Department of Energy says that "When new siding is to be installed, it's a good idea to consider adding thermal insulation under new siding"*.
One way to meet the Department of Energy's recommendation is to install Fullback®FC siding insulation behind your fiber cement siding during installation. Because the contoured foam fills the gap between the siding and your wall, it delivers maximum energy efficiency. Adding Fullback®FC to your fiber cement siding can increase its thermal performance by over 600%!
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Thermal bridging of a hot box demonstration |
*Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Insulation Fact Sheet, 2008.