Choosing the correct material for your home insulation can make a huge difference to your home – as well as your bills! But there is more to insulation than just heat retention. The right insulation can also help manage summer heat gain, help with moisture and humidity levels, reduce noise, improve indoor air quality, health and wellbeing.
There is one material that ticks all the boxes on the home insulation list, as well as being one of the more sustainable choice – sheep's wool. Find out why wool is one of the best materials you can choose to insulate your home, with helpful advice from Thermafleece.
1. Wool is supremely effective at preventing heat loss
This is the number one reason why home owners get home insulation – to prevent heat loss from the home. Wool is exceptionally efficient at doing just that. Sheep’s wool is one of nature’s most technical and versatile fibres. The fibres themselves contain air and the thousands of fine scales on each strand create a very high surface area which helps trap even more air.
If you want a practical example, insulating your home with with 300mm of Thermafleece equals having a 77 Tog duvet in your loft. For reference, the warmest winter duvet is 10.5 tog.
2. Wool is sustainable
Thermafleece uses the wool from sheep that are bred on the hills, fells and mountains of Britain. The sheep need to be hardy to thrive in this difficult environment meaning they need coarse bulky wool fleeces. Their wool isn’t suitable for clothing because it’s too coarse, it’s also too dark to dye so it can’t be used in carpets either.
The polyester content in the insulation is made from recycled plastic, making it much more sustainable than using virgin polyester. The polyester content actually makes the insulation perform better and easier to transport in compressed form, reducing transportation needs.
3. It's breathable
Why does breathability matter in your insulation material? The walls and roof in your house need to allow for adequate air exchange while blocking out draughts in order to prevent excess humidity levels. Wool is a natural humidity regulator on top of being breathable, which helps to create a healthier indoor environment and prevent problems like condensation.
4. It neutralises pollutants in your indoor air
Not all insulation materials are made equal. Synthetic materials are often treated with various chemicals, including ethanolamine, formaldehyde, isocyanates, and various flame retardants. These chemicals emit VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the air in your home, often for months or even years to come. VOCs can be very bad for your health, causing allergic reactions and triggering conditions such as asthma.
Wool insualtion emits extremely low levels of VOCs – and is even capable of absorbing them from the air. It's especially effective at absorbing formaldehyde.
5. Wool is an effective noise insulator
Because of their irregular surface, shape and density, fibres such as sheep’s wool are very effective at disrupting sound at different decibel levels. That’s one of the reasons why Thermafleece can provide acoustic performance comparable to the best mineral fibre products. Mineral fibre insulation actually mimics the structure of a material like wool by adding materials with slightly different structures in order to target different sound levels. With wool, you get that naturally.