Internal partition wall - insulation

[tsutton]

I am due to put a new partition wall and have been looking around for a good insulation to keep our living room warm & homey.

Kingspan seems to be coming up a few times - does anyone recommend this?

Thanks,

 

[RedHerring2]

Why are you thermally insulating internal walls? I would have thought you'd be better off paying the same attention to your external walls.

 

[tsutton]

The external walls are insulated all around.

I need to separate the hallway and living room with a new internal wall as currently they are open plan and thought I'd insulate it to keep the warmth too.

 

[mointainwalker]

Since the temp difference hall/living room is not goig to be great , the absolute efficiency of the insulation is less important.

I'd use fibre-wool. Hugely cheaper than PIR board, can be pushed around to seal any small gaps that might otherwise allow draughts and provides some acoustic insulation too.

 

[RedHerring2]

Hmm, similar to my thoughts, Hillwalker.
Aim for some acoustic insulation, if you want/need it and any additional thermal insulation is a bonus.

 

[tsutton]

Since the temp difference hall/living room is not goig to be great , the absolute efficiency of the insulation is less important.

I think I need to explain why... the living room has 2 radiators but the hallway, all the way to upstairs does not have any radiators at all. So the living room is rarely warm as the heat escapes to the hallway and toward upstairs.

Hence putting up a partition wall to keep the heat inside the living room and to ensure that it stays in there, I want to insulate the partition wall.

I'd use fibre-wool. Hugely cheaper than PIR board, can be pushed around to seal any small gaps that might otherwise allow draughts and provides some acoustic insulation too.

Can you give me a few examples? I've had a look around and I've found so far are for loft insulations. Hence my post asking about the Kingspan as it's the only thing I could find for internal wall instulation.

Thanks.

 

[RedHerring2]

... the living room has 2 radiators but the hallway, all the way to upstairs does not have any radiators at all. So the living room is rarely warm as the heat escapes to the hallway and toward upstairs.

I suspect Hillwalker is refering to the fibre-wool normally used in loft insulation.

I'd also consider moving one of the radiators into the hallway. One rad, depending on size, boiler, etc, should be sufficient for the living room.
Otherwise you're either going to have a very cold hallway/stairs/landing and/or you're going to be moving the problem up the stairs to the landing.
With TVRs on the rads you could keep the hallway at a lower setting than the living room.

But I'm no central heating expert.

And don't forget to do any first-fix electrics before p/boarding the wall both sides.

 

[tsutton]

I suspect Hillwalker is refering to the fibre-wool normally used in loft insulation.

Ah, I see. I will have a look again.

I'd also consider moving one of the radiators into the hallway. One rad, depending on size, boiler, etc, should be sufficient for the living room.

The fitter installed two raidator in the living room due to the size of the living room, so moving it is not an option.

Otherwise you're either going to have a very cold hallway/stairs/landing and/or you're going to be moving the problem up the stairs to the landing. With TVRs on the rads you could keep the hallway at a lower setting than the living room.

I can see what you mean... hmm, wll need to rethink this.

And don't forget to do any first-fix electrics before p/boarding the wall both sides.

I won't be doing any electrical work, and I'm going to have one of them visiting me to advise me the best course of action before I start the work.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[mointainwalker]

RH was right, that is what i was referring to.

The only problem with using fibre-wool in rolls is that is floppy, so if you use it in walls it should be attached at the top to prevent it crumpling down on itself over time.

My experience is that the 100 mm rolls tend to be cheapest per cm thickness as they are the most popular. If your wall void is going to be thinner than that it is not important. Squashing the wool does diminish its efficiency but only down to the compressed thickness i.e. compress 100 to 80 and it insulates as 80. This will also improve the acoustic insulation and give your walls - if plasterboard - a bit more "body"

There is an altenative which is the same material cut into blocks and treated with a stiffener so that it will stand upright. These are called "batts"

This is normally 100% dearer than the roll material per m2 but as there is a lot of subsidy going into the rolls currently. the difference may now be greater.

By the way RH2 did you lose your password or is this a second generation moving in ?

 

[Robert9999]

For the insulation you could also use large sheets of 50mm thick polystyrene. I used these when I partitioned off part of my large integral garage to make an office. They are much easier than loft insulation when fitting vertically. B & Q sell 1200 by 450 mm sheets for £3.48 each. I think that some places sell even larger sheets that are better value.

However, I have read that you must not put electrical cable through them as there is a chemical reaction between the polystyrene and the plastic of the cable.