Insulation of a private house. We are looking for a universal insulation. Which insulation is better for thermal insulation Which insulation to use

A wide selection of heaters for wooden houses, they can insulate the house outside, and some even inside the house. What types are suitable for a frame house? Which is the best, consider their characteristics in this article! Correctly carried out will not be superfluous in any climatic conditions.

When it is done correctly, under its “protection” it will not only be warmer in the house in winter, but also noticeably cooler in summer.

Installation of insulation will create a comfortable microclimate in a room for any purpose - in a residential building, office or in a production workshop.

In addition, the savings in heat are obvious financial savings. It is completely unreasonable to heat the street, given that the technologies used today provide an opportunity to start saving energy resources at an early stage. construction works... Most of all, those parts of the building that are more adjacent to the external environment -, and - need the use of insulation.

The material produced in this way has excellent, moreover, it is not flammable, and therefore does not pose a fire hazard. But a huge part wonderful qualities insulation can be irretrievably lost when it gets wet. This should be taken into account.

Stone wool

Stone wool

It is a fibrous material that is sold in the form of rolls and slabs, and has an extremely low thermal conductivity.

The highest quality product is made from rocks called gabbro-basalt. This non-combustible material with equal success it is used in the construction of private facilities and the construction of various production facilities. The wide range of uses is also explained by the possibility of its use at extremely high t, reaching an indicator of one thousand degrees.

The complete fire resistance of the insulation is complemented by its excellent resistance to moisture. This hydrophobic material, the peculiarity of which is that it does not absorb water, but repels it.

This ensures that the insulation remains dry even after a long period of time. This, in turn, will allow her to maintain her high working qualities. Unique properties basalt wool can be used even in boiler rooms, baths and saunas, where both high humidity and high temperature are combined. Strength in this case is not directly related to the density of the material.

It's pretty soft material, having at the same time a sufficient margin of safety. Its structural stability is due to the special arrangement of the individual constituent fibers - chaotic and vertical. The material has high anti-corrosion properties.

It can quite peacefully coexist with concrete and metal, without the appearance different kinds chemical reactions. High biological resistance provides him with immunity to various biological pests: damage by insects and rodents, the emergence fungal diseases,

The basalt insulation passed the combustion test, and the organic insulation burned out

Basalt rock is the main raw material for the production of this type of wool... Processing with formaldehyde resins gives the material a sufficient level of strength, and the modern technologies used in this process guarantee the complete elimination of harmful phenols even at the stage of material production.

The final product that reaches the consumer is a harmless and environmentally friendly material with high insulating qualities.

It is actively used for insulating floors of residential and industrial premises, for thermal insulation of roofs and facades, including as an external insulation.

He found wide application in rooms with extreme humidity and temperature. The best basalt insulation, stone wool made of rocks - a guarantee of high quality for a long time.

Glass wool

The missing 7% comes from specially added flame retardants. Insulation fibers contain lignin, which becomes sticky when the humidity rises. All elements of the insulation are non-toxic, absolutely non-volatile and harmless to health. Cellulose insulation does not lend itself to combustion, decay processes, has excellent sound insulation and heat insulation performance.

It can hold about 20% moisture, while maintaining its working qualities. The material gives off moisture to the outside and dries quickly, retaining all its performance characteristics. The disadvantage of ecowool is the difficulty of manually applying it to the surface, as well as the impossibility of arranging a "floating floor" due to its inherent softness.

At the present time, everyone who, in one way or another, is faced with the construction or repair of a house, pay special attention to insulation building structures... Well, how could it be otherwise? Energy prices have increased so much that just throwing heat out of the house can cost a lot of money. Therefore, during construction, the house is insulated from the foundation to the roof.

A little bit of basics

As practice and calculations have shown, the most the highest percentage of heat loss Houses falls on the walls. And in order to reduce this very percentage, modern builders have undertaken to insulate the walls, as they say, conscientiously, and they approach this issue very thoroughly. This was earlier, some 20-25 years ago, when glass wool was the only insulation, private developers simply made walls with an air gap, rightly believing air to be the worst heat conductor. Today the situation with the insulation of building structures has improved dramatically. In building stores of a wide variety of insulation materials, there is a huge variety for a wide variety of purposes.

these are polystyrene foam boards

stone wool heaters

What are the fundamental differences, pros and cons of these two types?

Expanded polystyrene - it is simply polystyrene. But here foam plastic is different. There is simply gas-filled polystyrene made of small granules pressed together by sintering at an elevated temperature. And there is extruded polystyrene foam (with the XPS marking) in the separator there is no separation into granules, and the gas-filled mixture is squeezed out of the extruder into a pre-prepared mold and then pressed into plates.

Inorganic fiber insulation obtained from mineral chips (basalt, quartz sand), which is melted at high temperatures and pulled into fibers. The mineral fiber thus obtained is then treated with binders and pressed into slabs. In some way it resembles the technology of felt boots made of wool. And, pay attention, for a good winter has not yet been invented better shoes than woolen socks and felt boots. What does this mean? It is true that as insulation, compressed fiber behaves excellently.

The approximate price for a square is 245r (with a thickness of 50mm), one plate has dimensions of 600 * 1200.

Here is a small overview. What kind of insulation to choose for thermal insulation at home is up to you, of course.

After the introduction of a new standard for thermal protection of buildings, insulation became relevant even for those houses that were previously considered “safe”. Owners of old buildings do not need to do anything, but must be prepared to pay the growing energy bills. And projects of new houses will not be approved if they do not meet the requirements of SNiP 23-02-2003. There are several technologies available to meet the target performance requirements for buildings of any material. The main thing is to choose the right insulation for the walls of the house outside in each case.

Keep the house warm

Why external insulation, and not internally

The most understandable argument for a layman sounds very convincing, although this is a minor factor - insulation from the inside “takes away” the useful volume of residential and office premises.

Builders are guided by the standard according to which insulation must be external (SP 23-101-2004). Insulation from the inside is not directly prohibited, but it can only be carried out in exceptional cases. For example, when it is impossible to carry out work outside because of the design features or the facade "belongs" to a house that belongs to architectural monuments.

Video description

The result is correct internal insulation at home on video:

Internal wall insulation is allowed provided a durable and continuous vapor barrier is created from the side of the room. But this is not easy to do, and if warm air with water vapor, it gets into the insulation or onto the surface of a cold wall, then the appearance of condensation is inevitable. And this is due to the "dew point", which will move either inside the layer of heat-insulating material, or to the border between it and the wall.

Even such protection from the inside will not provide a 100% guarantee against wetting the wall - water vapor will find its "way" at the joints of the film and in the attachment points

That is, when deciding how to properly insulate a house, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the answer will be based on clear regulatory recommendations - from the outside.

Popular thermal insulation materials

From a large list thermal insulation materials there are several of the most popular and those that are used if the budget allows or for other reasons. Traditionally, the popularity of materials is determined by a combination of good thermal insulation characteristics and a relatively low cost.

Expanded polystyrene

Better known as "styrofoam". To be precise, in addition to slabs, this material is also used in granular form as bulk thermal insulation.

Its thermal conductivity depends on density, but on average it is one of the lowest in its class. Thermal insulation properties are provided by a cellular structure filled with air. The popularity is explained by the availability, ease of installation, good compressive strength, low water absorption. That is, it is cheap, rather durable (as part of the structure) and is not afraid of water.

Polyfoam is considered to be slightly flammable, and with the PSB-S marking - self-extinguishing (does not support combustion). But in the event of a fire, it emits poisonous gases, and this is one of the main reasons why it cannot be used for insulation from the inside. Its second drawback is its low vapor permeability, which imposes restrictions on the use of “breathing” materials for wall insulation.

Insulation of the wall of the house from the outside with foam plastic

Extruded polystyrene foam

It differs from polystyrene in a fundamentally different manufacturing technology, although the same polystyrene granules serve as raw materials. According to some indicators, he surpasses his "relative". It has the same percentage of water absorption (no more than 2%), on average 20-30% lower thermal conductivity (table D.1 SP 23-101-2004), several times lower vapor permeability and higher compressive strength. Thanks to this set of qualities, it is best material when insulating the basement and basement, that is, the walls of the basement and the "ground" floor. The disadvantages of EPS are the same as of foam, and it is more expensive.

EPS is usually made "colored"

Stone, it is also basalt, cotton wool

This is a subspecies of mineral wool, the raw material of which is the rocks of the stone (most often basalt). A completely different type of heat-insulating material, the low thermal conductivity of which is provided due to the fibrous structure and low density. It is inferior to polystyrene and EPSP in terms of thermal conductivity (on average, 1.5 times higher), but unlike them, it does not burn and does not smolder (NG flammability class). Refers to "breathable" materials - according to the new standard it sounds like low "resistance to air permeation".

Mineral wool mats for wall insulation must be "hard"

But there are other materials for insulating a house outside, which, although they are used less often, have their own advantages.

Thermal insulation materials - new on the market

Additionally, you can always consider new options - they are slightly more expensive, but often somewhat more effective than traditional ones.

Foamed polyurethane

Common polymer material"Household use". Also well known as furniture foam (in the form of "soft" mats) or as polyurethane foam for sealing cracks. When insulating, it is also used in the form of plates or sprayed insulation.

Polyurethane foam slabs have low peel-off properties, so it is not used in wet facade systems.

But this is a common thermal insulation material for the manufacture of sandwich panels. The same technology underlies the production of thermal panels for facade cladding. Such a panel is thermal insulation board with a decorative layer already applied at the factory (clinker tiles or stone chips). Two types of insulation: expanded polystyrene and polyurethane foam. In the first case, the thermal panel is two-layer, in the second - three-layer (OSB or moisture resistant plywood). Two mounting options: on dowels / anchors ( open way) or to your own concealed fastening system.

Three-layer thermal panel

Sprayed PU foam is in demand if it is necessary to create a seamless layer of thermal insulation on complex surfaces. Until recently, there was the only technology for applying such a layer - using professional installations working with a two-component composition (mixing occurs during spraying).

PPU spraying on the basement of the house

Now in Russia for domestic use, the production of one-component polyurethane foam has been established, which is produced in aerosol can with a capacity of 1 liter. As the manufacturers assure (there are two competing companies), do-it-yourself insulation of 1 m2 is much cheaper than when concluding an agreement with specialized enterprises using professional equipment. And this option is rather attractive than to insulate the house from the outside, if literally 2-3 cm of the heat-insulating layer is not enough.

Thermal insulation with sprayed polyurethane foam "Teplis"

Ecowool

A relatively new thermal insulation material. The technology of insulation of enclosing surfaces is based on a material made of cellulose fiber, which is applied to the walls using special installation... There are two options for insulation: filling the plane between the wall and the cladding, spraying it together with an adhesive binder on the wall with the crate installed (and subsequent installation of the front panels).

From traditional materials you can mention glass wool (a subspecies of mineral wool), but due to fragility and the formation of the smallest "dust" during installation with sharp edges, it was replaced by stone wool, which is safe both during installation and during operation.

The better to insulate the house from the outside - standards for the number of layers

If follow regulatory documents, there are two options for how to insulate a house from the outside according to the number of structural and heat-insulating layers: two-layer and three-layer. And in the second case exterior decoration panels or plaster are not considered as an independent layer, although their thermal insulation properties are taken into account. In three-layer walls, structural material acts as the outer (third) layer.

Brick cladding with insulation

In addition to this classification, there is also a division according to the presence of a ventilated and non-ventilated layer.

brickwork, reinforced concrete (with flexible ties), expanded clay concrete - all types of solutions;
wooden houses- enclosing structures with two-layer, three-layer walls and with a ventilated air gap;
frame houses with thin-sheet sheathing - three-layer walls with thermal insulation in the middle, as well as with a ventilated and non-ventilated air gap;
blocks of aerated concrete- two-layer walls with brick cladding, as well as with a ventilated or non-ventilated layer.

In practice, for the insulation of low-rise buildings, such a variety of solutions comes down to the choice between a "wet" or hinged facade. Although it is the ones recommended by the standard that are considered as heat-insulating materials - mineral wool or expanded polystyrene (as an alternative - EPS).

But each case has its own preferences.

Video description

Clearly about the choice of how to insulate the house from the outside in the video:

The better to insulate the house from the outside, depending on the material of the walls

For insulation brick house there are no restrictions on the choice of technology. Different variants can be considered only depending on the chosen method finishing facade:

Facing brick. This is a classic three-layer wall structure with flexible ties. Even when using expanded polystyrene, a ventilated air gap is provided for weathering water vapor and preventing the wall materials from getting wet.
Wet facade. You can use mineral wool and expanded polystyrene. The first option is preferable - ceramic bricks have a higher vapor permeability than foam. And according to clause 8.5 of SP 23-101-2004, the location of the layers should contribute to the weathering of water vapor in order to prevent the accumulation of moisture.

Wet facade layout

Ventilated facade. With cladding wall panels or large-format porcelain stoneware on the crate. Traditional insulation for everyone curtain facades- mineral wool.

Ventilated facade layout

Wooden houses (logs or beams) are insulated exclusively mineral wool on the technology of the curtain facade.

For them, you can find examples of the use of expanded polystyrene and plaster using the "wet facade" method. In this case, a ventilated gap is made between the wall and the foam plates using a distance lathing. However, the main advantage of the "wet facade" - the simplicity of construction and installation - disappears.

How to calculate the thickness of the insulation

If you “flip through” SP23-101-2004 or similar in content, but a later set of rules SP 50.13330.2012, you can see that it is not so easy to calculate the thickness of the insulation.

Each building is "individual". During the development of the project and its approval, such a thermal calculation is done by specialists. And here a whole complex of parameters is taken into account - the characteristics of the region (temperatures, duration of the heated season, the average number of sunny days), the type and area of the house glazing, heat capacity flooring, roof insulation and basement... Even the amount of metal connections between the wall and the cladding matters.

But if the owner of a previously built house decides to insulate it (and the new norms introduced in 2003 are much tougher than the old ones), then he will have to choose between three parameters of the "standard thickness" of insulation - 50, 100 and 150 mm. And here, the accuracy of the calculations is not needed. There is such a diagram, where the equivalent dimensions of the thickness are given different materials(in an average form), the wall of which will meet the new requirements for thermal protection.

Only a house made of aerated concrete blocks with a thickness of 45 cm does not need insulation

And then it’s simple. Take the wall thickness from certain material, look how much is missing to the norm. And then they calculate in proportion what thickness of the insulation layer of the wall of the house should be added from the outside. Taking into account that the wet facade has another layer of plaster, and the ventilated one has an air gap, plus interior decoration facade walls, you can be sure of sufficient thermal protection.

And the question of roof insulation, floors and choice good windows decide separately.

Even easier - use one of the many online calculators... The figure here is, of course, approximate, but rounded to big side to the nearest standard insulation thickness, it will give the required result.

How to properly mount insulation on the facade

Before installation, the facade must be prepared: clean from old finish, remove dirt and dust, dismantle the attachments engineering systems, remove ebbs and visors (you still have to change to wider ones), remove signs, plaques and front lamps. Then the surface of the wall must be strengthened - to repair cracks and chips, clean up crumbling areas, apply a deep penetration primer.

Applying a primer

For the secure attachment of expanded polystyrene or rigid mineral wool mats in the system wet facade the surface of the wall should be as level as the unevenness can be smoothed out with adhesive mortar. With a height difference of up to 5 mm, the solution is applied over the entire insulation plate, with irregularities from 5 to 20 mm - along the perimeter and in the form of "cakes" on 40% of the plate surface.

The first row of plates is mounted with an emphasis on the starting plate, which also sets horizontal level... The second and subsequent rows are set with a shift of the vertical seam (at least 200 mm), leveling the surface of the insulation in the area of \ u200b \ u200bthe joints so that the height difference is no more than 3 mm. When insulating the walls around the openings, make sure that the seams of the slabs do not intersect in their corners. Each plate is additionally fastened with umbrella dowels at the rate of 5 pcs. per 1 m2.

Before applying the plaster, the surface of the slabs is reinforced with fiberglass, fixed in the middle of the layer adhesive solution with a total thickness of 5-6 mm.

The density of expanded polystyrene is chosen equal to 25-35 kg / m3.

Video description

Clearly about mineral wool insulation in the video:

Mineral wool mats of Russian brands for the "wet facade" system must correspond to the index 175, for imported ones - be marked "facade" and the density is higher than 125 kg / m3.

Attention. In the "wet facade" system, the insulation is mounted in only one (!) Layer. A vertical surface of two layers of "soft" boards with a load in the form of plaster behaves unpredictably, especially with changes in temperature and humidity conditions. Do not delude yourself with the arguments that the second layer of slabs overlaps the seams of the first and eliminates the "cold bridges".

The ventilated façade uses rigid mineral wool mats with a density of 80 kg / m3. If the surface of the mats is not laminated, then after attaching them to the lathing, the surface is covered with either fiberglass or a vapor-permeable membrane.

The pitch of the lathing is chosen 2-3 cm less than the width of the mats. In addition to fastening to the crate, the insulation is additionally fixed to the wall with umbrella dowels.

The size of the air gap between the insulation and the cladding should be within 60-150 mm.

Important. Size 40 mm is standardized for non-ventilated air spaces.

For ventilation, the interlayer in the cladding is equipped with inlets in the area of the basement and outlet openings under the eaves of the roof. The total area of the holes must be at least 75 cm2 per 20 m2 wall.

Ventilation grilles in the wall

As a result - is it worth it to insulate

House insulation is profitable investment even in the short term. The investment will quickly pay off by reducing the cost of heating and air conditioning.

On our site, there are also companies specializing in facade and finishing materials, which are presented at the exhibition of houses Low-rise Country.

The modern trend of outdoor wall insulation for private and apartment buildings requires homeowners to decide on the type of insulation for this process. In most cases, this choice is based on the proposals of the contractor who will carry out the work or advice from neighbors and friends who have already passed this stage. Unfortunately, most of the firms that carry out insulation work do not offer the option that will be better for the customer, but the one on which you can earn more. And the recommendations of neighbors or friends are based only on their personal experience, which is often not optimal in terms of choice correct system insulation, since in the decision-making process, many factors must be taken into account, which will depend, for example, on the material and thickness of the wall, unevenness of the walls, wind load, etc.

All types of insulation that are used today for the building envelope of houses can be divided into the following groups:

Sprayed thermal insulation

The share of using different thermal insulation, depending on the type of buildings in the CIS countries, has significant differences. So for new residential and office buildings, the share of mineral wool is up to 80%, the second place is taken by extruded polystyrene foam 15%, the remaining 5% is accounted for by other types. For old apartment buildings, as well as for private households, this share is significantly different. Extruded polystyrene foam and polystyrene foam accounts for up to 60%, mineral basalt wool 30% and other insulations 10%. This reallocation is primarily due to the desire of private homeowners to save money on this process by choosing a cheaper option.

Let's compare the given heaters according to the main indicator - thermal conductivity:

Mineral wool - 0.045 W / m * K

Extruded polystyrene foam - 0.028 W / m * K

Polyfoam - 0.034 W / m * K

Foam glass - 0.052 W / m * K

Sprayed thermal insulation - 0.025 W / m * K

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - 0.017 W / m * K

Comparison of heaters in terms of thermal conductivity shows that the most effective in this indicator is highly porous thermal insulation based on aerogels, which is 2 times more effective than foam plastic and 2.5 times more effective than mineral wool.

Now let's compare thermal insulation by price:

Mineral wool under the ventilation facade (density 80kg / m3) thickness 100mm - $ 6 m2

Mineral wool under a plaster facade (density 130 kg / cubic meter) thickness 100 mm - $ 6 sq.

Extruded polystyrene foam thickness 50 mm - $ 4.5 sq.

Styrofoam 50 mm thick - $ 2.5 sq.

Foam glass 120 mm thick - $ 13 sq.

Sprayed insulation 30 mm thick - $ 5 sq.

Effective highly porous insulation 10 mm thick - $ 70 sq. M.

A cost comparison shows that insulation with the lowest thermal conductivity is much more expensive than other types, therefore, the feasibility of its use is limited only to areas where the use of other thermal insulation is impossible.

Let's compare heaters in terms of complexity and installation price, based on a 10-point scale, where 10 is the greatest complexity and installation price and 1 is the least installation complexity and price:

Mineral wool - 7 points

Extruded polystyrene foam - 5 points

Styrofoam - 5 points

Foam glass - 10 points

Sprayed thermal insulation - 8 points

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - 1 point.

Roll type of highly porous insulation, its small thickness, as well as its weight allow it to be installed quickly and inexpensively, in addition, it does not require additional materials(For example, windproof film) or a special mounting scheme.

Let's compare thermal insulation in terms of service life:

Mineral wool - 20-30 years

Extruded polystyrene foam -15-20

Styrofoam - 10-15 years

Foam glass - 100 years

Sprayed thermal insulation - 20-25 years

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - 20-25 years.

The most durable insulation is foam glass, which is resistant to impact environment, does not contain organic compounds and is solid in structure, which prevents its weathering or mechanical destruction.

Let's compare heaters for environmental friendliness:

Mineral wool - environmentally friendly made on the basis of basalt

Extruded polystyrene foam - made on the basis of chemical compounds, conditionally environmentally friendly when used for external insulation

Polyfoam - contains chemical volatile compounds, is not recommended for indoor insulation and prolonged contact with people

Foam glass - environmentally friendly based on glass chips

Sprayed thermal insulation - contains volatile chemical compounds, is especially dangerous during application, requires special precautions and ventilation of the room for a long time, it is recommended for outdoor insulation

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - conditionally environmentally friendly, made of foamed polyethylene, which is chemically neutral.

The safest in terms of isolating various chemicals. substances are mineral wool and foam glass, although all of these types of insulation are suitable for outdoor use.

Let's compare heaters in terms of flammability:

Mineral wool is not flammable

Extruded polystyrene foam - flammability class G3-G4

Polyfoam - high flammability, prohibited when warming above the 2nd floor.

Foam glass is not flammable

Sprayed thermal insulation - flammability class G3-G4

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - flammability class G1-G2

From point of view fire safety The safest are mineral wool and foam glass, which have a flammability class NG, other types of heaters are flammable or even highly flammable, as is the case with foam.

Often in the process of new construction or renovation, the issue of complex thermal insulation arises, which includes not only walls, but also roofing, floors, communications. In addition, the form exterior decoration(plaster, ventilation facade, etc.)

Let's compare thermal insulation in terms of its versatility:

Mineral wool - outdoor and interior walls, floors, roofing, pipelines. For plastering and ventilation facade.

Extruded polystyrene foam - external and internal walls, floors, roofing. For plastering and ventilation facade.

Styrofoam - external walls, for plastering.

Foam glass - basement, external walls, exploited roofing, basements.

Sprayed thermal insulation - external walls, slopes, roofing, floors, plinths, pipelines.

Effective highly porous thermal insulation - slopes, pipelines, internal walls.

The most versatile in use is mineral wool, which, due to the variety of types in thickness and density, is used for different options insulation.

In addition to the listed characteristics, when comparing heaters, it is also necessary to take into account the ability to "breathe" moisture. For example, extruded polystyrene foam, which is often used to insulate houses, has practically zero water absorption, which leads to the appearance of a dew point in the thickness of the building wall and its gradual destruction. In this case, it is more preferable to use mineral basalt wool.

Analyzing comparative characteristics insulation materials for external wall insulation, it can be concluded that the most optimal in terms of quality and efficiency is mineral basalt wool, which is perfect for plastering and ventilation facade, non-combustible, has long term operation, moisture permeable, relatively inexpensive.

The use of other types of insulation is also expedient, but at the same time it is necessary to be guided by specific conditions. If you need to insulate and waterproof the basement, then the choice is definitely for foam glass, budget insulation - extruded polystyrene foam or foam, pipe insulation - foamed polyethylene or sprayed liquid thermal insulation.

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Worldwide trend towards economical spending natural resources dictates new energy saving standards. New types of thermal insulation are being developed, which can significantly reduce energy consumption in the cold season. Consumers can only choose a suitable insulation.

Which insulation is better

It will not be possible to unequivocally answer this question, because each material has its own advantages and disadvantages. Fiber insulation and rigid boards of extruded polystyrene foam are very popular today. It makes sense to compare the materials of these two groups.

Which insulation is better: foam or mineral wool

Styrofoam is a rigid board different sizes and thicknesses, which are often used to insulate foundations, walls, floors. Polyfoam consists of many air bubbles, therefore it has a minimum coefficient of thermal conductivity. It is resistant to decay, practically does not absorb moisture, and does not deteriorate during temperature extremes.

Mineral wool is produced by pulling fibers from molten rocks. The material is available in the form of mats or slabs, has a fibrous structure, and is characterized by resistance to extreme heat. In addition, mineral fibers do not rot or rust, and are not eaten by rodents and insects. Cotton wool is often used for external insulation of baths, saunas, and walls of houses.

Comparison of foam and mineral wool
Parameter	Styrofoam	Mineral wool
Compressive strength, MPa
Flexural strength, MPa

Moisture absorption,%
Attitude to fire

Which is better: basalt insulation or mineral wool

There is no answer to this question, because both materials are one and the same. Mats obtained by pressing basalt fibers, slag, various rocks are called mineral wool. And the concept "basalt" refers to only one type of insulation of this group and denotes the name of the mineral from which it is produced.

Expanded polystyrene or basalt wool

Extruded polystyrene foam is essentially the same foam, but sold under different trade names and produced for more modern technologies... It should also be understood that there is still a difference between the types of foam that were produced earlier and new materials. Technical and performance characteristics slabs were improved over time, and the main disadvantages were smoothed out. Their main advantage is the ability to operate with constant contact with groundwater and in high humidity conditions.

Comparison of extruded polystyrene foam and basalt wool
Parameter	EPS (XPS)	Basalt wool
Compressive strength, MPa
Flexural strength, MPa
Thermal conductivity coefficient, W / (mhK)
Moisture absorption,%
Attitude to fire	Does not support combustion, but emits corrosive smoke
Vapor permeability coefficient, mg / (m * h * Pa)
Maximum heating temperature, ° С

Basalt wool or glass wool

Both materials belong to the same group, but in the first case, basalt acts as a raw material, and in the second, glass. Modern glass wool no longer crumbles so much and becomes dusty when used, it is flexible and elastic, therefore it is often used to insulate structures complex shape... Basalt mats are thicker and heavier, but they settle much more slowly and, with high-quality vapor barrier, are considered almost eternal.

Comparison of glass wool and basalt wool
Parameter	Glass wool	Basalt wool
Compressive strength, MPa
Flexural strength, MPa
Thermal conductivity coefficient, W / (m * K)
Moisture absorption at partial immersion,%
Attitude to fire
Vapor permeability coefficient, mg / (m * h * Pa)
Maximum heating temperature, ° С

Styrofoam or extruded polystyrene foam

It is also difficult to compare here, as in the case of basalt wool and mineral wool. The materials are similar in structure. Extruded polystyrene foam is produced by extrusion, so it is stronger, harder and more rigid than polystyrene foam. In addition, many manufacturers introduce flame retardants and rodent-repelling substances into the composition of the material.