Warmth in sheep’s clothing
Home » Good Guide » Heating & Insulation » Heating & Insulation » InsulationGet a grant from ENERGYWISE™. Choose Eco Insulation. Take a warm home for granted
Wool insulation is such an obvious way to keep our houses warm. Sheep look cosy, they make great sweaters, and New Zealand is not short of them.
Here are some things you probably already know about wool insulation. In its natural state (as in, on a sheep) wool forms an effective thermal barrier. It breathes and traps air. As insulation it possesses excellent sound-absorbing qualities and effectively controls humidity. It’s easy and safe, even fun, to install, and you don’t need any protective clothing. It contains no carcinogenic chemicals, no asbestos or glass fibres, and no toxic glues. Being a pure, natural, safe product, choosing wool insulation also helps protect our environment.
Here are some things that are less well known. Wool has a good resistance to burning and absorbs water vapour (from the air or from perspiration) through the porous coating over the microscopic scales that form its surface. Wool can absorb up to 30 percent of its own weight in moisture without feeling clammy. This means that while wool insulation prevents heat loss, condensation and mould in winter, it also creates cooler, more pleasant living environments in summer, when it gently releases some of that moisture back into the air, maintaining a balance between the indoor and outdoor environment.
Research shows that wool has another remarkable property. It can trap indoor air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde, which are emitted from gas stoves, heaters and building materials. The wool fibres won’t release these harmful contaminants, even when heated.
Already well established as a proven leader in the field of thermal and acoustic insulation products, Auckland-based Eco Insulation offers a comprehensive range of top-quality, affordable products manufactured in New Zealand from pure, natural New Zealand wool. You can choose recycled material with EcoFleece and EcoWool, which adds to your green cred and cuts about one-third off the cost. Installing these can save up to 40 percent on your energy bills, since heat loss through walls and especially your roof accounts for up to 80 percent of your heating costs. All the company’s insulation is insect- and vermin-resistant, as it has been fully treated using an environmentally friendly process.
BRANZ and Wool Research of New Zealand have both been involved in testing the company’s products. They meet all the relevant specifications, standards and legal requirements, so the company can stand confidently behind its quality assurance guarantee.
And with ENERGYWISE™, government grants are available to help cover the initial cost of retrofitting your home. You could qualify for funding for one-third off the cost of insulation installed.
Hamish Holder, Eco Insulation sales and marketing manager, says: “The home has always been a symbol of a safe and protective environment for our families; nowadays it has been proven that we need to carefully consider all the products we use. We have considered very carefully the problems of toxicity in the home, workplace and within our children’s schools; especially the health problems with some manmade fibres that are now proving to be very hazardous.”
Alongside ordinary homeowners, the firm also supplies specialised architects, largely because of their shared depth of knowledge on the many ways wool can be used in modern builds and retrofits.
Ian Hyde-Hills, managing director of E Built Homes, says: “Eco Insulation, with its expertise, experience, eye for detail and quality products, provides an insulating service for our homes that is second to none. We believe that when thermal insulation systems are properly designed and installed, savings and other benefits are achieved not only by that home user but also the wider community as a whole.”
Eco Insulation is a company that lives up to its name. Its holistic approach to reducing the organisation’s environmental impact includes insuring waste is minimised. It uses recycled wool, and plastic packaging is collected on-site and recycled into new bags. It is estimated that less than one percent of non-insulation product goes to landfill.
That’s worth bleating about.
With Eco Insulation, you can wrap your whole home up snuggly. Polyester EcoTherm is your hat: it can easily be installed between joists in roof spaces to close off one of the worst areas of heat loss. EcoHush’s blankets of heat-bonded non-irritant wool are your ear muffs, specially designed to help keep the noise down. EcoFleece is your woollen jumper, insulating external walls and ceilings, Silversark reflective aluminium and antioxidant polypropylene seals floors and roof spaces from unwanted drafts and heat loss. EcoFloor is high-density 100 percent polyester under-floor padding.
