Hi guys. The world is getting hotter and Im planning to do a short term solution to my hot living room. Two walls are exposed to the afternoon sun (no shade, no trees) and planning to insulate the walls from the inside + install another interior drywall. The walls are 4" concrete hollow blocks, finished and just painted. I will also install an aircon for the room.
I plan to do this during the christmas break so I would need some info on the materials and the quickest way possible. Budgeting around 2-3 days to finish.
1. Framing - 2x2 wood or light steel frame? Is 2" of space enough?
2. Drywall - concrete board, hardiflex, etc. or any suggestion? Would love to get one that is very easy to install and finish. I wont have time for some plywood because it needs time and patience to finish. I will be putting some moulding at the floor and ceiling junctions so the drywall just need to fit well on the sides.
3. Filling - air? expanding foam? insulation foam with foil backing pasted to the wall? rockwool or fiberglass though this might be cost prohibitive?
4. Is the drywall necessary to be supersealed so no trapped hot air goes to the room?
Thanks very much for all the suggestions.
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
before proceeding with your project, consider the simplier options like planting some trees as you said, you also help reduce global warming ... another option is improving the cross ventilation of the room ... these are simple and effective solutions
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Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
Agree with Sir Boo.
Try to prevent the sun from hitting the walls either by vegetation or insulating material.
Once the heat has penetrated and saturated the walls it will be very hard to prevent it warming up the room.
Kung pwede post ka ng pictures of the outside and inside para mas matulungan ka ng mga resident experts dito.
Medyo hesitant ako sa ganyan na "double wall" kasi magiging tirahan ng mold at ipis.
Pesonally meron akong ganyan na problema sa rented apartment namin. Ang solution ko nagsabit ako ng tolda sa edge nung eaves para harangin yung bagsik ng araw. Success naman.
Just...[COLOR="Red"]DRILL IT!
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
We have a firewall facing west. Initially painted gray.
It absorbs a lot of heat. Even at 9PM I can still feel the heat being radiated by the wall (at a 2-meter distance from the wall).
I had it repainted white. No more hot rooms at night. Plus natuwa pa yung kapitbahay namin kasi lumiwanag sa area nila.
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
We have a firewall facing west. Initially painted gray.
It absorbs a lot of heat. Even at 9PM I can still feel the heat being radiated by the wall (at a 2-meter distance from the wall).
I had it repainted white. No more hot rooms at night. Plus natuwa pa yung kapitbahay namin kasi lumiwanag sa area nila.
Try this. Paints can reduce house temperature by reflecting light.
Just search the "cool colors". These are colors that reflect instead of absorbing light and heat.
White and green comes into my mind.
If you have space, plant some fast growing shrubs like gumamela, kakawate, and the likes.
Last resort should be your planned insulation.
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
Thanks for the replies guys. As to the suggestions:
1. Vegetation - Yes, used bamboo on the west side but cant do anything on the southside below it is the driveway . (which is the source of heat from 9am-3pm in October to February)
2. Cross ventilation - I do have 4 exhaust fans in the house getting hot air out upon arrival from the office. Problem is the heat of the walls still radiate up to midnight.
3. The house is southwestern with a roofdeck on a front slope facing south. The roofdeck does not heat up as much as the wall as it has a rubbercoat.
Please see attached pictures:
southside - below is the driveway. have trees blocking part of the afternoon sun already
and the west side with some bamboos (yes they do grow very very fast, these are less than 6 months)
After posting this, I embarked on a research about heat insulation so I think the best move would be to put a radiant barrier (aluminum foam) 3 inches from the wall, secured by some light metal framing. Then ill just cover it with hardiflex or planks or plywood, which in turn, I will cover with acoustic foam that I have around for better sounding home theater. 🙂
Only issue now is the cockroach living in the void. Grrrrr... While Im a big guy at 6'1", I shout like a little girl when I see a cockroach. hahahaha
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
Are you open to putting some sort of decorative insulation on that outside part of your house?
If not, your option probably is to repaint that outside wall with thermo reflective paint (Boysen has cool shades for roof) or put insulation inside (your plan) or both.
If you pursue your plan, you can probably do away with the required gap between the wall and the aluminum insulation. Stick is directly to the wall to prevent roaches from taking shelter in between gaps.
If you are in doubt, experiment on a small area on your wall and see if "no gap" is effective.
I did a similar project although on the ceiling.
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
You malso consider exterior siding/cladding. Check this site http://www.styropol.biz/index.html
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
Since your post is premised with a "quick fix", my bet goes with the white exterior paint.
If you can leave some windows open during the day, it will lessen the accumulation of the heat. Less burden for the exhaust fans come night time.
Instead of exhaust fans, I personally use an intake fan. An ordinary box fan leaning against the window screen to suck in fresh cool air. An exhaust fan tends to just swirl around the air in its vicinity and leave the warm air deeper in the room. An intake fan can throw fresh air far into the room. I augment this intake with a desk fan that spreads the cool air around the room.
A "quick fix" is like taking paracetamol for a tooth cavity.
The way I see the the design of the building, it is done more to catch the sun than to hide from it. Not even a small canopy above the windows to protect against the sun penetrating into the room.
If you ever get the time and the budget to find a long term solution, you might want to research on tropical design.
Just...[COLOR="Red"]DRILL IT!
Re: Quick wall insulation from heat
thanks for the suggest @fortheboys.
@vivafoxpro, yes, the canopy is already in the plans. i already have the roofing and the steel bars, just waiting for time to free so i could start doing it.
the intake fan is a good idea. i will try it since the air in our village at night is cooler.
yeah, i think we made a mistake having this look upon designing the house. hehehe. but a long term plan is to put a big roof on top (this is a roof deck but ready for another floor) with large overhangs. then just cover the exterior with planks and insulation. dont know how it will look architecturally though. 🙁
