Compare glass-wool and cork as insulating materials

Compare glass-wool and cork as insulating materials.

Sr. No.	Cork	Glass wool
1	Cork is available in sheet form.	Glass-wool means glass fibres. Hence it is available in bulk form or loosely held mattress form.
2	Heat Insulator and Sound insulator for transfer as well as acoustic control	Heat insulator and sound insulator for preventing sound transfer only.
3	Cork can be a face material or a filler material for insulation.	Glass wool can be only a filler material for insulation.
4	Cork is lighter than glass-wool.	Heavier than cork.
5	Easy to handle.	Irritation to skin causes difficulty in handling.
6	Heat insulator below 70o C.	Heat insulator up to 250° C.

For what reasons, the hollow blocks are used?

For what reasons, the hollow blocks are used?

Ans.           

Hollow blocks are used for following reasons….

a)     Hollow blocks are light in weight and hence are used in light weight construction.

b)    Hollow blocks have air cavities and these cavities are good for thermal and sound insulation

c)     The manufacturing process time for hollow blocks is much less

(1 month) as compared to burnt bricks.

d)    Hollow blocks do not require kiln as in burnt bricks and hence, can be manufactured on site. This reduces the transportation cost.

Preventing Heat-transfer through wall

What are the options for preventing thermal transfer through the Walls?

 Ans-:  

i] Cavity Wall - Cavity walls are twin walls built parallel to each other by keeping a distance of about 100 or 150 mm. The air cavity becomes a good heat insulator and is very effective.

ii] Hollow Blocks - Walls made in hollow blocks are very good heat insulators. Hollow blocks could be of Burnt-Brick type or Concrete blocks. Air is a bad conductor of heat and these cavities retard the heat transfer.

iii] Porous Bricks - Walls made in porous bricks are very good heat insulators. Air is a bad conductor of cavities retard the heat transfer through the wall. 

iv] Thermal Panelling - Wooden or any other kind of panelling can be done on the wall from inside. Adequate use of insulating material like glass-wool or Rock-wool or Thermocole etc are needed to be used. These materials are sandwiched between the wall and the plywood. This method is adopted if the walls are already built.

v] Thermocole Bricks - Thermocole bricks have come in the market lately. Bricks are prepared by encasing Thermocole either in cement or in clay. Walls built with these bricks have effective heat insulation.

vi] Structural glazing or cladding – Wall can be cladded from outside by cladding materials like tinted glass or Aluminium cladding sheets. This cladding material is away from the wall by about 35 mm. This is also heat reflecting material. The air gap and the reflecting nature of the material add up and good thermal insulation is achieved.

Why do we lay carpet on floor?

Give reasons for using carpet as flooring material.

Ans.

      Followings are the reasons for using carpet as a flooring material –

a] To reduce heat transfer through floor, so that the AC is effective.

b] To gain the needed acoustic effect.

          c] To enhance aesthetics

          d] A soft floor gives pleasing effect while walking.

          e] To achieve the needed colour scheme without much loss of

              execution time.

 f] To hide defective / unpleasant flooring.

 g] Carpet can be removed and re-used elsewhere.