Basics to help you diagnose and solve building issues including Air Barrier vs. Vapor Barrier vs. Insulation https://www.hvacrschool.com/air-barrier-vs-vapor-barrier-vs-insulation/

1. Bryan Orr
Air Barrier vs. Vapor Barrier vs. Insulation
hvacrschool.com/air-barrier-vs-vapor-barrier-vs-insulation/
Think of it like this…
It’s a cold, wet, windy day
You can take an umbrella to protect you from the water alone… but that won’t deal with the
cold (temperature) or the wind (air convection)
You can add in a light windbreaker and that will help keep the wind (convection) off as well.
But if you also wear a thick sweater… that will help insulate you from the temperature
difference (conduction).
In a building, we need to keep outside air out of the home unless it is properly conditioned,
we need to keep moisture out and we need to insulate it from temperature differential
outside.
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2. You may ask why you care as an HVAC/R contractor? That’s simple, you customer looks to
you as the expert in all things comfort and health-related in their homes and building
because you work on the system that keeps them comfortable and moves the air around.
Many times we try to fix building problems with equipment which can be a recipe for
disaster.
Here are some basics to help you diagnose and solve building issues.
Air Barrier / Sealing
Air barriers are materials and sealant that don’t allow air to enter or leave the building due
to simple air pressure differential. We want to use door sweeps and weather stripping, use
sealed can lights, seal holes in the tops of stud walls, keep chimney dampers closed when
not in use and seal duct boots where they penetrate into the conditioned space.
Some people may say that you don’t want a building to be “too tight” otherwise you won’t
have the proper amount of outdoor exchange. This is true, but you also don’t the outdoor
air entering from musty attics and crawlspaces and across dirty floors. It is a much better
strategy to bring in an appropriate amount of outdoor air from a clean and
designed location and temper it through filtration, ERV / HRV or a dehumidifier as
appropriate for the climate. This does require testing and planning but it is the best way to
make a home “airtight”.
This air leakiness of a home is impacted by
#1 – How leaky is the home
#2 – How great are the pressure differences inside to out
Some pressure differences are natural due to stack effects, wind etc… Others are caused by
duct leakage, imbalanced return/supply into a space within a building and due to ventilation
both overall and localized such kitchen hoods and bath fans.
The leakage rate can be tested using a blower door and a precision manometer can be used
to figure out the pressure differential impacting the space and areas within the space.
Vapor Barriers
Water vapor can move through many surfaces through a process called permeation. This is
when vapor molecules, in this case, water vapor, can move through a porous material in the
direction of high relative humidity to low relative humidity.
In Florida we have many block homes that have no exterior vapor barrier at all other than
paint. Over time moisture in the vapor state can work its way through block, plywood or
whatever else is used to sheath the walls and roof unless an appropriate vapor barrier is
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3. installed.
The issue is that you also need to consider condensation. If water vapor makes contact with
a surface below dew point it can condense into liquid water which can then result in nasty
biological growth. This is why a properly installed vapor barrier is located in a place that
allows for drainage on the warm side that will be prone to condensate.
If you fail to have vapor barrier there is less likelihood of moisture issues within the wall
structure but more likelihood of moisture issues inside due to moisture diffusing into the
space through the walls.
Insulation
Insulation generally isn’t an air barrier or a vapor barrier and air and vapor can move
through it freely and easily. There are some exceptions such as closed cell foam which is all
three and open cell foam which is an air barrier and insulation (but not a vapor barrier).
Insulation is there to prevent heat from traveling through surfaces from hot to cold.
Insulation is rated in R-value, with the higher the R-value the greater the resistance to the
movement of heat. This is an important part of keeping heat in and/or out of a space in
walls, attics, crawl spaces etc… but isn’t a replacement for thinking about air and vapor
barriers.
A few more factors …
Radiant heat is the transfer of energy through “radiation” which does not require the
direct transfer of heat from one molecule to another. Radiant heat can jump distances
through the air or even through a near vacuum (like the Sun) and we see it in the way a
room can heat up through sun shining through a window, or on an unshaded side of the
home when the sun beats down on it.
We see this often in offices where a worker likes to sit in front of an unshaded window
(radiant) while sitting in front of a warm computer screen (radiant) and then still feel warm
even though the room is 72 degrees.
Liquid Water intrusion can happen into a home from roof leaks, leaking appliances and
plumbing, improper flashing, capillary action from the ground up through the walls etc…
These are all building issues that can impact health and comfort inside the home that left
unresolved can cause major issues.
Interior Moisture Loads occur every time we cook and boil water, when we take showers
and baths, when we do dishes and even when we exhale. The more people are in a space
doing these things the more moisture there will be. I have 9 kids, we cook three meals a day
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4. at home and do the laundry all day long… my house is quite tight (3.5 ACH) but it still has
MASSIVE internal moisture load that could lead to issues if don’t have lots of
dehumidification.
Speaking of that… I just Installed a Clean Comfort dehumidifier in my home.
Watch Video At: https://youtu.be/Y-OH6DLJ_RE
So remember…
High Temp Goes to Low Temp
High Humidity Goes to Low Humidity
High Pressure Goes to Low Pressure
— Bryan
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