All About Thermal Bridges (And How To Avoid Them)
If you are in the process of planning a construction project, you may have come across a term known as thermal bridging. When planning your insulation for your project, it is important to familiarise yourself with this phrase because you should do everything you can to avoid creating it.
As professional providers of wholesale insulation, we know all about avoiding thermal bridges. That’s why today, we are sharing everything you need to know about them, and our best tips on preventing them from being created.
What is a thermal bridge?
A thermal bridge is a construction problem that, when created, causes heat and energy to escape from the building. A thermal bridge can be created in a few different ways:
- When materials with low levels of thermal insulation are used together, creating a funnel of heat flow that is unobstructed;
- When there are gaps or tiny holes in between the main structures of the building, such as windows and doors, holes made for pipes and cables, and cavity walls;
- When the insulation being used has been damaged.
Why should thermal bridges be avoided?
Because heat follows the path of least resistance, having thermal bridges in your building can cause much of the heat to escape from where you need it most. Left unfixed, thermal bridges can become costly due to higher utility bills over time. This is because it will require more energy to maintain the indoor temperature at a comfortable level.
Not only will heat escape in winter, but during summer it will accumulate inside, ultimately requiring more energy to keep the home cool. For this reason, thermal bridges almost render your insulation useless. In fact, thermal bridges alone can be the major cause of up to 30% of heat loss in a building, offsetting the thermal benefits of your wholesale insulation.
As a result of poor heat retainment, thermal bridges can even increase the risk of condensation in the structure of the building. Condensation is the root cause for many other hazards, such as mould and rot. Not only can these hazards cause structural damage, they can also trigger heath issues (like asthma) for those inside the building.
Types of thermal bridges
There are a few different ways to classify thermal bridges. When trying to avoid creating them, it can help to know what kind of thermal bridging you are dealing with. There are three main ways to distinguish the type of thermal bridge you may encounter.
Repeating thermal bridges
As the name suggests, repeating thermal bridges follow a pattern that repeats throughout the building. This can be due to certain aspects of construction design,