Polyethelene (black foam) pipe insulation

Apprentice_3

Thanks db!

Apprentice_3

pipe insulation.

I was wondering, does anyone use the PE black foam-type pipe insulation? It looks similar to refrigerant pipe insulation, except that the texture is slightly different and it's available in (I think) 8-foot rigid lengths. A version of it, usually in 4-foot lengths, can be found in pretty much any hardware store. So is this stuff any good? How does the heat loss through this insulation compare to that of, say, fiberglass? Can it be successfully used on a heating system?

Most of my experience is in the commercial/industrial field where we use fiberglass pipe insulation.

don_52

Insulation

Addam,

I attached a data sheet, with values. From what I recall
this is "fairly typical" of the better brands.

HTH, Regards, db

hot_rod

200F is pushing it

in my opinion. i've tried that foam on a few high temperature wood boiler installs. Not too impressed.

If you plan on running above 180F extended go with fiberglass or TechLite melamine insulation.

hr

Al Corelli_2

Saw This

A customer has both types of "black" insulation on his steam mains. Yes, I said steam mains.

The A/C type (Armaflex) is melted to the 2" main as if you took a torch and burned it on.

The Closed cell (ThermaCell) type is hanging off like dripping candle wax.

The basement smelled of burnt plasti/rubber. He thought ols steam systems were supposed to smell like that.


Fiberglass is the insulation to use for residential steam systems, in my opinion.

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