Mineralwool versus Fiberglass Pipe Insulation - any preference?

Al Roethlisberger

Like many scenarios related here in past stories, I have a basement where a previous owner removed all the original asbestos pipe insulation.  A little good, a little bad.... the latter being that they didn't replace any of it with another type of insulation.



So replacing that insulation has been on my "list" for a while.



Unfortunately I have some rather large pipe sizes so the insulation isn't very cheap, and I just ran across a "close out" on "Fibrex Mineral Wool Pipe Insulation" that might prove to be a good deal. 



So I was wondering if there are any drawbacks to the mineral wool based insulation versus the fiberglass pipe insulation?  



One difference I note right away is that the fiberglass has a vinyl shell, and the mineral wool is bare.  I'm not sure if that is a benefit either way?



Thoughts?

Al

Steve Garson_2

Insulation

It doesn't matter whether you use fiber glass or mineral wood.  It's a matter of looks and containing the fibers.  The insulation is less expensive than preformed fiberglass, but it's ugly as can be.  Over the course of many years, will you wish you sprung for the preformed?  Shop around, I''ve seen pipe insulation prices vary by 50% from one place to another.  Buy from a company that specializes in pipe and duct insulation.

Al Roethlisberger

Fiberglass also has the reflective thermal coating

Thanks,



I also noticed that the back of the fiberglass insulation has a reflective thermal coating, which I assume helps.  I don't know if that makes it any better than the mineral wool, but just an observation.



Al