How to Confirm the R-Value of a Piece of Insulation?

[DuncanM]

I'm getting ready to winterize my home and was browsing the insulation aisle at Home Depot. They have a wide variety of insulating products from which to choose: soft foam, rigid foam, batts, etc.

I got thinking it might be an interesting at-home experiment to confirm the R-values of some of these products.
For example, say I bought a piece of R-5 rigid foam and a piece of R-10 rigid foam.
Is there a simple experiment I could perform at home to confirm the R-values?
Or more generally, perhaps to find the R-value of styrofoam packaging that mail-order companies use?

However, I have no idea how to go about this.

Any recommendations for how a person would calculate the R-value of insulation products (at home)?

 

[Lnewqban]

Please, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity_and_resistivity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-value_(insulation)

https://connect.distributioninternational.com/blog/how-is-r-value-calculated

https://rti.rockwool.com/applications/marine-and-offshore/comfort/basic-theory/

https://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/academics/colleges/seas/ctl/smte/smte_ksb3draft.pdf

 

[russ_watters]

Build a box, fill it with a known mass of ice and time how long it takes to all melt.

 

[Vanadium 50]

fill it with a known mass of ice

You could avoid some mess with dry ice.

 

[Philip Koeck]

Build a box, fill it with a known mass of ice and time how long it takes to all melt.

You would also need the temperature on the outside of the box, right?

Could be a good lab exercise!

 

[russ_watters]

You would also need the temperature on the outside of the box, right?

Could be a good lab exercise!

Yep, indoors at a stable ambient temperature.

 

[Tom.G]

You could avoid some mess with dry ice.

Yep, indoors at a stable ambient temperature.

Please, not any significant amount of dry ice in-doors.

The CO₂ gas, carbon dioxide, can suffocate living creatures.

On the other hand, leafy plants will love it.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[russ_watters]

Please, not any significant amount of dry ice in-doors.

I said regular ice. I'm not as concerned about the safety as you because a small amount in a closed container it will sublimate fairly slowly*, but regular ice is easier to get, handle and use for this test.

*My clients store it in pallet sized bins indoors. All of the risk happens when shoveling it from one bin to another.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Please, not any significant amount of dry ice in-doors.

Dry ice expands at about 600:1 on evaporation. (As does pretty much everything) A small room is about 60000 liters. OSHA holds that above 19.5% oxygen there is no oxygen deficiency hazard (and biological effects happen below that) So even with small rooms and poor ventilation (obviously not recommended), a few liters is well within industrial limits.

 

[russ_watters]

Dry ice expands at about 600:1 on evaporation. (As does pretty much everything) A small room is about 60000 liters. OSHA holds that above 19.5% oxygen there is no oxygen deficiency hazard (and biological effects happen below that) So even with small rooms and poor ventilation (obviously not recommended), a few liters is well within industrial limits.

CO2 is not an mainly an asphyxiant, it is a toxin. The OSHA 8-hr PEL is 5,000 ppm. STEL: 30,000. IDLH: 40,000.