Fibrous insulation works well to limit convection. When radiant heat is viewed as a form of energy, a wave length, rather than a type of heat movement, it becomes easier to understand how it behaves with fibrous insulation products. Therefore, if you can reduce the amount radiant energy, you reduce convective and conductive heat loads which increases comfort and significantly reduces the need for energy. Radiant heat can only be absorbed or reflected. The amount of which is determined by the surface it is striking, angle to the source and absorbtivity of the surface.
Radiant heat strikes the earth, our homes, our cars, etc., which in turn heats the air.
A good example of this is our changing seasons. If you have made it this far, you now have the basic facts needed to understand the basic dynamics of heat flow and to realize why we are building our homes incorrectly. The reality of fibrous insulation Conventional fibrous batt and blown insulation used so widely in construction today, has an R factor. If we lived under the protection of cloudy skies everyday and were not subjected to the radiant energy emitted by the sun, the R factor would be a fairly accurate method for measuring heat flow. The higher the R factor, the slower heat travels through it.