The Role of Insulation in Fire Safety

When installing insulation in your home, office, or warehouse, you must carefully consider its properties for your specific needs. Energy efficiency is usually a key factor for most people, however, you should never overlook the fact that fire-resistant insulation is essentially important, too.

Insulation covers the walls of a building like a blanket protecting it against heat transfer, but choosing insulation that is also fireproof is very important.

Insulation plays a big role in the fire safety of buildings and installations in them, still, different insulation materials will react to fire completely differently. Fire safety strategy should always consider the insulation material properties like absorption, the potential to produce smoke and toxic gasses, and combustibility.

Let’s find out more about how the right insulation material can protect your home, and what types of insulation are worth considering.

Is There Such a Thing as a Completely Fireproof Insulation Material?

In reality, a completely fireproof insulation material doesn’t exist, so to avoid confusion, it would be more accurate to refer to insulation as fire-resistant or fire-retardant.

Fire-resistant insulation considers materials that can still work as usual even during a fire, as they have probably been treated with some kind of fire-resistant substances.

Fire-retardant materials are designed to prevent the fire from spreading through the walls, ceilings, and floors to the rest of the building.

Still, it is important to know that none of these materials is completely fireproof. Many insulation choices are not combustible and can endure high temperatures, but some of them also bring risks of releasing smoke and toxic fumes that are usually the biggest threat to people’s lives in cases of fire.

How Can Insulation Material Protect a Building From Fire?

Insulation is meant to protect a building from heat transfer and reduce heating and cooling expenses, but it can also contribute to fire safety in some ways.

Some fire retardant insulation materials are made with additives that are fire retardant which slows down the spread of fire and reduces the flammability of the insulation. These materials provide an additional protective layer against fire, so they are definitely worth considering.

The role of insulation in fire safety also comes from the fact that it creates a barrier within the building compartmentalizing different parts. This is very helpful and can prevent the fast spreading of fire and enable more time for evacuation and fire control.

The higher the melting point an insulation material has, the longer can they resist the heat transfer during a fire. The ability to limit heat conduction helps to protect the building and any vulnerable components while slowing down the spread of fire.

If there is good quality insulation in the building caught on fire, it can reduce the infiltration and spread of toxic gasses and smoke into other rooms and living spaces. By providing such a barrier, insulation plays a vital role in extending the valuable time for evacuation and arrival of emergency services.

However, combustible and low-quality insulation materials can be toxic themselves when burning, so it is crucially important to choose wisely before installing them into your home or office space.

As mentioned before, although insulation is important in fire safety, it is not the solution. Insulating a building properly is only a part of fire safety planning, along with fire extinguishers, fire detectors, proper escape routes, etc.

What Is the Best Fire Safety Insulation?

Some of the insulation materials can be naturally fire-resistant while others are treated with a fire-resistant coating to improve their properties.

Mineral Wool

Products of mineral wool, including rock wool and slag wool, are non-combustible which means that they won’t contribute to the fire spread. Their high melting point can resist the average temperatures caused by house fires, meaning that mineral wool isn’t likely to burn or get damaged if the fire is put out quickly.

Therefore, mineral wool can be a great fire safety insulation choice. However, make sure to check if this insulation material is faced with any flammable material before installing it.

Fiberglass Insulation

Fiberglass is also a non-combustible insulation and protects the building from fire spread, however, it has a lower melting point than mineral wool. Fiberglass can melt in severe house fires and potentially enable flames to spread to other parts of the building.

As mentioned earlier, fiberglass can also be coated with other materials that can be flammable, like vapor barrier, or paper, and reduce its fire safety, so it’s important to note that when making the overall evaluation of the material.

Spray Foam

When talking about fire protection insulation, we also must mention spray foam as that is one of the most commonly used insulation materials. It can provide many benefits when it comes to fire safety, but it’s important to know that not all spray foam materials are the same in terms of fire resistance.

Some spray foam formulas are made to include fire-retardant additives that reduce flammability and have the ability to slow down and delay the spread of flames and provide more time for evacuation.

Cellulose

Cellulose is also a very common type of insulation, it provides a high R-value, and contains fewer potential irritants than fiberglass, for example, making it safer for people’s health. It is also a sustainable insulation option, as cellulose is made of recycled paper and fabric.

Knowing this, it’s clear that this isn’t the best fireproof insulation, but cellulose can also be treated with flame-retardant chemicals like ammonium sulfate and boric acid to make it more resistant to fire.

Prodex Total

Prodex Total is a closed-cell insulation material that is an excellent radiant barrier, that prevents any heat or air transfer, and condensation, while it passes a strict fire safety test as it doesn’t allow the fire to spread.

It has a great R-value, it’s durable and easy to install, and that’s why this insulation type is one of the best. Still, keep in mind that reflective insulation materials are primarily made to provide a radiant heat barrier, but do not stop an open fire, only some of such materials are made and tested for fire safety.

What Are the Risks?

Even though a material can be classified as non-combustible, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any risk of fire and danger to human health. Depending on what the material is made of, it can contribute to smoke and toxic fumes in case of fire and pose even greater risks to people’s lives.

In certain cases, a fire can start as a result of inadequate insulation material. If an insulation material absorbs combustible liquids, like oils or heat transfer fluids coming from installations or machines, there is a greater risk of fire.

Insulation materials that can absorb liquids can pose serious risks. If a leak happens, these materials can absorb a big amount of flammable liquids, and what is worse, that can happen completely unnoticed.

This is more likely to happen in factories, warehouses, ship engine rooms, or any sort of workshop with machines. Such leaks can bring horrible danger to people’s lives, property, and businesses. Liquids like chemical intermediates, toxic gasses, resins, oils, silicones, fatty acids, oxidizers, and even explosives that can leak into the insulation material are extremely flammable and harmful to human health.

Being aware of these risks is incredibly important before installing the insulation in your home, office, or workshop, and proper precautions will help prevent accidents and save lives, as well as your valuables.

Get Informed and Follow the Regulations

To sum up, choosing mineral wool, cellular glass, or closed-cell insulation that is incombustible and nonabsorbent provides the highest level of fire safety. Such types of insulation won’t add to the spread of fire, nor release toxic smoke and fumes. Opting for these insulation materials will bring you confidence and assure the maximum fire safety for your property.

Following fire safety guidelines and regulations when installing insulation is extremely important. Regulations are made to ensure the highest level of safety for buildings and their occupants. By following the rules and insulation standards of the area you live in, you will minimize the risk of fire and take care of your home, office, or workshop space.

Stay updated with the local building codes, and talk to professionals to get informed, choose the right insulation material, and ensure compliance. Putting fire safety first will bring you peace of mind and a safe living, or working environment.