thermilate insulating paint additive anyone?

[james007]

hi,

anybody heard of thermilate paint additive which mixes into paint to give you insulation for the room.. i was wondering if anyone has tried it...was thinking of purchasing a few packets..

[Rich]

Hi James

If you mean this stuff: Paint Insulation - Insulating Paint Additive - Ceramic Paint Additive then no, never seen it before, but it sure does look expensive for 5litres worth @

[mikesaunders]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone have come across an energy saving company called "Thermilate"

They claim they can save me 25% on my heating bill by using any of their wide range of products. I am particularly interested in the paint and additive.

I have read through all their statements from what I understand they use NASA based technology to reflect heat, which has ceramic micro spheres with a vacuum inside stoping air from traveling.

I live in a north facing house, so no matter what type of insulation I have tried they all seemed to only delay the heat from going out, but this Thermilate sounds promising by actually stoping heat-loss.

Anyone here come across this product?

[Rich]

Hey Mike

I've merged your thread with an existing one on this product.

Some have heard of it, but this stuff doesnt actually claim to prevent heat loss completely, only to reduce it.

It would be good to find out if anybody has tried it and get some opions though, but it would be hard to measure its results or possibly even feel its effects in the average family home as there are many other factors that can also affect insulation like ceilings, windows, doors etc..

Would be a shame to paint your house with this stuff only to find the loft is not insulated, ceilings not insulated and drafty doors and windows!!!

[bjp100]

I just tried Thermilate and think it's great value for money and a simple solution for older houses. We have an old house (1900ish). Our outside walls were very cold and, as there are no cavities in the walls, cavity wall insulation wasn't an option. We didn't want to lose our lovely brick facade so anything on the exterior was also out of the question. Building insulating walls on the inside seemed expensive and we didn't want to lose space on the interior. I thought that for the money Thermilate was worth a try. The walls are now definitely warmer and the house gets and stays warmer. I bought it from Paints Direct and got the 3 for 2 offer. It was enough to do all the outside walls (2 coats) in our 3 bed semi and definitely the cheapest option. We even had with a bit left over.

It really is, as the others say, part of a bigger picture. We've been plugging up cracks, insulating under floor boards and replacing some very old loft insulation (from B&Q's half price sale). It all adds up to a warmer house and lower bills.

I think Thermilate might also be good for ceilings on top floors if you have any parts of your loft that you can't insulate. I'm going to put the left over on the ceiling in the basement.

If you can't do cavity wall insulation (which is best), this is a cheap and effective alternative.

Hope this helps.

[bjp100]

DIYGuy!

You only need to do the walls that lead to the outside so that's usually only 1 or 2 walls in a room and not all four. It looks great. I put it in matt paint. It has a very slightly sandy texture when dry, but is not noticeably different than walls painted without it. It takes a while to mix it in, but is no different to paint than regular paint. You can use a brush or roller. It dries quickly. I actually felt less cold coming from the wall after the first coat before it was fully dry. I really like this stuff.

[Rich]

DIYGuy!

You only need to do the walls that lead to the outside so that's usually only 1 or 2 walls in a room and not all four. It looks great. I put it in matt paint. It has a very slightly sandy texture when dry, but is not noticeably different than walls painted without it. It takes a while to mix it in, but is no different to paint than regular paint. You can use a brush or roller. It dries quickly. I actually felt less cold coming from the wall after the first coat before it was fully dry. I really like this stuff.

Well, show us some pictures then, lets see the finished article, and some close-ups of the paint finishes with/without it...

[verne]

about 35 years ago my father bought some rolls of thin expanded polystyrene to use as a lining paper at my gran's house. i don't know how much less coal and wood they burned on their black-leaded range but it did remove the severe cold shock if one accidentally touched a wall...

still available??

[Jenonnet]

about 35 years ago my father bought some rolls of thin expanded polystyrene to use as a lining paper at my gran's house. i don't know how much less coal and wood they burned on their black-leaded range but it did remove the severe cold shock if one accidentally touched a wall...

still available??

You can still get polystyrene on a roll, just like wallpaper. We got ours from B & Q. Unfortunately, even though the walls feel warmer to the touch, we still have the problem of damp & mould on our walls...... So we have now bought some Thermilate to try. If it works I will let you know.

[Kollwitz]

I have used this recently, it certainly isn't as expensive as it seems. If you buy enough (£15-£20) to add to 5 litres of paint, remembering you only do the outside walls, you only need to use 2 coats to be effective I think, and that makes it quite economical. It was enough for me to do 4 outside walls in two rooms. If you need to do more than this (if you are painting a light colour over a dark for instance) some coats can just be the paint. It definitely makes a difference, which is clear just touching the wall with your hand. I've yet to see the difference it might make with my heating cost, but I already feel the rooms I have used it in are cosier/warmer. I am in total agreement with bjp100 - it's good stuff. Easy to mix in, dries quickly, the slightly sandy texture makes no difference to the application of it and you can't really see a difference between the exterior and interior walls. It's not like that awful textured paint that was so in vogue a while back which scatters gritty bits when you roller it. I used a paintpad, and it went on as normal.

[Emissivity]

This area of insulation is quite complex. It can become difficult to follow at times, especially when covering topics like transmissivtty and reflectivity, along with emissivity and absorbency. These subjects sound more complicated than they actually are, but, with the correct information, you'll be able to fully understand this area of technology and evaluate the information that's posted on this and other websites.

For instance, The laws of physics state that nothing can travel through a vacuum?

Infrared is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, as is visible light and ultra-violet light and they are generated by the Sun. These waveforms then travel all the way from the Sun to us via the vacuum of space. The same site, in their FAQ section, states that reflective technologies work if covered with additional paint and even wallpaper. This is just not true, reflective technologies MUST be on the surface. They are a surface factor and any heat radiation that is not reflected by the actual SURFACE will be absorbed and transmitted through to the other side.

There is plenty of chatter on the net in forums like this about reflective coatings, some good, some bad. But, reading through messages, it becomes apparent not that many people actually understand this area of reflective insulation. One of the main reasons for this I feel is the lack of genuine and credible information supplied by some website.

If you have a question, be it a general enquiry regarding reflective/insulating paints, or a more specific question on the subject, please ask away.

Signed off: Emissivity