P2000 Insulation under vinyl siding

[dougstove]

Hello;
I am about to have my 1900 sq ft. ranch style house re-sided with vertical vinyl.
The climate here is wet; minimum winter temperatures are usually -25 to -30C, but usually only for a week or so.
The house is 1968, 2"x4" framed with fiberglass batt insulation in the stud walls, styrofoam sheet insulation in the basement, 6-8" fiberglass batts between the attic rafters (done long ago) and 12" of blown in cellulose on top of the attic fiberglass.
For reference, I heat the place warmly with ~3-3.5 cords per year in an air tight stove.

My contractor has been using P2000 under vinyl successfully for 12 years, with very good customer satisfaction (I know him and I know his customers).
But I see a few comments on here dismissing P2000.

I roughly understand insulation and I know the product cannot be magic, but the combination of radiant reflection, wind barrier and insulation looks good.
Any expert comments?
cheers from a rainy New Brunswick.

 

[Swedishchef]

Hey Doug.

FWIW, I researched insulation top and bottom when building my home 2 years ago.

P2000 is a good product but it's not NASA material. P2000 have run into problems both in the US and CAnada by various watchdog organisations as they have some times labeled their prodcut as R27, R10, etc etc.

Essentially, it is 1 inch thick foam and is considered EPS, therefore, R5.

While researching, here is some thing I found:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Alert
Product: P2000 Insulation (Rigid Board)
CCMC # 13180-L for the P2000 Silver
CCMC # 13202-L for the P2000 Bronze
P2000 has been evaluated as an insulation in conformance with
NBC 9.25.2.2 and CAN ULC S701-01, TYPE 1 "Thermal Insulation,
Polystyrene, Boards and Pipe Covering".
1. P2000 insulation has no affiliation with the R-2000 program other than a
similar sounding name.
2. P2000 has been tested and rated by CCMC as having an R value of 3.7 per
inch (R3.7).
3. In some of the product literature provided by the Nova Scotia distributor,
an equivalent rating of R27 per inch was given. This rating of R27 is not
supported by the CCMC testing."

Radiant barrier insulation has a place in industry, no doubt, but I think the claims they are making just don't work in reality.
If it was the case, all other insulating companies would be out of business.

There are other easy, great ways to insulated. I can certainly give you my advice if you decide to go another route.

Where in NB do you live? That's my home province.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[dougstove]

Hi Andrew;
I am in Sackville, I think we e-chatted before.
Thanks for the info, I saw that on-line advisory as well.
I think in the installations around here the wind-proofing is probably a big part of the benefit, since multiple older houses appear to have greatly benefitted from it.
cheers, Doug

 

[Swedishchef]

thats right we have chatted!
xps foam that is taped would work as well. however i am a huge fan of high density spray foam. i have it on my basement walls.

keep us posted.

a