EPS Heat Insulating System

Insulation is very clever. Not only does it make your home warmer in winter, it also helps keep it cooler in summer. This is a little bit like a flask which keeps drinks hot or cold by providing an insulating layer between the drink and the outside air.

Air is a poor conductor of heat, so the tiny pockets of air trapped in insulation minimise the amount of heat which can pass between the inside and outside of your house.

Heat insulation doesn’t only work in winter: while the walls are kept warm during the cold season, in summer the heat insulation works like climate control. The outside walls are well insulated, do not get too hot, and the rooms stay comfortably cool. Without extra equipment, without extra electricity and without extra energy consumption.

Top insulation measures:

Loft insulation

Around 25 percent of heating energy disappears through the roof in an un-insulated house, making insulating your loft one of the most cost-effective ways to save energy in the home.
Loft insulation acts as a blanket, trapping rising heat in the house. Without loft insulation you could be losing as much as 15% of your heat through your roof, so this type of insulation is a simple and effective way to reduce your heating bills. You can even do it yourself with a bit of planning.
Glasswool is the most cost-effective and widely used loft insulation. Made with a high proportion of recycled glass it requires no maintenance and will last a lifetime

Windows

If you have poorly sealed windows and doors you may be losing 15-20% of heat through the gaps. A replacement with new PVC windows with double glazing is probably the better solution than draught proofing (which is cheap but ineffective)
Double glazing traps air between two panes of glass to create a barrier to heat loss by approximately half.

External Wall Insulation

External wall insulation is a straightforward job and it’s an excellent way to save money on your heating bills.
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is manufactured from small spherical beads of styrene which are pre-expanded with Pentane. The beads then expand to over 40 times their original size when heated by steam. The expanded beads stick together under heat and pressure inside a mould and the finished product consists of approximately 98% fresh air. Expanded polystyrene is also known as ‘bead board’.
Characteristics

White/grey colour
Lightweight
Suitable for temperatures up to 75°C
Mainly available in 2.4m x 1.2m sheets

Main uses

General/domestic-floor thermal insulation
Wall insulation
Packaging and fabrication

Heat loss – thermographic image

Thermographic images clearly show that weakness in the construction, such as thermal bridges, which transfer heat to the outside, cause extreme heat losses.

This doesn’t have to be the case:
this can be prevented by a thorough, balanced thermal renovation of your house. This is expressed not only in the saving on heating costs, but also by a more pleasant room and living climate.

Red = extremely strong heat loss
Yellow = strong heat loss

Insulation and Facade in one with:
Baumit EPS Heat Insulating Composite System

The Baumit EPS Heat Insulating Composite System EPS is a modern, perfected external wall insulation system. Facade plates made from hard polystyrol foam act as a heat insulating layer, and are provided with a vapour permeable base plaster (reinforcement layer), consisting of a filler and fibreglass mesh. To this is added a weather-resistant, vapour-permeable top plaster made from a skim based on artificial resin.

Advantages

Heat insulation and façade creation
Proven and cost-effective
No heat bridges

Materials needed for a project

Baumit AdhesiveFiller

Factory mixed, mineral powdered adhesive for gluing and filling, as well as embedding the Baumit FibreglassMesh

Coverage:

– approx. 4,0 – 5,0 kg/m2 (gluing)

– approx. 3,5 – 4,5 kg/m2 (filling)

Curing time: at least 7 days

Baumit EPS-F FacadeInsulationPanels

Size of panel: 100 x 50 cm

Thickness: 2 to 20 cm

Coverage: 2 panels/m2

Plugs

Plugs: Baumit UniversalInsulationPlug ST 8U

or

Plugs: Baumit PunchPlug 8N

On concrete and plastered base surfaces, at least 6 plugs/m2 are required across the surface, and at least 8 plugs/m2 around the edges

Baumit FibreglassMesh

Alkaline-resistant fibreglass mesh. Embedded as reinforcement into Baumit AdhesiveFiller.

Coverage: approx. 1,1 lfm/m2

Baumit UniversalBase

Ready-to-use, universal pre-coating used as absorption balance and adhesive for top plasters.

Coverage: approx. 0,15 kg/m2

Curing time: at least 24 hours

Baumit GranoporPlaster

Ready-to-use, organically bonded skim plaster (top plaster) in paste form with different structures and 200 colours “Baumit colours of more emotion”.

Coverage:

– Scratch structure: app. 2,5 kg/m2 / 3,1 kg/m2 / 4,1 kg/m2 for particle size resp. 1mm / 2mm / 3mm

– Groove structure: app. 2,7 km/m2 or 3,9 km/m2 for particle size resp. 2mm or 3mm

How to install the panels

Base surface: The base surface must be free of loose and/or crumbing parts. The base surface must be dry, clean and free of salt blooms
and expansion joints. Cracks in the base surface should not affect the function of the WDVS. Subsequent moisture penetration of the base
surface must not be allowed to occur. There must be no identifiable rising damp.

1. The Baumit BaseProfile is secured approx. 30 cm above ground level using Baumit BaseProfile plugs. Where the wall is uneven, the profile is padded out with spacers. The joints are connected using Baumit BaseProfileConnectors. In addition, the profile can also be fixed to the wall using Baumit EdgeFix.

2. The adhesive is applied using the edge-dab method. The application should be done in such a way (approx. 1-2 cm thick adhesive layer), that the contact surface with the wall is at least 40%. A 5 cm wide strip of adhesive is applied around the edge of the panel, and three dabs, about the size of a side plate, a placed in the middle.

3. Before the plugs are inserted and after the adhesive has hardened (after 1 day), the panel joints are sanded down until they are level and smooth.
T-plugging: Example with 6 plugs/m2 of surface.

4. Application of Baumit Adhesive-Filler using a rust-free toothed spatula (10 mm). The Baumit FibreglassMesh is embedded “wet on wet”. At least 10 cm overlap of each drop. Curing time before application of primer: at least 7 days.

4.1 Run the sheets of FibreglassMesh at least 20 cm around the edge on one side. The following sheets overlap by at least 10 cm. Alternatively, we recommend forming the edges with Baumit EdgeProtector with fabric.

4.2 In the corners of windows and doors, diagonal reinforcement (at least 20 x 30 cm) is embedded before the surface reinforcement.

4.3 Additional reinforcement strips are embedded in the internal corners of windows and doors.

5. After the Adhesive-Filler is cured (7 days after application), Baumit UniversalPrimer is applied evenly across the surface with a roller. Curing time: at least 24 hours.

6. Baumit GranoporPlaster is applied using a rust-free steel trowel and rubbed in using a plastic float. The plaster is available in 200 colours.

We alwasy recommend the materials of Baumit to clients asking for a quote for external house insutaion. Baumit is a reputable German company producing building materials of high quality and long durability. The high quality adhesives and plasters when installed properly guarantee for the long life of the façade of your house with colour that would not become fade in three year of application.
Of course there are cheaper EPS insulation systems available from other producers. These are not of the same German quality but are still good. In some cases the façade will have to be repainted after several years.

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