A Better Insulation
Adam
W.
7th
Grade, DeLaura Middle School, Satellite Beach Florida
Teacher: Maggie Molledo
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Abstract: The purpose of this project was to lower energy costs and cut CO2, which is a greenhouse gas. Fifty percent of heat loss is through walls, and twenty-five percent is through the roof. The hypothesis of this project was that the spray foam insulation would out perform all of the other insulations tested.
The first step was to construct a fixture that mimics the environment of the exterior of a home and the interior of the home. It was done by constructing a rectangular prism with a removable cartridge in the center of the prism. A Plexiglass lid was attached with Velcro to the lip of the box. A light socket was wired onto an extension cord that runs through the bottom of the fixture. A seventy-five watt heat bulb was inserted into the light socket. The cartridge in the middle of the fixture has plastic attached to both sides. The left side was stapled and the right side was velcroed. The Velcro allowed the right side of the fixture to be fitted with the various insulation models. Vernier LabPro temperature probes were inserted under the lid and into the fixture. When set-up was complete the cord was plugged in and testing started. Fiberglass, spray foam, foam board, petroleum jelly, and a control were tested. The differences between the inside and outside temperatures were collected and measured.
The hypothesis was not supported by the data. The fiberglass insulation outperformed the other insulations, but only outperformed the petroleum jelly by .2 degrees Celsius.
