Fire Testing Insulation Materials

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In this 50th episode of the "On The Job" web series, Larry Janesky does something a little different. Rather than walking us through a recent project, he takes us to Dr. Energy Saver's National Energy Conservation Center - a 40,000 sq. ft. training facility at the company's headquarters in Seymour CT - to demonstrate how different types of insulation materials will behave in case of a house fire.
Fire rating of insulation materials is something often overlooked not only in energy-efficient upgrades, but also in new construction. There are some code-mandated guidelines for using different types of insulation in different areas of the house, but at Dr. Energy Saver, we believe that the fire safety of homes and buildings can be greatly improved with the right choice of materials.
This is not a scientific test. The purpose of this video is to demonstrate the significant differences in the way different insulation materials behave when exposed to fire.
Using a propane torch, Larry put all the most common types of insulation to the test, including fiberglass (faced and unfaced), open-cell foam, closed-cell foam, open-cell foam with FSK paper, polyisocyanurate foam, fire resistant open-cell foam, expanded polystyrene foam, extruded polystyrene foam, fire block foam, denim insulation, AirKrete injection foam, cellulose and Rockwool insulation.
According to this demonstration, the best performing materials by far were AirKrete injection foam, cellulose and Rockwool, but Larry explains that this should not constitute grounds for avoiding the use any of the other materials, because each different material has its specific application. When it comes to green building and remodeling, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Smart energy-efficient retrofitting is about evaluating each home's features, energy consumption patterns and finding the best materials and techniques to achieve the most energy savings while making homes more comfortable, healthier and safer.
Dr. Energy Saver dealers nationwide have improved the homes and lives of many homeowners across the United States and we'd love to help you too! Call us or visit our website to locate a dealer near you!
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Contents of this Video:
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Material One: Fiberglass Batts
01:17 Material Two: Blown Fiberglass Insulation
01:47 Material Three: Cellulose Insulation
02:48 Material Four: Sprayfoam/ Closed Cell Foam Insulation
03:31 Material Five: EPS (Expanded Polystyrene Foam)
03:58 Material Six: Open Cell Sprayfoam / Half Pound Foam
04:58 Material Seven: Foamax / Polyisocyanurate Foam
06:25 Material Eight: Open-Cell Foam with FSK Paper
07:50 Difference Between Thermal Barrier and Ignition Barrier
08:27 Material Nine: Fire-Retardant Open-Cell Foam
09:32 Material Ten: EPS Insulation
09:56 Material Eleven: XPS (Extruded Polystyrene Foam)
10:48 Material Twelve: AirKrete Injection Foam
11:07 Material Thirteen: Aminoplast Foam/ Formaldehyde Foam
11:39 Material Fourteen: Close-Cell Sprayfoam/ Polystyrene Foam
12:41 Material Fifteen: Denim Batt Insulation
12:59 Material Sixteen: Fireblock Foam
13:23 Material Seventeen: Rockwool
14:00 Material Eighteen: Rockwool Canlight Cover
14:20 Which Insulation Performed Best in the Fire Test?

[@kenschleede9382]

We used cellulose blown in on my Dad's home. After 10 years he tried some to see if it still was flame-resistant. It was not. It burned easily. The chemical retardant was degraded to the point it burned. You should show older cellulose tested. Thanks for the video.

[@palmeralexj]

I wonder if it was possible that the old cellulose did not have the fire retardant in it? I believe the fire retardant is a boron based mineral fire retardant and I don't see why it would degrade. Did you test the cellulose with a fire test before installing it?

[@tealkerberus748]

cellulose can also be expected to rot if it gets wet, I reckon. And blown-in insulation settles over time.

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

How did you determine the chemical retardant degraded? That seems very unlikely that this chemical, which has been around millions of years before it was mined, would degrade in ten years. Maybe you wanted it to?

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

@@tealkerberus748 Dense packed cellulose, which is what you get when you blow it in, shows no signs of settling.

[@gurgy3]

A lot of “fire retardant” materials will tell you in the fine print they have to be replaced every 5 years or so. For insulation that is not practical obviously.

[@nelsonianb1289]

this video should be shown in every architecture school. great way to learn why some is used in certain areas, mineral wood for stairs, batt insul in others.

[@tealkerberus748]

Why you use rockwool batts everywhere if you care about the people living in it.

[@SpiritBear12]

Watching this video and reading the comments below, I'm beginning to think that the Rock wool might be some of the very best stuff out there. Light weight, easy to install, doesn't burn, easy to buy at many home improvement stores. If I ever win the lottery and get a house built, I think I'll use that stuff in the walls.

[@garystinten9339]

SpiritBear12 hemp crete is also very good too

[@RubenKelevra]

It's actually what we use in Germany everywhere.

[@arthurmaxham4556]

Used it for the first time on a project. Easy to install. I like it way better than fiberglass. Will use it again.

[@maakulad7504]

You could have aerogel put in for the best outcome

[@streaky81]

@@maakulad7504 that's not so much winning the lottery as much as owning the lottery. They never did manage to get the price of that to drop very much, though it would be the _perfect_ home insulation if they could..

[@justinbailey6515]

I had Cellulose insulation in my old house that was built in 2000. I can definitely say that after 15 years, it settles, burns and the entire attic was infested with silverfish. Going through training as a firefighter, I can attest to the difficulty in putting out fires in homes with cellulose insulation. Every time, we would have to rip down the entire ceiling (even if only one room was affected) because of the way fire can smolder and snake through the insulation. If you want to know which insulation is best, call your insurance company. They have to pay the claims and would know best.

[@TheWhale45]

Spray Foam.

[@akanesoratobu8889]

@@TheWhale45 spray foam actually burns easily too.

[@TheWhale45]

@@akanesoratobu8889 The spray foam I used has flame retardant in it. It would actually give you another 10 minutes to get out of the house if it even caught on fire. This is some anti oil politics stupidity. You guys do what you want. My next REhab will be the same 2 inches spray foam with aluminum double bubble over the studs and taped off. 90% reduction in the heating and cooling bill like last time. everything woke turns to poop. also Bugs and Rodents hate foam.

[@TheWhale45]

as for insurance companies. They will tell you a sprinkler system works best. There are some counties in the DC MD VA area that require it in the new homes and rehabs.

[@tricia8727]

THANK YOU for posting this! It was exactly what I needed to know and see for myself! Much appreciated 👍

[@BuildBreakFix]

TY LARRY FOR GETTING LUNG CANCER FOR MY KZbin VIEWING PLEASURE !

[@David-yg8tf]

He'll more likely get lung cancer from handling the fiberglass.

[@virtualstranger1299]

I think you mean asbestos don't you? You can lay a baby in Greenguard certified fibre glass wool

[@BuildBreakFix]

LOL Sure Lay a baby in Greenguard fiber glass wool. Post a video of that on youtube rofl........ What size clothes you where post it below so they have your stripped pants ready at the local jail when you arrive LOL

[@David-yg8tf]

Quoting from a website "Animal testing in Scotland and Switzerland proved" it. Like asbestos, the nature of sharp shards cutting your lung's internal is the problem. I make sure no holes/gaps are in my ceiling since the A/C will pull out these dangerous glasses.

[@Jake_scootz]

Rich Morgenstein of all time

[@ericvanzeyl4483]

Good demonstration. One reason I will be doing closed cell on the outside followed by Rockwool when I build my new house. Rockwool some good stuff. Excellent demonstration!

[@david6chevy]

Far and away the best video on this subject. Thanks.

[@VaidaWoodHouses]

We build wooden houses and we get same questions about fire resistance in a wooden house. This video well proves, not everything burns so easy as we think. Happy to hear this about cellulose insulation. Thx for video.

[@SupaNautica]

Thanks for the info, this helped me figure out all the things I need to cover and what type of insulation I need. Rockwool ticks all the boxes and is 5 times cheaper than the Foam I was originally looking at.

[@mesta9997]

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2711883/

[@ateleskier7066]

Although this is made in the US (and I am in Europe) this is still a _really_ useful review. The depth of knowledge on display is unquestionable; it's always obvious to me when someone has learned some technical jargon but doesn't really understand it. You obviously know exactly what you are talking about. So, even to someone in the UK (where available product ranges may differ) this is extremely helpful advice and very thought-provoking. Many thanks for sharing.

[@trumpisaconfirmedcuck5840]

What type of insulation is commonly used in attics in Europe?

[@rbassrecording]

Wow! Would've expected a different result. Thank you!

[@larryjanesky8185]

Recently a barn (more like a house really) that I built in 2005 with closed cell spray foam burned and was mortally destroyed. Amazingly, the 3/4" knotty pine that I had lined the entire inside of the structure with burned away completely, yet there was not one hole in the roof sheathing or wall sheathing due to the closed cell spray foam! A REAL fire test! I was impressed. It didn't melt into a liquified mess and provide fuel to the fire - it insulated the framing and sheathing instead.

[@SamanthaFrancis]

Thanks so much for this video and taking the time to put this video together!!! This is one of the most informative videos so far and saved me lots of research! Really appreciate how much this helped me! ✨

[@agikhan8185]

Thank you Larry for uploading this video its been a a great help.

[@shaajz]

Nice to see the detailed video about the NON-resistant insulation Materials. Thanks

[@VipasbestosremovalsydneyAu]

Your video makes me feel a lot better about my insulation. Great

[@PlumbDrumb]

Great video. Our Coloroado home was built in 1969 and was lacking A LOT of insulation in many areas. Though, upon remodeling, I found the walls had 2.5 inches of rockwool inside. I was happy to see that, even though its OLD rockwool (I'm sure the tech for that stuff has advanced somewhat). I decided to keep it in there, peel the face off (don't want two vapor barriers), and put 3.5 inches of faced fiberglass insulation on top of it. There's 5-6 inches of insulation in there now! I would have loved to use the newer Roxul brand rockwool on instead of the fiberglass on top, but I'm not very wealthy (that Roxul is $65-$70 a pack). So, unfortunately I don't have a fire retardant insulation UNTIL the fire melts through the fiberglass first, haha, but it's better than nothing. I did manage to get Roxul in the ceilings for soundproofing though. Boy is that stuff easy to work with. It's going to be toasty in the basementg this Winter!

[@Xfolium1]

Very good testing, informative. Thanks!!!

[@mistersparkle522]

great and informative video... was always worried about GPS foam... especially knowing how direct flames affect EPS...

[@joehunter692]

This is a great video. Thanks for posting it.

[@johnr.timmers2297]

Really cool stuff Oh and as I geology major I can confirm rock wool is amazing stuff and great use of what would otherwise be thrown out.

[@VTV-Live]

I worked at a cellulose insulation factory years ago, we took recycled papers ground them up and sprayed them with fire retardant chemicals. The jets that sprayed the chemicals clogged several times daily. Meanwhile countless bags of untreated cellulose / ground up paper was bagged and loaded into trucks. We took grab samples every 15 minutes and held a propane torch flame directly on the insulation for 20 seconds for testing if the insulation caught fire we knew the jets were clogged. As I said countless bags of cellulose insulation were bagged and loaded into truck. We never unloaded the bags. I'd bet anyone that there are millions of homes that have highly flammable ground up paper crammed in attics ready to catch fire. I would NEVER put this product in any space such as and attic that was exposed to high heat or around electrical wiring. Even worse I would be willing to bet that after time the chemicals sprayed on the papers breaks down or dissipates. If you have cellulose in your home I would test it annually. So glad that was only a temporary job to get me through school and that I knew better than to put this in any areas of my home exposed to high heat.

[@Virtual-Media]

Hoefledorf My honest opinion, don't put shredded paper in your attic or walls, regardless if you put boric acid in it. At some point it will break down and you'll have highly flammable material lining your attic and walls. Please understand this is a promotional video, their trying to sell you their product.

[@Virtual-Media]

Hoefledorf I don't want to come off as an authority on fire safety. I just know the experience I had as a college student working in a factory that manufactured cellulose insulation. It's not regulated so unfortunately anything goes with profit being the main objective. It's sounds to me you're being very cautious and I think with what you've just said you should be okay, I would flame test every bag before blowing it in. And just to throw this out there, after my parents had passed away we cleaned their home and found a lot of old newspaper in the attic, never had a house fire. Add to that there are millions of homes that have cellulose, if it were a major problem it would have been widely known by now. I just get a bit edgy when I see ads like the one above make unsubstantiated claims.

[@pipersson9258]

+VTV // reply // Why does Cellulose insulation smell. It's because they add a sweet smelling sterilizing agent to it to reduce the former waste paper bedding smell (its mostly sold for animal bedding), when collected from waste paper warehouses and dumpsters behind shops it can contain germs, ants, insects, mice, rats and wildlife droppings, so for public safety reasons it must go under the squirted on liquid sterlizor spayor . Too much sterilizor can go in in one area because the conveyot belts stopped for a paper jam, and other areas can go untreated. Its waste paper called Cellulose a trade name to improve its image and value. Now you know.

[@garrimic3]

This is why I am re insulating my entire home with roxul insulation. Spray foam will kill you because of the amount of smoke. Fiberglass as you have seen does nothing. Improper factory products such as you have stated will burn your ass. Roxul is good up to 2100 degrees, because it’s made of basically rock. It also has great r value per inch.

[@MichaelMantion]

This is why you shouldn't buy american made stuff.

[@robertocorradi6318]

Good & informative . . . Appreciated , thanks Larry .

[@DjDioxis]

Very nice video. Thanks for posting.

[@motolarry1]

This is a very useful video! There is nothing like it! Excellent!

[@TheDigitalslayer]

This is the video that convinced me to buy a few bats of mineral/rock wool to add to my new room addition in my house. One thing I learned when I put in rock wool is that it has a little more higher R value per inch than fiberglass.

[@garrimic3]

I have researched many insulation types and crunched every number possible and Roxul is by far the best product. Cost, r value and ease of installation.

[@roman2011]

i love this. concise and to the point

[@davidwebb2318]

Brilliant video. Really useful to see the difference between the materials. Thanks.

[@goshodim]

Very educational! Will be very nice if you add and the specification for each foam you are testing(thermal resistance, moisture resistance, acoustic performance, fungi resistance etc.). Thank you!

[@JasonKench]

Great video. Thanks

[@DrMelBisson]

Love that ROXUL! Thanks for sharing!

[@taofikialimi8402]

Nice demonstrations.

[@mccallumcra]

Best explanation about heat exposure to insulation that I've seen yet. One thing to keep in mind though is that even in a fire, if the insulation is kept away from oxygen it may only melt instead of burning so the smoke might not be as bad but that doesn't mean that the chemicals have become inert. Quite the opposite, you may just have a puddle of ignition ready goo left after the fire. Excelant video though. Maybe you should wright an ASTM test based on it. These are important things to know about any building material.

[@daviddicicco171]

Thanks for this! Super helpful!!!

[@creativeideascarpentry]

Great video and information!

[@toanlam8805]

Hello Dr. Energy Saver, It is a great video.

[@arianaparrish1238]

great video - thanks

[@formerevolutionist]

I used to work for an insulating company when I was a teenager. I learned that cellulose was a really good fire retardant and insulator when sprayed in unfinished walls, but it loses its fire-retardant qualities when blown dry into finished walls.

[@MrMafiJozo]

great video very helpful

[@sissymurphy9620]

I am really happy now that i went with roxul rock wool insulation .Great informative video

[@mr.wizeguy8995]

Look video how rockwool works with water and for sure you get second thought.

[@gakkenost]

sissy murphy i think the fire (smoke) will kil you faster then the water. Rockwool has a superb quality when it came to fire, sound and heat insulation. Glava is a cheaper alternative but it has som problems. a smal fire wil cause the foam to fill the house with life-thretening gasses. Rockwool, nope..

[@brothyr]

Mr. Wizeguy I tried looking for videos where rock insulation performed poorly with water but I couldn't.

[@thatsunpossible312]

I think Mr. Wizeguy was confusing the blown-in cellulose in the video with rock wool.

[@cloudjc22]

excellent video comparing all types of insulation.

[@frnkjones40]

Thanks for uploading.

[@mattnielsen6793]

Thanks for the video.

[@taradead]

THAT is one thorough information video! Everything i wanted to know, thank you.

[@progirlgamerz9510]

Thanks It was very nice and informative

[@superimran2005]

THanks awesome works!

[@george8873]

Glad to know that about blown in cellulose insulation. Have it in my house.

[@emiliogarazgos6552]

Thanks for a very informative demonstration. It would have been nice if a sample typical of strawbale construction (ie densely packed and encased in plaster ) had been demo'd. There is a great deal of interest world-wide due to straw being touted as a green/sustainable material, that interest perhaps being greater in Europe than North America where it is being used in urban high-rises . At the densities recommended for building,,when exposed to open flame,the straw simply smoulders rather than bursts into flame as one might expect. However, the straw is typically protected by wet-applied plaster typically to a thickness that provides a multi-hour (ie 3 or more) fire rating as per ASTM.

[@mr.doityourselfandsave4369]

Thanks excellent information.

[@boomer622g]

Great video.

[@ELICONSTRUCTION]

Great video...

[@chrisgreen8539]

I am a big fan of Roxul mineral- or rockwool insulation, and of other Roxul products. Nice to see you've included these in your tests. These materials, as far as I know, are made from basalt mining wastes. Basalt is a volcanic rock that can cover valuable ore bodies in some locations. At least in the Roxul plant in B.C. they're using mining waste. Don't know about the others around the world. Maybe some of them are using iron smelter wastes. I hadn't heard of Aircrete before now. Will look it up.

[@chrisgreen8539]

I had previously know Aircrete or Airkrete (US) as Autoclaved Aerated Concrete.

[@gg-gn3re]

besalt & slag as he said, but like 90%+ besalt

[@rosskestle6316]

In Australia we don't have fibreglass with Kraft paper bonded to it so that's not a fire problem for us. There have been an occasional problem in the past with cellulose burning or smoldering, but this is because it was not manufactured to the correct standard. Cellulose has been covered by a standard since 1986. The product has changed since the 50s and the additives have changed and are much better. We have fire tested old cellulose that was installed probably in the 80s that had been saturated with rainwater from a roof leak. The fire test was still perfect. People should start looking at effective insitu thermal ratings rather than labelled insulation ratings as this is an important consideration when looking at insulation products. All Australian products have a zero spread of flame if manufactured correctly. Effective insulation is the labelled R rating adjusted for climatic and installed conditions. All insulation has effective R ratings lower than their labelled R ratings some products there is only a small difference and some products there is a huge difference especially if high insulation ratings are required.

[@johnbecich9540]

My compliments on Larry's easy-to-take delivery. He's thorough and accurate. He ought to take up a night job as an MLB radio broadcaster! Keep up the great work, Larry. But I worry about any smoke you might inhale, during your demonstrations. Rumor has it that isocyanurate turns to cyanide gas at high temperatures.

[@chrhadden]

if that were true than i have an extremely high tolerance to cyanide.i have had to scrape structual fireproofing out of the web of i beams many times to weld this or that.nothing would be scraped from the other side or any where else i wasnt welding so the far side of the web would be just uner 2000 f roughly.its not pleasant smelling ,sometimes it will make you hack and cough but i havent died yet.one thing i know will kill you is welding steel that has lead based paint on it.take my word on that one.

[@Healthyhomebuilders]

Helped a lot.

[@beammachine4525]

thanks. very interesting

[@boedillard8807]

Amazingly complete video! Can you add that steico stuff?

[@sthomas7263]

Good Information !!!

[@joopbronswijk3178]

Try this test on a thick piece of wood, lightning it from the top and the result would be the same. Most of these insulations burn like crazy. In our area we had a lot of pur and pir fires. Pir was also used in Grenfell Tower in London.

[@huntingkc1]

wow, thanks for posting, great information.

[@rozchristopherson648]

Very informative !! 👍

[@stevelebard5698]

Based on this video I bought Greenfiber insulation from Lowe’s for my wood fired oven enclosure. I had already insulated with perlite but ran a little short so I finished filling the enclosure (made of steel studs, cement board walls and a 14 gauge steel roof) making sure to keep the Greenfiber 6” away from the double wall stainless steel stove pipe. After cooking my first pizza In the oven the enclosure began to smolder and has been doing so for three days now. There is very little ventilation in the enclosure so all day yesterday I keep a canvas tarp over the enclosure and keep it wet all day hoping to smother out the fire. I took it off last night and smoke still poured out of the venting areas. Using this crap was a big mistake on my part I should have just added more perlite which is made from volcanic rock. Now I’ll have to wait until it quits burning, remove the the roof, remove the burnt Greenfiber and add perlite. What a PITA!

[@gt40f]

Never do anything based on a KZbin video

[@RushGamma]

who else would subscribe to a channel where they just test how flammable things are.

[@PBS-nm1uu]

thank you for all this info better than the government !!!

[@clarenceteo6833]

"dun worry the smoke helps the fireman get to u faster as it acts as a beacon" said most spray foam salesperson. 😂😂😂

[@jMichaelEdwards]

I was thinking that!

[@JesseCoxVideo]

Did you know that Open Cell spray foam off gasses Hydrogen Cyanide when it burns...

[@Scorpiomaj27889]

Are you saying it's a smoke signal?

[@adamtaylor2851]

Jobtown?

[@renjithmavila3392]

It should not

[@sapphirehorizons3279]

Thank you

[@account4info]

The old insulation in my attic was blow in wool insulation. Highly flammable so I burned it in my fireplace to dispose of it when I put in new insulation.

[@Engineer9736]

Lol at that background music while putting a dozen kinds of insulation on fire indoors 😂

[@DivineMisterAdVentures]

Boy I really learned a lot - probably a lot to learn!

[@gg-gn3re]

rockwool isn't from "slag" it's part of that, majority of it is besalt which is very abundant on earth as it is volcanic rock.. found all over. A small part of slag is mixed in for the process of rock wool

[@BIKEMAN21]

the most amazing thing is he is still standing after breathing in all that toxic smoke inside of a building.

[@zealthsteel7542]

Good video

[@pawelolender3709]

Awesome vid man! Love the goggle marks! Is it from burning all the time? ;)

[@goosecouple]

Amazing

[@zannajoyce6698]

Wow, thanks!

[@pwdrhrn]

I wish you had also tested expanded cork and compared it to foams for fireproofness and smoke. Some of those fumes are deadly, you should have had protection on.

[@katnip6289]

Great video! Just before watching this video I watch a video about spray foam insulation. And it was making the homeowners sick. So the home owners had to live in mobile homes because their homes were too toxic. And unlivable.

[@VideoNOLA]

Nice! Next, I wanna see this test done with Roxul rock wool insulation batts. (EDIT: Yep, there it is starting at 13:25, thanks!)

[@mgjjr4]

Very much appreciate your video, one option I didn't see you test was cellular glass insulation (eg Foamglas). Do you think you could redo your video with a quick same test of that type of insulation?

[@BenjaminEsposti]

The 24 floor "Grenfell" apartment building in London just burnt down. So far 12 people have died. They had recently finished putting foam panels on the exterior of the building. I can't believe how professional engineers and architects would be so oblivious to this hazard!

[@robinstokes5179]

Depends what you mean by "foam". Not all foams are the same & as the above tests show, they burn differently,. So far, no-one has confirmed what insulation was actually used in Grenfell House (as opposed to what was specified). Seems the fire had something to do with how flammable the aluminium composite cladding was & the way it was all fitted. The foam was separated from the cladding by an air gap that may have accelerated the fire.

[@shanehammond]

@@robinstokes5179 the 'foam' used is as follows: "composition: a polyethylene core sandwiched between aluminium sheets."... a cheaper alternative was chosen to save money, which clearly has cost many lives. Polyethylene is referred to as SOLID PETROL. "known for its high insulating properties."

[@robinstokes5179]

@@shanehammond Yup, wrong place for that material.

[@davidhazen2394]

Nice video but I wish he had mention where to get the heat thermal barrier foam that expands that seem like a the best one for me.

[@FREEDOM14U]

This is just great for the old wind pipes.

[@Naturenerd1000]

I would choose Mineral Wool. Such an awesome fire proof material.

[@humansvd3269]

Like asbestos?

[@Naturenerd1000]

@@humansvd3269 But safe and non toxic.

[@humansvd3269]

@@Naturenerd1000 I just replied to a 6 year old comment, then got a quick reply. Lol.

[@MsKizilay]

very informative i was asking myself the same question what iff it burns???

[@chrise.851]

Good vid! Thx

[@goddess7240]

That is true. If you FAIL to extinguish it, it will burn to the ground BUT I think the point here is this: If you have a quality foam that does not allow the fire to burn QUICKLY THROUGH the walls, then you technically have MORE time TO EXTINGUISH it. Holding back the spread of fire is a worthy calculation in choosing insulation...

[@SeptrothFFXI]

Todays modern homes that are prefab balloon construction are basically "disposable", under fire conditions the floors and roofs collapse quickly, stairs are only rated for 5 mins under fire loads making them only good for escape. the truss members in the roofs and joists in the floors are made of laminates that are wood chips bound with epoxy and polyurethane resins that under elevated temps give up any structural property they had. insulation will help with escape times but it is unfortunately not going to help much with the extinguishing aspect

[@avenger1888]

As I watch Mike Holms show the best way to build your house is with foam insulation or Rock wool. Also treat lumber with fire retardant. This way the house wouldn't burn. Yes you can spray this on older homes lumber.

[@suggesttwo]

I remember a stove from the 1930s I took apart had a ceramic I think insulation around the oven. Put a torch to it. It got orange but wasn't burned at all.

[@turnkeypropertyinspections1648]

"I feel dizzy...I'm gunna lay down for a minute..."

[@patilkamlesh1991]

Would have loved to see cellular glass insulation performance ! (Foamglas perhaps )

[@umarluxat7174]

Great demonstration . I guess the rock-wool is not hermetic, so the healthy one , thermic protector , and by using safety protective gear anyone can install it .

[@trevormatthews7981]

Next time can you do vertical testing. I'm thinking of the Grenfell tower block in London that went up in flames with many deaths.

[@canuckfixit7722]

Great demonstration video. "Don't try this at home" kind of thing and there should be over 1million views by now. I was totally surprised by how the cellulose resisted the fire. In consideration of the "fire triangle" concept, those insulation materials that flamed up only when the torch was applied demonstrate that in a real building fire, the surrounding extreme heat, combined with available oxygen would cause those substanecs to contribute to the fire. I was actually dissapointed to see how poorly the XPS performed with flames continuing even after the torch was taken away. Go with rock wool or spray foam with the thermal barrier top coating.

[@psilicybin666]

Not all cellulose can be judged the same. Cellulose has been used since around the 50's. The old house I live in recently had a fire start directly in the insulation by nothing more than a spark. This is just a warning for anyone that has an older house with cellulose, the older stuff has definite fire potential!!

[@nathanoconnor421]

I don't think it would be a good choice if you live in a termite prone area either.

[@keithmahler4236]

What do you recommend putting around a thimble plate in the wall for a pellet stove exhaust vent ?

[@Danger909]

I have a question for you. I blew in atticat in my attic but I forgot to cover the water hot lines, should I be OK for the insulation won't catch fire! Thanks

[@Orc-icide]

Test asbestos! I hear that's a pretty good insulator!

[@rekless1875]

Asbestos doesn't burn. I think the space shuttle has asbestos tiles for reentry to atmosphere.

[@reallywontsufferfools1620]

DURRRRRR

[@spacedoge3508]

@@rekless1875 it had silica ceramic tiles

[@richy5913]

Asbestos is a good insulator,but it is a carcinogen when you breath in the small fibers you will be at risk for lung cancer and you could die from asbestosis.

[@RubenKelevra]

@@richy5913 r/woooosh

[@2xxbroad]

I have personally inspected house with cellulose fibre that was installed over 22 years ago - still completely fireproof - the insulation was levelled to the rafters with a fine crust on top preventing movement by wind. Very neat and tidy as well.