Minimizing heat loss in

houses
Kim Bromage, Science FND3
Insulation experiment (part 1)
In our classroom, we had an experiment
where we had taken 100ml of hot water and
we had tested how much the temperature
dropped (°C) after 10 minutes. We tried this
experiment with (photo on the right) and
without insulation.

On the picture to the right, it shows the

design of an insulated box created by 2
students. They covered the top and the flaps
of the box with aluminium foil because it is
reflective and it reflects the heat back down
into the beaker because heat travels upwards.
Photo of the box with insulation that we
They poked a hole at the top so that they used for the experiment
could put the thermometer through and
Insulation experiment (part 2)
On the inside of the box, they surrounded
the beaker with cotton wool and bubble
wrap. Both of these materials are good for
insulation because the cotton wool traps air
easily and bubble wrap contains air pockets,
which means that they are both bad
conductors because air is a type of gas, and
gases are very bad at conducting heat.
Results from the experiment As you can see from this
line graph, the two
parts of the experiment
started at different
temperatures but the
insulated beaker still
lost a lot less than the
non insulated beaker.
You can tell because
from the meeting point,
the non insulated
beaker still kept going
down and the insulated
beaker is still dropping
by a degree celcius per
minute.
Improvements to add to the example’s
insulated box
Some things that could’ve been done to improve this experiment are to
cover all the small holes on the outside of the box to ensure that the
heat can’t escape the box and to completely cover the walls with the
cotton wool and the bubble wrap because you cans see that the bubble
wrap could not completely cover the walls of the box. Another thing we
could’ve done is to slightly add more aluminium after putting the
thermometer in so that the heat doesn’t escape through the tiny hole
where the thermometer is put through.
Political, ethical, and environmental issues
with different insulators
For housing, there are many different insulators that
you can use to keep your house warm, although they
all have certain problems that you should keep in
mind. One example of an insulator is spray foam
insulation. Spray foam is an expensive way to
insulate your house (that being a possible political
issue) and it has chemicals that can give a person
respiratory problems if not handled carefully,
meaning it would be unethical to get someone
without proper training to handle this foam or for
someone to not wear proper gear to install it.

Another example of an insulator is fiberglass

insulation. Fiberglass is the most common type of
insulation as it is cheap, easy to install, and non-
flammable, but it is also bad for the skin and lungs
(ethical issue) and it has the environmental problem
Bibliography
“4 Types of Insulation for Your House (Pros & Cons).” Home Stratosphere, 19 Nov. 2019, www.homestratosphere.com/types-of-
insulation-for-your-house/.

Chief, Editor in. “18 Spray Foam Insulation Pros and Cons.” Green Garage, 19 Mar. 2019, greengarageblog.org/18-spray-foam-
insulation-pros-and-cons.

“Fiberglass Insulation Pros and Cons.” Solar365, solar365.com/green-homes/insulation/fiberglass-insulation-pros-cons.

Image citation:
“Man Installing Spray Foam Insulation.” HOME Stratosphere, www.homestratosphere.com/types-of-insulation-for-your-house/.