WHAT IS A RADIANT BARRIER?
Eagle Shield is a radiant barrier which, when simply laid on top of existing ceiling insulation, helps reduce heating and cooling bills, extend the life of heating and cooling systems, and increase the comfort level of a home.

Eagle Shield consists of two sheets of 99.5 percent industrial grade aluminum adhered together and tri-laminated to a thermal break to create a two-sided reflector. It cuts heating and cooling costs by lowering the amount of heat transferred into a home in the summer and out of a home in the winter.

The Radiant Barrier Reflective Insulation technology used in Eagle Shield was developed by NASA over 40 years ago to protect astronauts in the Apollo program from temperatures that ranged from 250 degrees above zero to 460 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Radiant Barrier Reflective Insulation has been applied to every spacecraft since then, including unmanned spacecraft with delicate instruments that need protection from temperature extremes. The same technology is also applied to astronaut's space suits, protecting them during space walks.

Since the 1970's private industry has had the opportunity to apply Radiant Barrier Reflective Insulation technology to various commercial applications. This NASA technology has been applied to energy conservation techniques for home and offices, and even specialty applications such as candy wrapping, thermos bottles, coolers, windshield covers automobiles, fire suits, space blankets for forest rangers and fire departments, race cars, air conditioning and heating units and ducts, boilers, water pipes, poultry farms , survival blankets, and refrigeration trucks to name a few.

Eagle Shield was highlighted in the 2004 issue of NASA's Spinoff Magazine, which features successfully commercialized NASA technologies.  Read More »

HOW DOES A RADIANT BARRIER REDUCE ENERGY COSTS?
Heating and cooling costs are a very large portion of your energy bill. The most effective way to cut these costs is to lower the amount of heat transferred into your home in the summer and out of your home in the winter. Heat is transferred in three ways: radi ation, conduction, and convection. All heat transfer begins with radiation. Infrared rays or heat waves are radiated in a direct line from any heat source whether it be the sun, a fire, or the electric element of a space heater. These heat waves are either reflected or absorbed by any object that they come in contact with. If they are absorbed, the process of conduction (heat passing through solid materials) or convection (heat movement by air currents can occur.) Your roof, insulation, walls and ceiling are all materials that absorb and conduct these heat waves.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Eagle Shield is a radiant barrier made with two sheets of aluminum adhered together to create a two-sided reflector . When installed directly on top of your insulation, heat waves put off by your roof decking in the summer are reflected by the radiant barrier before they have the opportunity of being absorbed by your ceiling insulation, thus keeping your home cooler. In the winter, the radiated heat waves from within your home are absorbed by your ceiling and conducted up through your insulation into your attic. In this case, the down-facing side of the radiant barrier reflects the radiant heat waves emitted from your insulation back down toward your living area instead of allowing them to simply escape into your attic. This process eliminates heat loss through your ceiling, thus saving you dollars. Eagle Shield is also perforated with tiny holes that allow moisture to pass through so it doesn't create a moisture barrier for your existing insulation.

WHAT ABOUT INSULATION?
Insulation is designed to absorb heat passing through your ceiling. Eagle Shield reflects rather than absorbing heat. In fact, insulation with no radiant barrier can be a detriment during the cooling season because after absorbing heat during the day, it can continue to conduct that heat into your home throughout the evening.

Radiant Barrier Questions & Answers

WHEN THE RADIANT BARRIER IS INSTALLED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE ATTIC, CAN PLYWOOD THEN BE PLACED OVER THE TOP OF IT FOR STORAGE PURPOSES AND STILL RETAIN ITS INSULATION EFFECTIVENESS?
Only if you put furring strips or spacers on top to keep at least a quarter of an inch of air space to allow heat to stay in a radiant wave in order to reflect. Heat travels in a wave and it turns into conduction heat when air space is taken away. Hence the insulation in your home slowly conducting heat into your home! My personal advice is put the storage in a storage bin outside in order to insure 100% reflectivity in your home. Your bills and your comfort level will appreciate it!

ONCE THE RADIANT BARRIER IS INSTALLED WHAT IF I NEED TO LATER INSTALL ELECTRICAL WIRING OR LIGHTING TO THE CEILING BELOW? CAN THE INSULATION BE PULLED BACK AND REINSTALLED OR WILL THIS DAMAGE THE MATERIAL? IS THE MATERIAL STAPLED TO THE WOOD FRAMING? IS IT TAPED TOGETHER?
This is one of the major benefits of Reflective Insulation. It is a two-sided blanket and non-toxic so electricians love this product due to it is safe and harmless and all any one needs to do is bend down, pull it over, do the work and then pull it back in place. We do not staple or tack or tape it due to its natural weight. It overlaps about 1-2 inches. We only use aluminum tape when we wrap your ducts.

CAN YOU WALK ON TOP OF THE MATERIAL? WILL THERE BE ANY INDICATION WHERE ONE CAN WALK WITHOUT STEPPING THROUGH THE INSULATION?
We roll the product over your attic floor and we wave it so you have a distinct visual of where the beams are to walk on. This is much more visible to anyone in your attic due to normal mineral insulation can hide the beams. You can walk on it forever and never harm it. It is very durable, remember, this is the same product that is used by the fire departments to protect firefighters from fires, and it is in all the first aid kits. If any gets torn for any reason, your warranty states you receive that sectional piece delivered to you at no charge!

WILL THE INSTALL PRICE ALSO INCLUDE THE UNDERSIDE OF THE GARAGE WHICH GETS QUITE HOT DURING THE SUMMER?
Garage ceiling is not included in normal pricing due to it not being a living area. We can do it, however, we bid it as an extra bedroom charge. This is actually a price benefit to the customer since it generally takes the good part of a whole day to do the garage since they have to be on ladders and staple it to the top. If you spend any time in the garage it is a huge benefit!

THE EXTERIOR WALLS OF MY HOME HAVE INSULATION. WHAT IMPACT DOES THIS HAVE ON MY LOSS OF ENERGY? IS THIS INSIGNIFICANT COMPARED TO THE LOSS THROUGH THE CEILING?
Walls account for 11% energy loss compared to over 80% for ceilings. We feel like we lose more through the walls than we actually do, due to the fact that we live closer to the walls than we do the attic. The true test to prove this is hang out in the attic for a full day and then hang out next to a wall for a full day and you will know that ceiling is where the majority of the problem is in any building environment!

IS THERE ANY UTILITY COMPANY REBATE APPLICABLE TO THIS INSTALLATION?
No, because it's not in the utility company's best interest -- utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) offer rebates on mineral insulation (e.g., the pink stuff) in order to entice customers to insulate using this material so the utility can effectively transfer the majority of heat loss/gain into the late afternoon and evening. At the same time the utility companies have to supply businesses with energy, they would have to supply residences with energy during the peak load of the day. If they can get homeowners to insulate using mineral insulation, which absorbs and holds heat throughout the day, then that slows down the transfer process allowing them to sell energy and prevent the brown outs that you might remember were prevalent a few years back. In other words, the traditional types of insulating material store heat and then transfer it into your home at the end of the day when it cannot absorb any more. In a sense, you are not insulating, but setting a time-delay on when your home gets hot! Reflective insulation gets rid of the problem by reflecting the heat, while mineral (absorbable) insulation only slows it down to an off peak period.

WHAT IS THE "R" VALUE OF RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION?
The "R" value depends on the number and size of the airspaces surrounding the Radiant Barrier Insulation and on the direction of the heat flow. Since Radiant Barrier Insulation is usually installed on top of the existing mass insulation, its R-value is a moot point. It is Radiant Barrier Insulation's ability to reflect heat that makes it such an energy saver.

HOW DOES RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION KEEP ME WARMER IN THE WINTER?
Just like wrapping a baked potato in aluminum foil keeps a potato warm longer by holding the heat in, covering your attic insulation with Radiant Barrier Insulation holds the heat in the house. Another analogy would be that Radiant Barrier Insulation in the winter works just like a space blanket, which, although very thin and lightweight, holds your body heat in. A thin space blanket can keep you warmer than several heavy blankets.

OKAY, RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION KEEPS HEAT IN IN THE WINTER, HOW CAN IT KEEP IT OUT IN THE SUMMER?
Just like a space suit, Radiant Barrier Insulation reflects the sun's heat before it can warm up the insulation in your attic. When the insulation stays cooler, your house will stay cooler. It helps to understand how Radiant Barrier Insulation will work for you if you think of other things that work in much the same way. ASTRONAUTS' SPACE SUITS - keep body heat in, and reflect the sun's heat away. THERMOS BOTTLES - keep hot things hot and cold things cold. They are almost perfect insulators. The tight seal and air space prohibits heat transfer by conduction and convection. The reflective surfaces inhibit radiation heat transfer. If the bottle starts out hot, it stays hot because very little heat is transferred to the cooler outside. If it starts out cold, it stays cold because very little heat is transferred from the warmer outside.

WHAT IF RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION COLLECTS DUST OVER A PERIOD OF TIME? WILL IT STILL WORK?
This very issue has been studied by research institutes. Most attics don't accumulate enough dust to affect Radiant Barrier Insulation's ability to save energy costs. Thousands of homes and structures have had Radiant Barrier Insulation installed for as long as ten years or more with no significant dust accumulation. However, for best long-term performance, attaching Radiant Barrier Insulation to the attic rafters will eliminate any possible reflectivity degradation due to abnormal dust accumulation. Predictive modelling done by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, based on testing, suggest that a dusty attic floor application will lose about half of its effectiveness after about one to ten years.

WON'T MY ROOF GET HOTTER WHEN I HAVE RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION IN MY ATTIC?
No. Radiant Barrier Insulation has been used extensively in the southern United States, showing no difference in roof temperatures, as confirmed by field tests.

DO I HAVE TO TAKE MY OLD INSULATION OUT TO PUT RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION IN?
No. Radiant Barrier Insulation actually makes your present insulation more effective.

WHERE DO YOU INSTALL RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION?
Radiant Barrier Insulation can be laid over your present insulation like a blanket or stapled under your rafters or crawl space. Consult your Eagle Shield Representative Phone: 800-88 EAGLE (32453) or (800) 811-0466 for your best application.

WHAT ABOUT FOIL-FACED FIBERGLASS? ISN'T IT JUST AS GOOD AS RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION?
No. The foil on the fiberglass is in direct contact with the attic floor. Aluminum foil becomes more conductive when in contact with a solid surface. The air space facing the foil surface is of primary importance.

WHY COULDN'T I JUST PUT PLAIN KITCHEN FOIL IN MY ATTIC?
You could, but kitchen foil would not be nearly as effective as Radiant Barrier Insulation because it is only 22% aluminum, with other alloys and minerals that will cause it to break down over time. The Radiant Barrier Insulation is 99.5% pure aluminum, so is much more reflective than foil and does not break down over time. Also, the Radiant Barrier Insulation contains small perforations so it breathes and doesn't cause condensation.

I ALREADY HAVE PLENTY OF INSULATION IN MY ATTIC. DO I REALLY NEED RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION?
The Department of Energy's Radiant Barrier Fact Sheet states that homeowners can expect up to 17% cooling savings depending on climate, current amount of insulation in the attic, and household energy use. Many of our customers claim to have seen higher results, but these results have not been scientifically verified by a 3rd party.

HAS RADIANT BARRIER INSULATION BEEN TESTED BY A QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT LABORATORY OR U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY?
The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) at Cape Canaveral has tested radiant barriers in both small scale laboratory and full scale building models. Their results indicate that radiation barriers provide significant resistance to heat transfer. Current tests conducted by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oak Ridge Laboratories in Tennessee, and the University of Mississippi support the findings at the Florida Solar Energy Center. Northeastern Illinois University conducted winter tests in residential and commercial structures using infra-red thermograph photography. The photos showed significant resistance to heat transfer over the regular insulation.  View the FSEC Radiant Barrier Report »