"Frozen Smoke" and Conservatory Insulation

One of the most searched for items on the Internet recently has been "scientists hail frozen smoke." I was intrigued by the article in The Times that started this frenzy and decided to investigate further as I was researching super insulating materials.

According to The Times "frozen smoke" is, "one of the worlds lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C."

The company that make the product, Aerogel, do so by extracting water from a silica and then replace it with gas such as carbon dioxide. This creates an extremely light material 99% of which is made up of gas contained in millions of nanopores and although it is classed as a solid the gas gives it a semi-transparent appearance.

Aspen Aerogel are creating an insulated lining for space suits. They believe that a 18mm layer of aerogel will be sufficient to protect astronauts from temperatures as low as -130C.

But getting the stuff into a conservatory at the moment is going to be a bit expensive, although prices will drop in the next few years. Some people have experimented with aerogel insulation and reported big savings in their heating bills. Where space it at a premium, a thin layer of aerogel will outperform traditional insulation blankets.

But it is its potential as a replacement for glass that we are most interested in. A Swedish company are experimenting with producing aerogel glass. This will provide low U-values with the equivalent thermal insulating quality equal to five to ten double glazed units. Unfortunately, at the moment experimental production is currently limited to just 15 square meters a month.

Other benefits of Aerogel Glazing when it does become available will be that; inert gases will not leak from between double or triple glazed units; the glazing at just 12mm thick will be lighter than multiple-glazed units; it will provide better sound insulation; and since no low-e coating will be required, better light transmission.

All this should mean that conservatory blinds and awnings will become a thing of the past, ventilation will be less critical and living with a south-facing conservatory will also be less of a problem.

So we look forward to installing aerogel in a conservatory in a few years.

Ian Dewar, Consultant to Richmond Oak Ltd http://www.oakconservatories.co.uk