0800 92 76 46
The benefits of natural New Zealand wool for home, office, building and commercial insulation.
Wool is unique in its insulation properties and brings its proven characteristics into our residential and business environments. Wool is excellent in providing healthy, warm, dry and comfortable living environments. Wool has been proven through its years of use in fabrics, apparel, bedding and carpets. It is a natural fibre used universally for personal comfort and warmth.
It is only natural that this same product be used in the form of home insulation. Wool fibre has natural interlocking scales on its outer surface. This ensures strength, resilience and pliability which enables it to bend without breaking and return to hold its form and shape.
We wear it, walk on it, babies sleep in it, so why not insulate with it ?
Wool is the only insulation material that is not inert. Wool fibre breathes and reacts to climatic change which effectively allows your home and office to breathe. Wool is an extremely effective insulator when moisture is present within the environment. This is a continual occurrence due to the ever changing level of humidity within the atmosphere. Insulation products without absorption ability can be adversely effected by humidity. The presence of moisture is evidenced by water, condensation, mould and mildew within buildings.
This means that wool can absorb moisture without becoming wet to touch. Wools natural insulation ability is not affected by moisture because of its built in natural crimp. As the fibres naturally repel each other, an amount of air is retained which provides an insulation effect.
The fibre has the capability of absorbing up to 30% of its own weight in moisture, before it becomes wet to touch.
Wool in essence, provides a form of natural air-conditioning!
Warm and dry environments are essential in providing healthy living conditions. Wool has a natural ability to achieve this by absorbing and desorbing moisture. Through this characteristic, benefits can be obtained by sufferers of a wide range of health conditions such as asthmatic and other respiratory ailments.
Unlike some finer micron synthetic materials, the body does not absorb wool fibre through inhalation. Wool used for insulation is on average in the 25 – 40 micron range. Synthetic materials used in other forms of insulation products can be as low as 6 micron.
Wool is a natural protein substance. The protein from wool fibre is currently being used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. This would obviously not occur if there was an element of risk or harmful effect.
Wool being a natural fibre contains no irritants, is non toxic and absolutely safe to handle. The fibre contains no dangerous dust and does not require breathing protection. No protective gloves or clothing are required in handling or installing.
Wool based products reduce the risk to health and environment as a result of its ability to absorb gases and fumes such as formaldehydes and dioxides that are present in construction and finishing materials associated with building.
Wool can absorb many times more formaldahyde than is found in the average home.
Natural wool has very low conductivity which means that it is very difficult for heat to transfer through the fibre. Experience shows that wool does not settle or compact over time as some synthetic products do, thereby effecting thermal effectiveness.
Wool is naturally fire resistant and will not burn but melt away from its ignition source and extinguish. Wool has a higher fire resistance than cellulose and cellular plastic insulation. Wool used in insulation has been tested disclosing an ignitability and spread of flame index of zero and smoke developed index of 5.
We live in a country proud of its ecological approach towards environmental management. Wool is a natural product that emits no harmful chemicals that pollute our atmosphere, soil or water ways. Wool is safe to our environment and is a renewable resource.
Embodied energy is a measurement of the amount of energy required in manufacture. Some insulation materials require a tremendous amount of energy to manufacture a product designed to reduce domestic energy consumption. The question can be asked if some products, during an economic lifetime, will save an amount of energy greater than that utilised in their manufacture.
Wool insulation products require a minimal amount of energy compared to the manufacture of some synthetic products. With the necessity to conserve energy resources within New Zealand, embodied energy is important to everyone. Wool used in insulation is a by-product from the manufacturing sector of the wool industry. This in turn illiminates waste and provides a positive impact on the environment.