Thanks Jman! The links and information you provided were excellant.

Question for you: Do you know if the Rock Wool is available in blanket form? Also, how would you cut this stuff to sizes needed?

TIA!!!

====Da Moosie

Thanks TVP45 for the info! Glad to know that I can at least cut the stuff with a utility knife or my wife's finest sewing scissors! Hmmm, on second thought I had better not use them or otherwise she'll boil me in oil and I'll end up looking like and smelling like french fries!!!

Now, I only have to find a place where I can buy the blankets since the local Lowes and Home Depot don't seem to carry it.

Next on my hit list is finding some kind of isolation material to place between the copper hold down clips located along copper manifold pipes and attached to the underlying structural steel framework so as to minimize thermal losses there. Something like a ceramic washer or wedge or thereabouts. I've got to be able to drill pilot holes through it for the self-tapping screws without having to procur special drill bits. I had considered some plastics, but I don't think they'd hold up for long or will melt due to the 350 degree F temps inside the manifold. Does anyone have any ideas or have come across such a dilemma before?

TIA!!!

This isn't the cheapest and soesn't offer the best selection, but it's quickly available in small quantities. Rulon will easily go up past 350F. Check the same catalogue.

Rockwool is used extensively in hydroponics and nursery facilities also as acoustic batting.

One option is phenol formaldehyde foam.

http://www.epfa.org.uk/properties.htm#Environment

Bioramani

Rock wool is available in various thicknesses in slab form and roll form. K value to be checked for different applications. Thermo Cole and HDPU are other few insulation materials available in the market for insulation purposes.

Greetings.

Sorting through the cobwebs if I remember correctly when I installed a propane parlor stove and a propane in line on demand water heater in my home that I was told that rock wool doesn't burn until 1,800 degress F and then it doesn't add to the fire. I got the rock wool in 6 inch batts 4 feet long and stuffed the walls where the piping went through the wall. Not everybody carries rock wool. I found a large insulation contractor that had it in a warehouse on his farm.

When the Lord allowed me to build this house I wish I had known about rock wool house insulation because I would have insulated the whole house with it.

I am told that fiberglass house insulation will burn at 900 degrees F and it will contribute to the fire. I suppose that is why at a certain point the firemen will pull away from a fire and then shortly you hear a load boom like an explosion when all that fiberglass insulation in the attic catches on fire and starts burning. This is just guess on my part but they seem to know something like at what temperature the fire is burning.

The US NAVY used to use loose rock wool to pack their N2O2 plants on Aircraft Carriers like the USS Constellation and USS Kitty Hawk back in the 1960s.

Mice and squirrels don't seem to like it. I have several rolls of fiberglass and a number of batts of rock wool stored in my barn and the mice build nests with the fiberglass and leave the exposed rock wool batts alone.

Ah I ramble on. Hope this helps.

Have a great day.

Oly

Check out Nansulate

Many thanks to all that have helped me out finding a solution to my problem!

Between using the Rock Wool and Nansulate, I believe I've found the answers that I was looking for!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

===Mark

i agree with mrswamy and olympia...

rockwool is a good choice and usually not hard to find.

another useful commonly available insulator that is high temperature stable is Perlite.....that white hard stuff in potting soil mix (not the fertalizer). it is available on its own without the rest of the potting soil, almost everywhere garden supplies are sold. it is hard, relatively light-weight and offers very good insulation. it is sold as relatively small peices...larger than sesame seeds, and smaller than butter beans. so you would need to hold it together for this application, perhaps a fiberglass or even screen mesh pillow stitched toether could work.

hope this is useful info

Benbenben

Moosie

A new insulation material becoming available on the DIY market in the Uk is a by product of the recyclable industry. Recycled shredded plastic water bottle material. This currently sells at a slight premium over encapsulated fibreglass with the benefit of easier handling- no irritation to arms, hands, body parts genrally.

I have not tried to find the mechanical and thermal prpoerties of this but as it is now generally available at DIY stores in the UK, that should not be a problem?

Mechanical properties are likely to be variable due to its source.

Sleepy