> R-Value and U-Value Insulation Calculator
| Material List | R-Value (up/out) |
U-Value (up/out) |
R-Value (down/in) |
U-Value (down/in) |
Thickness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No materials entered yet (see below) | |||||
| GRAND TOTAL: | R 0.000 | 1000001.000 | R 0.000 | 1000001.000 | 0.0mm |
| Just the insulation: | R 0.000 | 1000001.000 | R 0.000 | 1000001.000 | 0.0mm |
The R-Value calculator is best used as follows:
- Work out all the different materials and surfaces that make up the wall/ceiling or surface you want to work out the R-Values and U-Values for. Remember the horizontal or vertical orientation of the material is important to get its insulation value correct.
- Remember to take into account any air boundaries you may have, such as with the outside or with the inside of rooms.
- Select the Units of measurement you want to work in, either metric (AU,EU) or imperial (US)
- Enter each material or surface into the above R-Value calculator. To get the right depth of a material enter multiples of it tell you get above the required depth.
- Note the totals. The up/out values apply mostly to Winter conditions and the down/in values apply mostly to Summer conditions.
Remember, the values calculated here should be taken as a rough guide, as certain materials (i.e. reflective or foil insulation) the total R-Value effect cannot be calculated by straight addition of all the component R-Values.
Also remember, when considering the R-Value of insulation in a built construction, it is often hard to go back and add more insulation after the wall or structure has been built; so err on having slightly more insulation than you need than less insulation.
BTW If you create an account for yourself you can save the materials list you made and come back to them later..
Reset & do another calculation.
Email a Friend about this Calculator
This calculator is now available as a fully featured Android app, work out R-Values on the move and share - search for R Value Calculator on the Android Market. Or click here if on an Android phone.
Also available on Android is a free Green Dictionary of 800+ Eco & Green terms.
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Comments left
- Apsara2011 said:
what are and how can I draw the junctions of wall fabric with the building structure?
ON Thu, 19 May 11, 2:46am probably from Australia Reply to this comment
- Naturlig Canuck said:
with a few changes the adroid app could be quite usefull. 50 materials in the list is just way too limiting. If I'm really list the materials used in the wall or roof, tell me what the thermal conductivity is, let me enter the thickness. Then the app calculates the resulting u-value and adds it all together. check out this website for inspiration:-) http://www.vesma.com/tutorial/uvalue01/uvalue01.htm
ON Fri, 20 May 11, 7:10am probably from Sweden Reply to this comment
- Eco Guy said:
The app is going through some improvements atm... I'll look at that and see if I can fit it in. Also you can add your own materials as required.
ON Mon, 26 Sep 11, 2:56am probably from United States Reply to this comment
- Eco Guy said:
- Insulduude said:
Is there a chance you would look at an app for iphone ipad? if not already available?
ThanksON Sun, 11 Dec 11, 7:26pm probably from New Zealand Reply to this comment
- Mike said:
Your calculator ignores the SI units versus SAE units. If someone types in the R-value from the US, which is typically SAE units, they get the wrong answer in U-value. You should fix this and/or have a toggle for people to convert. Here's the values from Wiki: The conversion between SI and US units of R-value is 1 h•ft²•°F/Btu = 0.176110 K•m²/W, or 1 K•m²/W = 5.678263 h•ft²•°F/Btu
ON Mon, 6 Feb 12, 11:32am probably from United Kingdom Reply to this comment
- Eco Guy said:
There is an imperial and metric switch you can use for this.
ON Mon, 2 Apr 12, 11:47pm probably from United States Reply to this comment
- Andrew said:
Eco Guy: where is the switch? I was pulling my hair out at the erroneous calculations! This definitely needs to be fixed, as it discredits an otherwise brilliant array of tools.
ON Sun, 13 May 12, 3:41pm probably from Canada Reply to this comment
- stewiesno1 said:
Just down from the material list.
CheersON Sat, 10 Nov 12, 5:27am probably from Australia Reply to this comment
- stewiesno1 said:
- Andrew said:
- Eco Guy said:
- Avne Vishkin said:
Great.
ON Fri, 7 Sep 12, 3:05am probably from Israel Reply to this comment
- HGTay said:
To use the R-value calculator, how to enter the new material list??
ON Thu, 20 Dec 12, 5:48am probably from Malaysia Reply to this comment
- Phil said:
How can you calculate a U Value from an R value.
Doesn't a U value represent the reciprocal of several R Values? Isn't this calculating a K value from the R value??ON Fri, 26 Apr 13, 9:45am probably from United Kingdom Reply to this comment
- Waldemar said:
how to convert US value R30 to Europe W/m2 K ?
ON Mon, 23 Dec 13, 5:51pm probably from United States Reply to this comment
- Fernando said:
I was given an R-Value as 0.26 (m2K)/W for a particular material and I need to convert to U-Value which is expressed as W/m2K. Could you help? Thanks Fernando
ON Mon, 20 Jan 14, 11:04am probably from United Kingdom Reply to this comment
- Greg said:
Doesn't work! Trying entering .088 for the U value.
ON Fri, 9 May 14, 1:42pm probably from United States Reply to this comment
- Nn said:
hi
ON Tue, 8 Dec 15, 5:30pm probably from Canada Reply to this comment
- Hafizullah said:
Dear Mr/Madam, Have a nice day, 1-How can find density of foam rigid insulation for R- Value, what is the equation between R- Value and density? 2-How can find R-Value? If passable send me calculation.
ON Mon, 22 Jan 18, 1:41pm probably from Afghanistan Reply to this comment
- Luis Salazar said:
WHAT IS THE R VALUE THROUGH A 2 X 4 WOOD STUD AT THE 3 1/2 INCH ?
ON Wed, 14 Feb 18, 5:43pm probably from United States Reply to this comment
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