What happens if you keep mineral wool on the street?

Mineral wool is one of the most popular heat insulation materials to date. Made of stone or glass fiber, it has an almost unlimited service life, subject to the rules of installation and operation. However, it turns out that storage conditions can also affect the service life.

Many do not even think about the fact that storing the insulation directly on the street instead of the enclosed space can lead to serious consequences for the material. Mineral wool is, in fact, a fluffy stone. With him, and outdoors, nothing will happen. Only mineral wool also contains binders and resins that give the material a shape and function as an adhesive. They are just very sensitive to atmospheric influences:

1. Mineral fiber has an inorganic nature, and the binder components, on the contrary, are organic. The place of their gluing does not tolerate temperature extremes when it either drops below zero or rises again. Freezing and thawing of mineral wool extremely negatively affects its properties.
2. Ultraviolet radiation is harmful to the insulation. It is one thing when the mineral wool was taken out of the package, mounted and quickly covered with a protective layer in the form of plaster or siding. There will not be much harm. But if you leave the material unprotected for several months, then the destructive properties of light will manifest themselves in full.
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3. Another destructive factor is moisture. Minvata, which has absorbed water, practically loses its heat-insulating properties. Manufacturers add special water-repellent components to the product composition. But if you leave the mineral wool lying on the street in the rain or snow, then the additives will not help. Storage and transportation conditions exist in order to comply with them.

Experiment Results

Experts conducted a study to determine how the mineral wool behaves under adverse conditions. During the experiment, samples of mineral wool were left in the open air in the snow and in the rain, as well as on the facade of the house in the sun.

Material under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, as if tans, becomes dark brown. Also, the top layer of insulation is made more loose. This may threaten stucco lagging in the future.

A sample of mineral wool, stored on the street, was saturated with water, became heavier. It is clear that we can’t talk about heat-saving properties here. They just disappeared. Covering the house with such a heater is like sleeping in the cold under a wet blanket.

Experts note that violation of storage conditions also destroys light insulation materials (with low density). It leads to the formation of cold bridges in them. Lighter materials are more porous, therefore, they absorb moisture much more and faster.

This, of course, does not mean that the use of mineral wool insulation should be abandoned. They have indisputable advantages, just like any other material, they need to comply with storage rules. You cannot keep mineral wool on the street either in a warehouse or at home.