Performance of powder-filled evacuated panel insulation in a manufactured home roof cavity: Tests in the Large Scale Climate Simulator

A full-scale section of half the top of a single-wide manufactured home has been studied in the Large Scale Climate Simulator (LSCS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A small roof cavity with little room for insulation at the eaves is often the case with single-wide units and limits practical ways to improve thermal performance. The purpose of the current tests was to obtain steady-state performance data for the roof cavity of the manufactured home test section when the roof cavity was insulated with fiberglass batts, blown-in rock wool insulation or combinations of these insulations and powder-filled evacuated panel (PEP) insulation. Four insulation configurations were tested: (A) a configuration with two layers of nominal R{sub US}-7 h {center_dot} ft{sup 2} {center_dot} F/BTU (R{sub SI}-1.2 m{sup 2} {center_dot} K/W) fiberglass batts; (B) a layer of PEPs and one layer of the fiberglass batts; (C) four layers of the fiberglass batts; and (D) an average 4.1 in. (10.4 cm) thick layer of blown-in rock wool at an average density of 2.4 lb/ft{sup 3} (38 kg/m{sup 3}). Effects of additional sheathing were determined for Configurations B and C. With Configuration D over the ceiling, two layers of expanded polystyrene (EPS) boards, each about the same thickness as the PEPs, were installed over the trusses instead of the roof. Aluminum foils facing the attic and over the top layer of EPS were added. The top layer of EPS was then replaced by PEPs.