Fire blankets for insulation

[Chickensoup]

Hi there,
I'm just about ready to insulate the dome....finally!
I've been pricing up ceramic blanket and its very expensive. I've been asking for advice on another forum(green) i frequent, and somebody mentioned using old reclaimed non asbestos fire blankets as they have a very very low thermal conductivity and will be very cheap...a couple of quid each. Do you think these would work under 4/5" vermiculite/ cement mix.

chicken

[dmun]

Re: Fire blankets for insulation

Now there's a question we've never seen before. What were they used for? Are you sure they're asbestos free?

Anybody know about these?

[Chickensoup]

Re: Fire blankets for insulation

Hi Dmun,
Over here in the uk, fire blankets are used for mainly kitchens(deep fat fryers) apparently they were of asbestos construction, but nowadays they're of ceramic fibre(glass) construction. I use a small version at work when i'm soldering copper, and i dont mark paintwork after a few mins @ 450 degs.

chicken

[bimbo]

Re: Fire blankets for insulation

My only thoughts are that the fire balnket is designed to stop oxygen getting to a fire to suffocate the fire and put it out. I think because the blankets are ment to be thin and flexable that would mean it would have to have a fairly tight weave.

M understanding is that the idea of the ceramic insulation is that it is 'fluffy' allowing tiny air pockets to be created within the blanket which don't move around or can transfer heat easily to each other.

I think that the fire blankets would work but you would need to find alot of them to get enough layers of blankets.

If you are after a cheaper alternative then I would suggest the vermiculite/perlite types.

Cheers
James

[Chickensoup]

Re: Fire blankets for insulation

Me again,
I been searching the net for brochure information of ceramic fibre and came across this :

******x 3180 Blanket is a needled blanket made from our CeraTex ceramic fiber. The blanket is ightweight, flexible, and available in a wide variety of thicknesses, widths and densities.

CeraTex 3180 Blanket resists temperature as high as 2300?. This material is lightweight and has very low thermal conductivity, excellent handling strength, low heat storage, thermal shock resistance and corrosion resistance (commonly used acid and alkali). It also provides excellent sound absorption and excellent fire protection.

.................................................. ...................

I also tried wikipedia, and blanket is used for protection of equipment and not for insulating as i thought.

Most fire blankets are appox 1mx1m in size so i would probably need 2-3 .......?2 each = ?6 total then insulate with vermiculite/cement.

I've done my bit for mother earth as all my materials have been reclaimed......even the insulation now!!

I keep you all posted folks.

chicken