Radiant Barrier RadiantGUARD Ultima FOIL Insulation Roll 1000 sq ft | 48-inch by 250-feet | U-1000-B | Heavy Duty Perforated Foil Radiant Barrier Attic Insulation - Blocks 97% of Heat

Finally decided to bite the bullet and install radiant barrier to help with the hot summers here in Houston and give our AC's a better fighting chance. The install was pretty straight forward and I'm amazed by the durability of the product as it's very tough and easy to stretch taught between rafters yet easy to cut (with a utility knife) and roll out and handle. I ordered 3 (1000 sqft) rolls as I have 4 attics in total (3 sub attics and one large main attic over the seconds floor). I did most of the work myself and it took 4 days, but wanted to get it done while it was still cooler outside and before our 90+ degree summers hit here in Houston. I'm already noticing a difference as the rooms seem to stay cooler longer and during the install I used my laser thermometer and noticed a 20+ degree difference from the surface of the installed radiant barrier and the roof decking just above it where barrier had not been installed yet. We'll see how it does in the summertime, but as of now I'm already pretty impressed and happy and hope this can help our AC's operate a little more efficiently and keep the attic cooler.

I just stapled up 400 square feet of this to my attic rafters leaving an air gap between the OSB board and foil. There is a full 30 degree drop in my average attic temperature and I live in Texas. My new AC equipment will be under so much less stress for years to come. This material is strong, easy to cut and easy to install. All you need is a pair of scissors and a staple gun. I would recommend buying some 2x6x8 boards to place across the ceiling joists as you work so you don't fall through your ceiling. I got my whole house done in about a week on my own saving thousands over what a contractor would charge. Wear a good quality dust mask as well. This was done in early spring and I can see a huge difference in my electric bill and notice my ac running a lot less frequently. Don't stress about making it look pretty. Just couldn't it and staple it on. It works.

So I first heard about these 'Radiant Barriers' several years ago and thought they were too expensive and that I had to be a Rocket Surgeon to install them. I happened upon this stuff and for the price I decided to give it a try - if it didn't work I wouldn't be out too much money. I recently did one of my two attics while the weather was cool, and it seemed to make a substantial difference - but we haven't really had any 'hot' sunny days to test it yet. My second attic is above the unfinished garage with half the roof facing South. I got the South half done (over 90% coverage) around 9:00am this morning. It's supposed to be 82 in Denver today and thought it would be a good chance to really see its effectiveness.It's 11:25am now, and starting to warm up nicely outside so I went up in the garage attic - and was amazed. The underside of the North facing roof deck was emitting warmth I could feel about 15" away with my hand and that half was becoming uncomfortably warm. Meanwhile the South facing side - the side that gets the direct sun rays and should be much warmer still, was quite comfortable. I could have gone up there and taken a nap on that side. Pretty cool stuff, and I can confirm you do NOT have to be a Rocket Surgeon to put it up.I went and bought an inexpensive wide crown Air Stapler ($20 with coupon) just for this project. Even though I have a spring stapler too, air is the way to go if you have a compressor and long-ish hose. When you find yourself crawling around and holding up the film in contorted positions, it is much easier to tack in place with air - and MUCH faster.... I have also been simply running the film perpendicular to the rafters, overlapping and stapling to the bottom edge. No Insulation has been used....07-11 UPDATE: So it got up to 93 today and I recorded the attic temps as the day went (see pics). As you can see, the attic only got up to around 11 deg hotter than outside - not bad at all!! Before Radiantguard, it would have been closer to 140 deg. I also included some pics of the installation for reference.

Excellent product in that it cuts really easily but does not tear. Not sure about blocking 97% of radiant heat, but it does block heat. I and my contractor put it up ourselves and, despite sooo many hips and valleys in my attic, it went up rather quickly. We had to work in the morning hours because of the intense Texas heat but the radiant barrier was tough, resilient, and easy to handle. It wrinkles easily but another commentor said the wrinkles actually help with the barrier effect, so we didn't bother trying to smooth them out.My house does feel cooler when the thermostat is set to 78 degrees - rather than our typical 74 or so - and the A/C doesn't come on as often. I've only gotten one electric bill since installing, so I'll know more by the end of summer if this was a good investment.