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[SJC <indexer AT localnet.com>]

keith bellinger wrote:
> So, I'll go back to my book now but suspect that if I glue aluminum foil 
> to the backs of my maps they will reduce heat loss by about fifty 
> percent (if sealed well at all edges of course). There must be a modern 
> film that I can buy instead that's easier to apply and probably more 
> efficient. My book is outdated in that respect.
>   
The maps sound like a neat idea.  And it sounds like they are at least 
close to the right size already, that's a boon.

Don't know how it would glue or seal but there are several types of 
mylar sheeting that would likely be worth checking out.  Maybe play with 
one of those "emergency blankets" that sell for a couple of bucks 
apiece; those are mylar.  Those are very flexible, but for very much $$ 
at the other end are rather thickish sheets of the stuff.  The biggest 
negative I've run into so far is they want to sell it on large rolls, 
sometimes hundreds of feet of the stuff, and I have not the $$, desire, 
nor the space to buy/store it in those amounts when I might only need 20 
feet or so for a job.  I sometimes get partial rolls where I get my 
foam; sometimes he gets them with just one end damaged and if the roll 
is wide enough there'll be enough undamaged to make it worthwhile.  
There is such a thing as mylar tape, too; I've seen it referred to but 
never seen or used it.

Recently a builder friend mentioned a product he'd seen down south 
somewhere (he'd been helping after Katrina) that he thought to be 
tyvek-backed mylar.  It lodged in my brain that such a product might 
have application for movable insulation, as the mylar sheets are 
sometimes difficult, (some types crack easily, are stiff and don't bend 
or crease well, or are fragile to handle) and the tyvek would surely be 
a plus there.  I know it makes great kites!  They take a lot of abuse 
and I have some parafoils I made of soft tyvek that are almost 30 years 
old, flown several times a year, still in good shape.  I was thinking it 
might be usable where a single-layer reversible application is needed.  
Haven't had a chance to check it out yet but you might look/ask if 
you're where they offload that kind of thing.  I'm sure it would be 
pricey, as neither product is cheap by itself, together probably a lot 
worse. 

Probably you're familiar with Reflectix?  That's a pretty good 
insulator+reflector, I use it pretty often to make insulative items for 
vans and campers, but what I have here is likely to be too thick for 
backing a rollup blind.  Whether it comes in different thicknesses, or 
bubble sizes, I don't know.  They make one with no bubbles in it, just a 
loosely-woven reinforcing layer in the center of 2 foil sheets so it's a 
lot thinner, quite flexible and pretty durable,  that might be worth 
asking about.  That thin one is usually with the building materials 
rather than the HVAC stuff and I'm not sure exactly what they call it 
but it's made by Reflectix.  All their products I'm familiar with come 
in manageable amounts/packaging.  None cheap, of course.

SusanJane, in Maine