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  1. #1
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    RobertSmith Guest

    Default wood, conductive material

    My energy audit instructor stated that wood is a conductive material?

    Huh?

    I never thought wood as a conductive material.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    Quote Originally Posted by RobertSmith View Post
    My energy audit instructor stated that wood is a conductive material?

    Huh?

    I never thought wood as a conductive material.
    Ask a tree trimmer! I have a good friend who has been in the tree busness for his whole life. He told me about working with young men who would hold limbs while cutting over power lines. Told them not to do that! Wasn't more than a coupe of minutes when he was called from talking to the customer, to find the young man knocked out. Limb had fallen across the power line while he had hold of it. He recovered ok but it burned holes in his shorts.


  3. #3
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    Conductive electrical wise or conductive as a heat/cold sink or noise wise?


  4. #4
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    Live limbs would likely be conductive to a greater degree than milled wood boards and panels due to the high moisture content found in live trees. But milled lumber still has some moisture content.


  5. #5
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    I believe he means heat conductive. I was taught this in an energy inspection course a few years ago. The instructor said wood joists in the attic should be covered with insulation because otherwise there is some heat loss through them.

    "There is no exception to the rule that every rule has an exception." -James Thurber, writer and cartoonist (1894-1961)
    www.ArnoldHomeInspections.com

  6. #6
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    Thats also the reason you see ghosting of ceiling joists.


  7. #7
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    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    I believe that there is heat loss through everything. It's just a matter of degree...so to speak
    Wood has an R-value. It's just not very high. A 3 1/2 inch stud has an R-value of about 4.38, which is not as high as the 3 1/2 " of fiberglass insulation in the stud bay (about R-11).

    Last edited by Steve Frederickson; 07-29-2009 at 09:46 AM.

  8. #8

    Default Re: wood, conductive material

    You guys are confusing me. Are you saying that I can burn holes in my shorts when I get a woody?


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