Osborn a former associate editor replies.
Can packing peanuts be used as insulation.
It also provides good insulation to keep products hot or cold while in transit.
Unfortunately this material is non biodegradable and terrible for the environment.
The very reason why plastic peanuts work well as packing makes them a bad choice for wall insulation.
Styrofoam is an extremely versatile material that can be used for numerous applications.
Anyone have any thoughts about this.
From packaging peanuts that protect merchandise while in transit to insulation in homes and more it is useful in numerous situations.
In a wall cavity they would offer little resistance to air movement so they would be of limited r value.
Has anyone ever seen this before.
Just put your cold drinks in a tub full of polystyrene peanuts and let them serve as insulation.
We found millions of packing peanuts loose in the attic presumably intended to function as insulation.
The r value of polystyrene is about 4 0 per inch.
Most packing peanuts are made of polystyrene.
By preventing heat loss packing peanuts make lovely insulators.
Plastic peanuts hold air that helps cushion whatever is being shipped.
But the problem with using packing peanuts for attic insulation is that while the individual peanuts may have an r value of about 4 0 per inch the peanuts have large air spaces between them which allows air currents to easily flow through a layer of packing peanuts.
I m not convinced that it s effective or even safe.
Astonishingly it takes more than a million years for styrofoam packing peanuts to decompose.