R Values: Often misleading, sometimes useless

In this Print 4 issue of Canadian Contractor (page 34) our tools editor Steve Maxwell points out some serious flaws with what has become a staple of energy efficiency claims: R Values.

He says the R Value system of measurement has some serious weaknesses when it comes to telling the whole story. And in a 680 News item that I broadcast recently, I also cover the severe limitations of R Values.

It seems these kinds of story come in packs. I recently spoke with Daniel Boulanger of Garaga Doors and he pointed me to a video they have posted (and I have reposted here) that exposes problems with the R Rating of garage doors. It makes you wonder if it is time to revisit how R Value is derived, or even if we need an entirely new standard of measurement where energy efficiency is concerned.

The Garaga Door video is interesting in that it is the first I have seen that exposes the problems with R Values with a hard-to-argue-with lab test. Understandably, the Garaga door wins the contest in this case, but the larger story is told as well. We need a better measure.