July 27, 2000

Paint additive really beats the heat

The same paint additive that insulates the outside of the space shuttle can help homeowners reduce heating and cooling costs by increasing insulation with the stroke of a paint brush.

The ceramic particles in Insuladd create a thermal barrier that refracts, reflects and dissipates heat.

Tiny ceramic "microspheres" that look like fine sand act like a thin layer of miniature Thermos bottles when applied with house paint, said David Page, CEO of a Florida company called Tech Traders that distributes the product as Insuladd.

Page, of Vero Beach, Fla., says he advanced the idea while working as a commercial roofing contractor in 1995. Contractors could buy "thermal coatings" containing the microspheres, but homeowners generally didn't know about these insulating paints, he said.

"I could buy them, but you couldn't," Page said.

Some thermal coatings were marketed to consumers, but they appeared expensive compared to regular paints.

"People making thermal coatings were selling it for $50 per gallon," Page said. "The technology was very intriguing, but shipping paint around the world is very expensive."

Page said he toyed with the new approach of selling cans of the white sand-like microspheres separate from the paint. Homeowners can buy paint at stores near them and have the microspheres shipped to them to add to the paint.

"We patented a blend of ceramic microspheres," he said. "We put it on the market in January 1996."

The advent of e-commerce the past couple of years has made running a mail-order business easier, he said. Tech Traders' Web site takes Insuladd orders.

Last year Tech Traders shipped about 165 tons of Insuladd to generate more than $1 million in revenues, Page said. That's about 300 percent growth from the year before, he said.

Tech Traders totals six employees.

Page described microspheres as like very small ping pong balls made of ceramic. They're hollow vacuums on the inside, a key characteristic.

Microspheres occur in nature while additional varieties are human-made, he said. "There are 10,000 different varieties of ceramic microspheres," he said. "Some are very conductive, some good insulators. Some are strong, some fragile."

Page's product blends naturally produced microspheres with synthetic ones. He declined to say where the natural ones originate and to say much about his recipe for the synthetic ones other than "they're made in a big plant" via "a chemical process."

The blend makes Insuladd not only a reflector of heat or cold, but a refractor and a dissipater, he said.

"Insuladd only absorbs 13.5 percent of heat placed against it and sheds it very rapidly," he said. The additive "can be as effective as four inches of foam insulating," and much easier to apply to older homes than foam insulation, he said.

A 32-ounce bottle of Insuladd, good for a gallon of paint, goes for $14.96. Tech Trade's five-gallon kit sells for $46.34, which includes shipping.

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