Thermally Efficient Wall Ties Reduce Heat Loss

Thermally Efficient Wall Ties available from Killeshal reduce heat loss in cavity wall constructions. Killeshal has been offered eco friendly products for some time now. Our grass blocks produce a great hard-standing surface while allowing better surface water drainage and infiltration. Our eco friendly wall ties product may be overlooked at times because it is no longer seen, once installed. But their thermal efficiency makes them well worth considering for your construction project.

As we all become more aware of environmental issues we realise that there are more ways to contribute to reducing our impact on the environment. In the context of construction, it is very much a win-win situation, with eco friendly solutions generally providing a reduction in post-construction running costs, such as heating bills.

Why Do We Need Thermally Efficient Wall Ties?

Wall ties for cavity wall construction come in a range of designs from countless manufacturers, but they are usually made with stainless steel or a similar material. This may create a strong metal wall tie that will resist rust, but it does introduce an unfortunate and and unwanted side effect. It creates a thermal bridge, frequently referred to in construction as a cold bridge.

Cold bridging describes a situation where heat loss is facilitated across a gap, such as that of a cavity wall, through a thermally conductive material. In the case of steel wall ties (or similar) a large number of points are introduced where heat is conducted through the metal and bypasses any insulation material in the cavity. While the amount of heat transferred across any one single tie may be quite small, the cumulative effect of heat transfer across the many ties used in a whole wall may be considerable.

Thermally Efficient Wall Ties from Killeshal

So how do Thermally Efficient Wall Ties from Killeshal differ? They are made from Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer, a material with very limited thermal conductivity which also provides great tensile strength, in fact, greater tensile strength than stainless steel. These two properties alone make GFRP ideal as a material for use in eco friendly wall ties.

In addition to making these ties from an ideal material, we also designed them with another couple of tricks to prevent cold bridging. The ties are made with a gritty surface texture which not only provides better adhesion to surrounding mortar, but also limits the ability of moisture to wick along the surface. We also designed them with an inverted ‘V’ profile to further aid the shedding of any moisture instead of allowing it to make its way across the cavity.

Dual Purpose – Wall Ties and Sill Supports

Wouldn’t it be great if a window sill bearer was made from a non-conductive material… like our GFRP wall ties? Our Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Wall Ties were designed to span a wall cavity to tie the inner and outer leaves, so we though we could extend their use to supporting the back of a sill over the cavity too.

We submitted the GFRP units in lengths of 275mm, 300mm and 325mm for point-load testing as window sill supports and following the completion of the test protocol, the components were awarded BRE Certified Details and Products Scheme Certificate Number: PTD1004.

• As the ties were designed to span cavity walls in the first place, they have all the water shedding qualities you would expect of a wall tie.
• As window sill bearers, they are tested across cavities as wide as 200mm. Declared load capacities are factored and based on this worst case scenario installation.
• Once in-situ, the incorporation of window sills into the outer leaf construction means that the window sill bearers are subjected to minimal long term loading.
• The GFRP wall ties are a registered product under the BRE Global Certified Details and Products Scheme (Certificate Number: PTD 1004).

Of course, one great advantage in using these GFRP components as Window Sill Supports and is their excellent thermal efficiency properties. Their principal use as Wall Ties was designed around the need to prevent cold bridging across the wall cavity, so they can be incorporated as window sill bearers with confidence, knowing that they will not create a thermal bridge at a key junction point.

Contact the team at Killeshal to see how we can help you with reducing cold bridging on your build project.

Click here for our GFRP Wall Ties page.

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