Understanding Mineral Wool Labels

Don't compromise your insulation's performance or waste money by choosing the wrong product

Over the years, I've seen multiple contractors struggle to decide which mineral wool product to use, and manufacture packaging isn't often that clear. I've made an effort to clarify what the labels mean in order to help you choose the right product. If you like the post, please support me by liking it.

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone had a nice break. Because it gets quite cold in New York in January and February, I thought another post on insulation would be helpful. Mineral wool insulation, also called rock wool or stone wool, is an insulation made of rock and other raw materials that are melted and spun into fibers that resemble wool. It is one of the most popular insulation materials today because it’s easy to install and safe to handle.

I have used mineral wool insulation all over my house. However, for a long time I was confused by the labels and had seen contractors install batts without fitting them into the walls correctly. I was aware that all mineral wool has the same R-value, but I couldn’t tell how an R15 batt was different from the R23 because the labels were confusing.