While thinking about which bricks to use, many people get confused between fire bricks and insulation bricks. Insulation bricks are not as dense as the firebricks. They are light weight bricks. http://rsrefractoryfirebrick.com/insulating-fire-brick-for-sale/ are made up of little air pockets processing. It has silica in high percentage (61) compared to alumina (31). Since they are not hard, they can be cut easily. They are available in various colours and shapes too.
Uses of Insulation Bricks
The insulation bricks are used in electric systems, gas burners, kilns lining and exterior insulation. They are mostly used in backup lining. We can use these bricks for outer walls and under floor bricks. These bricks cannot stand as much heat as firebricks. They cannot be used in wood fired ovens as they don’t absorb heat at all.
Insulated bricks have too low thermal conductivity. These bricks are used in boilers too. They can withstand temperature up to 1760 Celsius.
They are used in commercial purposes, such as manufacturing that requires thermal, mechanical and chemical processes. In cases where the heat transmitted is too high, firebricks are used instead of insulation bricks.
They can be used in chimneys and small wood stoves. Further, they are used in protecting surfaces from exceeding heat such as in electric plants. Insulating bricks prevent fire. Thus, the industrial uses of insulation bricks are many.
They are also durable like the firebricks however they don’t sustain as high temperature as the firebricks. They are energy efficient and that is one of the reasons for its popularity. Light weight bricks for insulation can be purchased by public in supplies shops.
They are very popular for being economical. All you need to do is while making a choice between firebricks and insulation bricks; you should decide the exact purpose and temperature ranges in which they will be used.