WATER TANK INSULATOR
By. Megan Davey, Stephen Kane, and Gavin Wilks
Introduction
This experiment was conducted to see which insulator would insulate water tanks the best.
To determine a good insulator, common materials were tested as insulators on water bottles and compared to a non-insulated water bottle.
The materials used were Styrofoam, cotton and paper.
Background Information
Water heating is the second largest energy expense in your home.
Keeping the tanks insulated would reduce the electricity cost.
Community Relevance
An insulator with common supplies is wanted.
This is good to the community because this will determine if buying expensive insulators are worth it or not.
Buying a cheap insulation system could possibly save you a lot of money in the end.
Problem
Our problem was that water tanks lose heat due to no insulation, which would cause extra money to be spent heating it back up.
We tried to figure out in our experiment which material would work the best as an insulator and also be environmentally friendly.
Hypothesis
Hypothesis: If separate water bottles are insulated with Styrofoam, paper and cotton and compared to a controlled group, then Styrofoam will work the best as an insulator.
Experiment
In our experiment we tested three cheap insulated materials which were cotton, paper and Styrofoam.
We tested to see which would work as the best insulator.
Data measured: Temperature - Degrees Fahrenheit
Materials Funnel Plastic Bag 60 oz. of water Metal Pot Masking tape Nuova II Hot plate
Water bottles (4) Electric
thermometer Cotton fabric(3cm) Paper (3cm) Styrofoam packing
peanuts (3cm)
Diagram60oz. of Water
Styrofoam packing peanuts
Cotton
Paper
Nuova II Hot plate
Metal Pot
Water bottles (4)
Funnel
Masking Tape
Electric Thermometer
Procedure
1. Heat a pot filled with 60 oz. of water to 100°F using a hot plate.
2. Get four 16.9 FL OZ water bottles.3. Put three centimeters thick of Styrofoam
packing peanuts in a plastic bag.4. Cover one water bottle with the plastic bag
full of three centimeters thick of Styrofoam packing peanuts.
5. Cover one water bottle with three centimeters thick of cotton fabric.
Procedure Continued
6. Cover one water bottle with three centimeters of paper.
7. Leave one water bottle alone.
8. Remove cap from water bottles and fill each bottle up with 15 OZ of 100°F water using a funnel.
9. Leave all four water bottles in a room temperature place.
Procedure Continued
10. Every two minutes take the temperature of each water bottle using an electric thermometer. Record data.
11. After 30 minutes record the last part of data and stop recording the temperature.
12. Put all materials away and throw away the water bottles.
13. Compare the data, and decide which insulator would work the best.
Data Collected The table below is the average of our
data during the experiment.
Minutes
Average Temp. of bottle with
Styrofoam Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of
bottle with Cloth
Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of
bottle with Paper
Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of Control Group
Bottle (F)
0 103.0 103.0 103.0 103.0
2 100.6 101.2 99.8 100.5
4 100.4 100.5 98.7 100.0
6 100.0 99.5 98.2 98.2
8 99.8 99.3 98.0 98.0
10 99.5 98.9 97.7 97.1
12 99.3 98.2 97.3 96.9
Minutes
Average Temp. of
bottle with Styrofoam
Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of
bottle with Cloth
Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of
bottle with Paper
Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of Control Group
Bottle (F)
14 98.9 98.0 96.4 96.0
16 98.6 97.8 96.0 95.1
18 98.6 97.5 95.8 94.6
20 98.2 97.3 95.1 94.2
22 98.2 96.8 95.0 94.0
24 97.9 96.4 94.8 93.3
26 97.5 96.2 94.6 92.8
28 97.3 96.0 94.4 91.7
30 97.1 95.7 94.2 91.2
Graph The graph below shows the average
temperature differences of all 4 bottles.
This proves our hypothesis correct because the Styrofoam insulated bottle was the warmest at the end and the bottle with no insulation was the coolest
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 3084.0
86.0
88.0
90.0
92.0
94.0
96.0
98.0
100.0
102.0
104.0
Average Temp. of bottle with Styrofoam Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of bottle with Cloth Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of bottle with Paper Insulation (F)
Average Temp. of Control Group Bottle (F)
Minutes
Tem
pera
ture
of
Wate
r
Error The only error in the experiment was when the
paper insulated water bottle was left too close to the hot plate in the 2nd test.
Some water bottles had a slight amount more of water because we couldn’t measure exactly how many ounces were in each bottle.
Conclusion
After analyzing the data, the hypothesis was accepted.
4 water bottles were tested using insulation to see which works best.
The materials used were Styrofoam cotton and paper.
Styrofoam worked as the best insulator in all 3 tests.
Further Research
Test different materials such as fiberglass.
Test the types of insulation for a longer period of time.
Use more water so results would be closer to an actual water tank.
Run more trials.
Works Cited http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentand
greenerliving/Energyandwatersaving/Homeinsulation/DG_195169
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2012/06/05/insulate-your-water-heater-156365/
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/energy-efficient/4217068
http://www.realtor.com/home-garden/do-it-yourself/plumbing/insulate-water-heater.aspx?source=web
http://www.cornerhardware.com/index.php?main_page=howto&f=ht063
http://www.carolinacountry.com/index.php/your-energy/energy-efficiency-tips/item/does-a-water-heater-insulation-blanket-save-money
http://www.rmi.org/Knowledge-Center/Library/2004-17_HEB5WaterHeating
http://www.uptenergy.com/how-wrapping-your-water-heater-helps-to-save-energy/
http://www.iwilltry.org/b/projects/super-insulate-your-hot-water-tank/
http://southcoastenergychallenge.org/insulate-hot-water-tank
ANY QUESTIONS?