Vermiculite only insulation?

[jzman123]

Great, thanks for the info Lars,

I was planning on cladding with vermicrete, but now I am thinking about getting a blanket and then adding loose vermiculite around that.

The only downside is that the blankets are really expensive and I can't get them locally in Raleigh, NC.

--J

[Lars]

Jonny,
I found a surprising supplier a few months after I was first looking around for this stuff. The company I got some ceramic blanket from is called Plibrico ( I think they have some locations in the east) and it was going to be about $75 for a 2" layer all over the dome. ( something like (50 sq. ft. by 1") They might ship you a box, it is not that heavy.

It is really scratchy stuff, though. ( for some reason I didn't think it was going to be that bad , you know, like fiberglass, but it is worse) Could be because I am putting on the dome with metal lath on the outer layer, and filling between with vermiculite portland. That metal lath is like a thousand hypodermic thorns...

Luckily, I am almost done with that, and at this point, I am not too worried about the oven getting up to temp, or holding temp... that thermal mass is really massive.

L.

[Lars]

Jonny,
There is some kind of Plibrico in Durham, NC... I would at least call them and see.

The location here has firebrick, insulating firebrick, castable refractory mortar... lots of esoteric high temp stuff.

L.

[jzman123]

Wow, thanks for the lead. I called them and they have a plant in north Virginia, and they sell all the stuff.

They show a Durham NC site on their map, but they don't have a warehouse here anymore, but they do have one up in virginia, which is just a couple of hours away.

Cheers,

J

[Neil2]

If if is contained by an outside structure, just use the loose vermiculite.

Mixing it with portland cement is just so that it can hold a shape.