Wax-Filled Capusles Could Cut Home Energy Use

there has been a link to this project on BASF\’s website for quite a while. It is based on microencapsulation of the waxes, which are tuned to absorb energy by adjusting their melting points, and on paper it offers some fundamental advantages over other means of accomplishing the same ends, such as vapor-state air conditioning, since it is passive instead of plugged into the power grid. I have yet to see (or perform) a real LCA model that looks at the long and short term implications, but remind readers that it is not going to be a trivial matter to integrate flammable materials (waxes and their plastic encapsulation) into the very surfaces that have traditionally served as primary barriers to flamespread. Personally, I agree that the melting point is too high, but there are many problems specifiying the phase change temperature of solids precisely or acheiving it repeatably within even a few percent.

What is the fire proof rating?

Is that a typo in the first sentence? I don't catch the meaning.

After reading the title, this was exactly what I thought it was, using the phase change. It sounds like a good idea to me. I live in a rather dry climate, which also means large temperature swings from day to night. So if the "insulation" could soak up extra heat during the day by changing phases, and then give it off during the night to provide the heat, it sounds like a win-win situation, mostly during spring and fall, but still good.

Donb - Why are you even pretending to be interested in energy issues if you're not willing to turn your thermostat up?

I checked out the link to "Micronal". The information in the link states that the wax melts at 78.5°F. In my house, the air conditioning is on well before the air gets that warm, so I don't see that it would help, at least on inside walls. It might help on outside walls, if they get above that temperature with the sun beating down on the outside.