Aerated concrete or foam concrete - we are looking for differences
With the external surface that is chipped, in texture and partly in texture gas and foam concrete are almost identical, but the key word here is "almost".For an ignorant person, these materials are interchangeable, and often sellers use ignorance of customers, significantly increasing the price of foam concrete with concomitant assurances that it is the same aerated concrete only manufactured by another technology.
But the fact is that if the first is a conventional cement-lime mixture with the addition of a foaming agent based on proteins, the second consists of the same components with the addition of aluminum powder, which gives a reaction with the release of gas. As a result, two cellular building blocks are obtained, porous, light, but you will hardly be able to replace one another - the result of working with them will be different.
A short definition for these blocks is: aerated concrete is an autoclave product, foam concrete is not. If in more detail, the first after mixing is maintained almost to full hardening, after which it is cut by strings into blocks of the necessary dimensions, which are sent to the autoclave for evaporation of moisture residues from them, the second simply stiffens in molds until ready.
What to choose - foam block or gas block?
If you need cheap material, and the durability of the house is not a fundamental factor in the construction, for example, a summer residence, then foam concrete is exactly what you need. You can produce it yourself, by leasing a small unit. As a raw material, many leg components, such as ashes, sand, even untreated river water, are quite suitable.
Unclearness in the choice of raw materials can lead to a decrease in the environmental performance of the material.
If you have a question, choose a foam block or a gas block, but you are not building a temporary camp, but, so to speak, a country estate that you expect to leave to children and grandchildren, use autoclaved cellular wall blocks. The fact is that foam concrete, being a product of a rather primitive technological process, is a short-lived material, and only a house made of aerated concrete can stand for more than 50 years without losing quality factor.
And yet, which is better, a gas block or foam block?
Let's make a small comparison of the characteristics of these two materials in order to identify their main advantages and disadvantages in order to determine the most preferable option. The density of both building blocks is the same only in one case, if it corresponds to 700 kg / m3, but this number for foam concrete is the minimum density, and for gas blocks - the maximum .
At the same time this characteristic is decreasing in the following order in the next order: 700, 600, 500, 400, 350. If we consider foam blocks, the picture is different - 700, 800, 900. Based on the density, we obtain high thermal conductivity of the foam concrete( 0, 24 W / m'K) with the need to make the walls of it thicker, in contrast to the lower value of the same characteristics of aerated concrete( 0.12 W / m'K).Please note that the houses from the gas units are 2 times warmer than from the foam concrete.
Also important is the fact that the first are assembled by fastening the wall blocks with special glue, the thickness of the layer is not more than 1 mm, which does not leave the cold any loopholes. Foam blocks are laid using ordinary cement mortar, which is an excellent bridge for cold. Probably, it is possible not to sound, which is better, a gas block or foam block.