Choosing sandwich panels: polyurethane or mineral wool?
The difference between the two cores shows up in fire behaviour and weight, not in insulation. Here is which building calls for which.
Arslan Demir İnşaat
A sandwich panel is a ready-made cladding element with insulation pressed between two metal sheets. The choice usually comes down to one question: polyurethane core or mineral wool?
The insulation gap is small
At equal thickness polyurethane performs slightly better thermally than mineral wool. The gap is small enough to close by moving up one panel thickness, so insulation alone should not decide the matter.
Fire is where they part
Mineral wool is mineral based and does not burn; under the European classification (EN 13501-1) it sits in class A1. With polyurethane cores, fire performance depends on the core type and the manufacturer; PIR products achieve a markedly better class than classic PUR.
That is why buildings with a high fire load, or where regulation demands a given class — factories, workshops, warehouses, public buildings — go with mineral wool. The fire class is stated in the manufacturer's declaration of performance and must be confirmed before ordering.
Fire class is often not a preference but a legal requirement. Check what the project specifies first.
Weight and the supporting frame
A mineral wool panel is noticeably heavier than a polyurethane panel of the same thickness, which directly affects truss and purlin spacing. When re-roofing an existing building, check whether the frame carries the extra load; fitting a heavy panel to a light frame costs more later.
Cold rooms are a separate case
Cold room panels use cam-lock joints and thicker cores. The priority here is continuity of insulation; cold escaping through a joint shows up in running costs every single day.
In short
If fire class governs and the frame carries the load, choose mineral wool. If lightness matters, the building is not fire-critical and installation speed is your priority, choose polyurethane.
We supply roof and wall panels, cold room panels and insulation boards across Alanya and Antalya, measured on site and installed. Tell us the building's use and roof span and we can work out the right thickness together.
