What does an insulator do?
Insulators are insulation workers who are in charge of covering ducts, boilers, pipes, and other structures and equipment with insulating materials. The insulators ensure the retention of either cold or heat. They assist the journeymen with tasks that involve air ducts, cooling, and heating systems. It is part of their duty to remove urea-formaldehyde or asbestos insulation from buildings and other structures. They make sure that the journeymen have all the necessary things in hand for a certain project.
Insulator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real insulator resumes:
- Prepare surfaces for insulation application, brushing or spreading on adhesive cement or asphalt.
- Assist journeymen with insulation of pipes, air ducts, heating and cooling systems.
- Involve insulating chill, hot water, and cryogenic plumbing as well as HVAC ducts in refineries and commercial buildings.
- Maintain & follow all OSHA requirements and standards.
- Ensure all journeymen have everything they need for the project.
- Conduct jobsite safety analysis (JSA) recognize hazards and ensure they are addressed.
- Used ladders, planks, blowing machine, scaffolds, utility knife and staple gun.
- Use spray foam to fully insulate HVAC unit, also use other forms of insulation.
- Work as team member insulate boilers, HVAC duct work and pipes on new construction.
- Provide all caulking of penetrations and conduits for the insulation of a building to prevent fires.
- Used proper PPE including hard hat, safety glasses, earplugs, gloves, safety sleeves.
- Set scaffolding to insulate the treater, and paint all expose pipe that are not insulate.
- Used ladders and set up series of scaffolding in buildings when necessary along with basic hand tools.
- Perform plumbing work such as replacing sinks, faucets, shower heads, water heaters and clearing stoppages.
- Job duties include prepping house for insulation IE: covering floors and windows, caulking window frames and door frames.
Insulator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Insulators are proficient in Safety Procedures, Tape Measure, and Ladders. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Math skills, and Mechanical skills.
We break down the percentage of Insulators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Safety Procedures, 8%
Worked as a fire-watcher performing fire prevention and auditing safety procedures
- Tape Measure, 7%
Measured and cut insulation to cover surfaces, used tape measures, handsaws, power saws, knives or scissors.
- Ladders, 7%
Climb ladders and drill holes under siding.
- Asphalt, 6%
Prepared surfaces for insulation application, brushing or spreading on adhesive cement or asphalt.
- Mechanical Systems, 5%
Insulated complete mechanical systems including ductwork, heating and plumbing lines, and boilers.
- Storage Tanks, 5%
Insulated pipes in Chemical plants, marine vessels, air ducts, Storage tanks, freezers, ETC.
"safety procedures," "tape measure," and "ladders" are among the most common skills that insulators use at work. You can find even more insulator responsibilities below, including:
Dexterity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an insulator to have is dexterity. Their role and responsibilities require that "to install insulation, insulators often must reach overhead, sometimes while confined in spaces where maneuvering is difficult." Insulators often use dexterity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "warehouse inventory, forklift, load and unload trucks, deliver supplies, and install insulation per code. "
Math skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling insulator duties is math skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "insulators need to measure the equipment or areas they are insulating and to calculate the amount and dimensions of insulation needed." According to an insulator resume, here's how insulators can utilize math skills in their job responsibilities: "load truck with correct materials commercial buildings new/old construction driving to and from job sitesutilizing basic math skillswork alone at times"
Mechanical skills. This is an important skill for insulators to perform their duties. For an example of how insulator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "insulators must be adept at using a variety of handtools and power tools to install insulation." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an insulator: "insulated hvac systems and ductwork, repair ductwork for commercial companies and schools systems, insulated mechanical rooms. ".
Physical stamina. insulator responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "insulators spend much of the workday standing, kneeling, and bending in uncomfortable positions." This resume example shows what insulators do with physical stamina on a typical day: "determine vulnerable areas of buildings that may lead to energy loss and physical damage. "
The three companies that hire the most insulators are:
- Safway Group Holding LLC9 insulators jobs
- Acuren5 insulators jobs
- Pacific Architects and Engineers
5 insulators jobs
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Compare different insulators
Insulator vs. Fiberglass insulation installer
An insulation installer is responsible for inspecting the building premises to install materials needed for insulation as a way to regulate heat resistance and increase the efficiency of air conditioning systems. Insulation installers work with construction management to provide reports and cost expectations. They offer the best services according to the client's specifications to ensure that the insulation materials are of the highest quality standards. An insulation installer must have excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to meet demands and perform adjustments as required.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an insulator are more likely to require skills like "safety procedures," "ladders," "asphalt," and "mechanical systems." On the other hand, a job as a fiberglass insulation installer requires skills like "hand tools," "osha," "quality installation," and "feet +." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that fiberglass insulation installers earn slightly differ from insulators. In particular, fiberglass insulation installers are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an insulator. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Insulator vs. Insulation installer
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, insulator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "asphalt," "storage tanks," "install insulation," and "safety rules." Meanwhile, an insulation installer has duties that require skills in areas such as "osha," "dot," "scaffolding," and "hand tools." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, insulation installers achieve similar levels of education than insulators. They're 0.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Types of insulator
Updated January 8, 2025
