This research study presents the experimental investigations on heat transfer performance of three different solar air heaters, without thermal insulation and with the effective use of bubble wrap and ceramic wool as thermal insulators. Thermal insulations reduce the heat losses from the bottom side of the solar collector. The selection of low cost and lower thermal conductivity (TC) insulation material plays an energetic role in enhancing the efficiency of the collector. The aluminum absorber plate of the solar collector is made of a corrugated surface area with a shot blasted of 1.96 m × 0.95 m × 0.12 m size formed in a rectangular. The thermal efficiencies of the shot blasted solar collector with and without bubble wrap, insulation and collector with ceramic wool insulation are evaluated theoretically and the expected performance results are analyzed in detail. The present paper covers the first time that eco-friendly bubble wrap has been used as an insulation material for a shot blasted solar air heater. The experimental results are collected with a shot blasted V-corrugated absorber solar air heating system (SAHS) with both bubble wrap (BW) and ceramic wool insulation. The results are compared to deviations. The climatic parameters such as wind speed, atmospheric temperature, solar irradiance and internal temperatures of the SAH are measured at repeated intervals of time to pinpoint heat losses. The investigational outcomes presented that the thermal efficiency of the ceramic wool insulated SAHS is higher than bubble wrap insulated SAHS for corrugated shot-blasted SAHS. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd