What’s the advantage of spray foam insulation? Is spray in foam insulation worth it?
With proper insulation, a home’s heating and cooling cost is significantly reduced. While there are different types of insulation procedures to choose from, we’ll be focusing on one of those; spray foam insulation.
Spray Foam Insulation Benefits
Also called spray polyurethane foam, this versatile material applies to a variety of home insulation needs.
With the help of a spray gun, such insulation is applied in pace. Common surfaces targeted include concrete slabs, walls, attic surfaces, floors, roofs, lofts, etc.
Due to its many advantages, we’ll be highlighting some of the benefits of using spray foam insulation in your home.
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Why Spray Foam Insulation
Before we begin, it’s important to give a little background information on the emergence and adoption of spray foam in the construction industry.
This insulation product first arrived in the ’80s and quickly became a popular insulation alternative product due to its cost-saving nature.
One of the things that make spray foam insulation stand out from the rest is that it can be used on both old and new structures. Without insulation, you’re bound to spend more on your energy needs than necessary.
Other insulation options include mineral wool, fiberglass, and cellulose.
Advantages of Spray Foam Insulation
If you’re still considering what insulation type to use for your home, you only need to read through the benefits of spray foam insulation provided above. These points give you an idea of what to expect with this type of insulation.
With that said, what exactly are these benefits?
With spray foam insulation, you get to enhance your wall’s sturdiness, while also reducing noise.
Other benefits of spray foam insulation include moisture prevention, cost-saving insulation option, ease of installation, elimination of air barriers, and creating higher R-values.
What more? Spray foam insulation easily improves indoor air quality; it’s durable and lasting, and also environmentally friendly. All of these points are considered highly beneficial by homeowners.
Let’s take a look at each point by briefly discussing what they translate to.
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Enhancing a Wall’s Sturdiness
To better understand this point, it’s important to note that spray foam insulation comes in two types; open cell and closed cell variants.
Open-cell spray foams, though the light is highly effective. They expand on contact with surfaces and leave no opening unfilled. This is widely used in homes.
Closed-cell spray foams on the other hand tend to be denser and quickly harden when applied. This helps improve the strength of your walls, thus benefiting the general structure.
In terms of cost, closed-cell spray foams tend to cost more than open-cell variants.
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Noise Reduction
Noise cancellation is one of the benefits you get by using or applying spray foam insulation. Compared to other types of insulation, this tends to have a higher success rate in noise prevention.
So, if your property is located in a noisy neighborhood, you might want to consider using this type of insulation for better noise control.
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Moisture Prevention
Moisture issues are quite common across many homes. Homeowners have to deal with a variety of challenges arising from moisture such as rot, and the growth of mold and mildew.
One of the best ways to combat moisture is having your home insulated with spray foam.
Condensation buildup on walls is significantly reduced. Here, aside from keeping moisture off your structure, you also get to prevent any health challenges which accompany mold and mildew growth.
The best part is, spray foam insulation can be applied to either new or old structures.
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Cost-Saving Insulation Option
One of the primary considerations for homeowners when seeking reliable insulation options is cost. While this is true, spray foam insulation might have a higher upfront cost initially.
However, its efficiency helps to significantly lower your energy costs in the long run.
Heating and cooling costs are generally reduced when spray foam insulation is applied to your home. On a micro level, the foam gets into the tiniest spaces or cracks and expands.
This leaves no escape route for air, thus greatly limiting energy losses.
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Ease of Installation
When it comes to installation, spray foam insulations are among the easiest. Installation is performed using a spray gun which is directed at different voids on walls and other sections of the home.
It’s most ideal to be applied in difficult-to-reach areas of your home.
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Formation of Air Barriers
As mentioned earlier, spray foam insulation penetrates through the smallest spaces and fills up such areas. These are usually points where energy is lost or escaped through.
With spray foam insulation, an air barrier is formed that effectively shuts out escape.
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Has Higher R-Values
R-values are simply a measure of insulation’s ability to resist the movement of heat through it. With a higher R-value, it becomes increasingly less likely that an insulation material will permit heat escape.
Spray foam insulations are known to have higher R-values. This is one of the reasons why they’re a favorite.
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Improving Indoor Air Quality
While preventing moisture incursion, spray foams also improve indoor air quality. Ordinarily, moisture presence in homes gives rise to the growth of mold and mildew.
This results in the presence of allergens that could prove dangerous to your health. By blocking off moisture, this insulation automatically helps improve indoor air quality.
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Durable & Lasting
It’s common to find other types of insulation materials losing their efficacy over time. With spray foam, there’s a lot of difference in the sense that they tend to remain as effective as they initially were. What more?
The durability of the materials means they can serve for a long time without wearing out or losing shape.
Spray foams have been known to hold up even in extreme temperatures. This easily gives it an edge over a lot of other insulation materials, hence its popularity.
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Environmentally Friendly
Green-focused building approaches have gained traction over the years. An increasing number of people are seeking environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions to their housing needs.
With this insulation material, carbon footprints are significantly cut down through the consumption of less energy.
With these benefits, you can be sure of adopting spray foam insulation for your domestic needs. To know more, consider discussing this insulation material with your building contractor.