Green Square

Spray Foam Insulation: The Green, Environmentally Friendly Option

When it comes to "greening" your home, one of the most important aspects is insulation. How much energy you use is one of the measures of how green your home is. Almost all homes have a host of electrical appliances. If you live in a colder climate, you will most likely have a form of central heating for the winter months. If you live in the southern states, you probably have cooling systems or air conditioning to moderate the high temperatures during the warmer summer months. All these systems will need to work harder than usual if your home does not have proper insulation. This is where using spray foam as an insulator in your home can help make it more energy efficient and green.  

How Spray Foam Works

Spray foam is a mixture of two chemical compounds. When they combine and are applied to an area, the foam expands forming a tight seal where it is applied. Depending on the type of foam you use, you can get a seal that is both airtight as well as moisture- and mold-resistant. Spray foam does not have joins like other forms of insulation. Rather it forms a continuous seal over the area that you are insulating. This is one of the reasons that it is considered such an effective and energy-efficient insulator. Once combined and applied, the spray foam takes approximately an hour to harden. Thereafter, it is a solid form which not only insulates your home but can also add strength to the structure. 
Spray foam can be applied by professional contractors during the building process; however, it is just as easy to apply to an existing building or structure. There are a number of DIY kits that you can use to insulate your home which are affordable.

How Are Different Insulators Graded?

When you are shopping around for insulators, you may come across the term "R-value." What this refers to is the effectiveness of the insulator in terms of heat conduction. In technical terms, the R-value measures the amount of thermal resistance of an insulator. In other words, how effective it is in terms of keeping heat in and cold out of your home. As a basic guide to keep in mind when reading the R-value, the higher the R-value is, the more effective the insulator. To put this in perspective, fiberglass batting has an R-value of 3.5 per square inch. Most spray foams have an average R-value of 7 per square inch. Even the open-cell type of spray foam has an R-value of 4 which is still higher than that of fiberglass batting.

Beyond conduction, you also want to control convection.  Convection is how heat is transferred through air.  Only the seamless air barrier that comes from spray foam insulation can help.

If you want to choose the most environmentally friendly insulation option, you should consider an insulator that provides you with the highest level of insulation. If you're concerned about adding too much weight to a ceiling or wall, don't be.  A 2 lb spray foam only weighs 2 lbs per cubic foot not per square foot.

The Importance of Good Insulation in Greening Your Home

We talked earlier of how insulation is an important factor in terms of making your home more environmentally friendly. The reason for this is that when your home is well insulated, you will require less energy to heat or cool your home in season. In addition, the heat that is generated in your home will be retained. With less hot air or warmth escaping your home, it will remain at a more ambient temperature. The chances are that your utility bills will come down quite dramatically. In a broader perspective, because you are drawing less power from the grid, you are making a substantial contribution to having a more energy-efficient community, and all because your home is properly insulated.

Optimizing Resources Helps to Green Your Home

Keeping your home green also relates to the maintenance that you have to carry out. Each time you need to repair or replace something, those are valuable resources that you are using up. The green solution is to use products that will last. In this way, you will be optimizing the resources that you use. Spray foam is durable and proven to be long lasting. Some types of spray foam also protect against moisture and mold buildup which help to maintain and preserve the structure of your building. All of these reasons combine to make a more energy-efficient and green home.

About the Author

 

Spray Foam Direct.com features quick and easy do-it-yourself polyurethane foam insulation which will save you money and energy. Guardian Energy Technologies Inc. offers the added benefits of reducing our carbon footprint by offering foam it green solutions and balancing their impact through carbon reproduction projects. Visit online today.

 

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