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LICENSED, BONDED & INSUREDWe serve residential and commercial clients across Northwest Florida with safe and ethical insulation services.
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Northwest Florida Spray Foam InsulationPeople all over the country, including right here in Northwest Florida, have the opportunity to save up to 50% on their electricity bills whenever they re-insulate their homes. Here at Northwest Florida Spray Foam Insulation, we help our neighbors across the panhandle do just that.
We offer cost-effective solutions to poor energy usage through the most popular insulation method in the United States - spray foam insulation. Providing thermal protective barriers to both residential and commercial buildings, we help homeowners and business owners alike save money on energy costs.
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Professional installer applying spray foam
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If you ever wonder why your electricity bills are skyrocketing in the summer and during winter without obvious reasons, there’s a good chance you have poor insulation in place. This dramatically decreases the comfort of your home or building and serves as a root cause of unnecessarily high utility bills.
The great news is spray foam insulation solves all of these problems through its various advantages. These include high thermal resistance, air barrier sealing, ease of application and preventing home deterioration as we’ll discuss shortly. With so many unknown uses and advantages of spray polyurethane foam (SPF), it’s easy to miss some of the biggest opportunities it brings that can dramatically improve your living conditions. Our website is designed to help you with all you need to know about spray foam insulation. |
Spray Foam Insulation Installation
SPF insulation has been in use for many decades. Starting with the aviation industry, it was soon adapted to use in residential homes and commercial buildings. With its large gain in popularity due to its excellent qualities, foam insulation is gradually becoming the favored type of insulation, replacing fiberglass batts and cellulose insulation.
It’s important to understand spray foam insulation and how it works to get a clear vision in mind on how it can benefit you. Below we discuss the basics and fundamentals of SPF insulation to get you up to speed.
It’s important to understand spray foam insulation and how it works to get a clear vision in mind on how it can benefit you. Below we discuss the basics and fundamentals of SPF insulation to get you up to speed.
About Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam, also is known as “SPF” or spray polyurethane foam, is a material that is formed when two liquids react. These are namely isocyanate, which is a component of urea, and polyol resin which serves as a blowing agent. These two separate materials are stored in two separate pressurized tanks that are connected during installation. With the help of a pipe and a nozzle connected to both tanks, the materials are mixed to react in the presence of heat.
The resulting mixture sprayed on the intended surfaces expands 40 to 100 times its original size depending on the specific product and cures between five and 60 minutes. This transforms into the final hardened version of the insulating foam you see in the photos here on our website.
The resulting mixture sprayed on the intended surfaces expands 40 to 100 times its original size depending on the specific product and cures between five and 60 minutes. This transforms into the final hardened version of the insulating foam you see in the photos here on our website.
Why Spray Foam Insulation in Northwest Florida
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The main purpose behind installing SPF foam is to regulate heat movement between the interior and the exterior of a building. This helps to reduce the work done by HVAC equipment within the building to raise temperatures during winter and to drop temperatures during summer thus reducing electricity costs. Naturally, heat escapes out of a building through three methods of heat transfer; radiation, convection and conduction.
To make sure heat exchange does not occur through any of these processes a barrier has to be installed to block these mediums of heat transfer. Spray foam insulation is a low heat-conducting material, which makes it a great option to prevent heat transfer. For this to happen, spray foam must have a high thermal resistance measured in R-value and the ability to prevent air leakage. |
Methods of Heat Transfer
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Heat Transfer through ConductionThe materials that make up spray foam give it both of these qualities which makes it an excellent insulation material. Spray foam insulation has loose molecular bonds. This is because the SPF bonds are filled with air in between, giving it the ability to resist heat flow through conduction from a higher to a lower thermal region.
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Heat Transfer through RadiationRadiation is a form of heat transfer that happens through light. Although radiant heat transfer doesn’t require a medium to travel, a material with a high IR reflectivity (light reflection) tends to prevent heat transfer by reflecting light rays away. Spray foam is opaque to heat radiation.
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Heat Transfer through Convection
Convective heat transfer is when heat transfer occurs through gases and liquids. Spray foam is a complete airtight envelope that prevents the movement of air through its body. This gives it the excellent ability to prevent convective heat transfer between the interior and exterior of your building. With no air movement, this means air of any temperature can’t infiltrate the building
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Types of Spray Foam Insulation
Spray foam insulation can be divided into two different types the first one being open-cell spray foam insulation and the second one being closed-cell spray foam insulation. The main difference between the two types of SPF insulation is density with one having a greater air cell sealing that the other.
Open-Cell SPF
This is a much lighter version of SPF with a lesser density than closed-cell insulation making it have a much lower R-value. This appears to be a spongy material because of its lower air sealing. However, this type of SPF insulation is more likely to expand quicker immediately after sprayed which gives it the ability to fit in irregular locations. This is mostly installed in interior wall gravities and aids sound reduction. It has a starting R-value of 3.7 per inch.
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Closed-Cell SPFThis is a rigid insulation material with a higher foam density than open-cell insulation.
Due to its high density, it has a higher R-value than open-cell insulation. It has an approximated R-value of 5.1 – 6 per inch of closed-cell insulation. |
It’s important to note that both SPF insulation types have different regulations and standards of installation.
Applications of Spray Foam Insulation
With all of its excellent insulation properties mentioned above, SPF also has other characteristics that differentiates it making it a better choice than other methods in some cases. It’s important to understand that often times each insulation project has its own challenges while the end product might be the same different approaches have to be used in different scenarios. The below-mentioned applications will require different specifications of SPF installation in terms of volume and type of SPF insulation based on different locations.
Spray Foam Insulation has both residential and commercial applications as we’ll see below.
Spray Foam Insulation has both residential and commercial applications as we’ll see below.
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Attic InsulationThe attic is a crucial area within the home that shields the house from the elements above us. The attic is one of the most affected areas of high thermal activity within the home. This is a major area in the house where air movement is prone to happen. Spray foam insulation acts as an airtight barrier in the attic to prevent such spontaneous air movement that causes consistent thermal fluctuation.
Spray foam insulation is an ideal type of insulation to be used in attics. This is because attics are mostly irregular with study areas that can’t be easily reached using other insulation materials. Attic insulation does just enough to save you more money than any other area in the house if insulated. |
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Commercial InsulationThis brings us to the commercial applications of spray foam insulation. In key industry areas such as storage facilities, there is nothing more crucial than maintaining a standard storage temperature throughout the building. Buildings with thin walls pose a greater challenge of thermal fluctuations which affect energy efficiency and can cause damage to the resources being stored.
Spray foam insulation is installed in this to serve as a building envelop capable of eliminating more than 70% of air movement if the standard foam formula for cold storage application is followed. This gives the facility operators not much to worry about especially in cases of electricity breakdowns. |
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Residential InsulationSpray foam is sprayed within wall cavities inside the building to create an airtight barrier between the interior and the exterior of the house. SPF is highly effective whenever it comes to interior insulation. It has the highest R-value than any other insulation material and is the best in terms of performance in this location. Another benefit that installing spray foam gives you in this area is a soundproof barrier reducing the amount of noise coming in and going out.
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Insulation for Air DuctsAccording to Energy Star, 20 to 30 percent of the air that moves within the ductwork system is primarily lost due to a wide variety of causes. In commercial buildings, poorly sealed ducts are known to increase energy loss. Installing spray foam in your ductwork can dramatically enhance your building's energy efficiency by reducing air infiltration.
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Spray Foam Insulation R-value
The R-value is the resistance of heat flow by a material known as an insulator. Every insulating material has a measured R-value that tells us how well it prevents thermal exchange including spray polyurethane foam. The higher the R-value the higher the ability of the material to provide greater insulation benefits. Apart from the two types of spray foam insulation as discussed above, there are several SPF products available in the market by different manufacturers.
This implies that different amounts of foam insulation material have to be used when using different products. Two products might have different R-values per inch that is required to fully insulate the building.
Apart from the different R-value specifications that may come from different manufacturers, most manufacturers are looking forward to one value, so you don’t have to worry much about that. With that said different locations around the house require different R-values of insulation to properly establish a working thermal barrier. This depends on your geographic location.
Check out the U.S. Department of Energy Insulation R-value chart.
Open-cell spray foam has an estimated R-value of about 3.7 per inch.
Closed-cell spray foam has an estimated R-value of 6.0 to 6.5 per inch.
Apart from the different R-value specifications that may come from different manufacturers, most manufacturers are looking forward to one value, so you don’t have to worry much about that. With that said different locations around the house require different R-values of insulation to properly establish a working thermal barrier. This depends on your geographic location.
Check out the U.S. Department of Energy Insulation R-value chart.
Open-cell spray foam has an estimated R-value of about 3.7 per inch.
Closed-cell spray foam has an estimated R-value of 6.0 to 6.5 per inch.
Spray Foam Insulation Contractors
After finding out how best spray foam insulation can help you the next step is to contact a spray foam insulation contractor to carry out the operation. Polyurethane foam can be very dangerous when handled by non-professionals capable of posing health risks and making permanent damages. All personnel who are to carry out spray foam insulation activities are expected to be trained and certified by the right authorities.
In this case, contacting a spray foam insulation contractor is the best decision you can make. The role of a spray foam insulation contractor is to identify and solve your insulation needs whether residential or commercial. Here at Insulation Panama City, we provide the service of free energy audits before the start of any project.
We give out free estimates on the insulation project you have on hand to be carried out on a retrofit or a new building construction taking place. The use of the right equipment and approved polyurethane foam insulation techniques is very crucial in making sure you benefit from all of the benefits that spray foam insulation offers.
The use of the approved working standards by an experienced spray foam insulation contractor is key in order to make sure your investment becomes viable.
We give out free estimates on the insulation project you have on hand to be carried out on a retrofit or a new building construction taking place. The use of the right equipment and approved polyurethane foam insulation techniques is very crucial in making sure you benefit from all of the benefits that spray foam insulation offers.
The use of the approved working standards by an experienced spray foam insulation contractor is key in order to make sure your investment becomes viable.
Contact Us
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When you invest in spray foam insulation, you’re not just investing in the improved comfort of your home. You are also investing in sustainable energy savings and a free soundproofing system at the same time. The rewards are more than the sacrifices when it comes to foam insulation.
If you are ready to take the next steps forward on spray foam insulation, feel free to contact us today at Northwest Florida Spray Foam Insulation. |