Spray Foam Insulation
Like other home insulation materials, spray foam insulation for your Long Island, NY home helps improve indoor comfort and lower heating and cooling costs. Home Efficiency Experts is a local spray foam insulation contractor serving Nassau and Suffolk Counties. We specialize in home upgrades that save you money and make your home more comfortable.
The Benefits of Spray Foam Insulation
- Superior R-value to other insulation types
- Insulates and air seals
- Acts as a moisture barrier
- Reduces noise
How Do You Use Spray Foam Insulation in an Attic?
Spray foam insulation can be added to an attic in one of two ways:
1. As home air sealing to fill in any gaps or voids in the attic floor associated with wire or plumbing penetrations, light fixtures, interior and exterior wall top plates and open chases.
2. As insulation along the attic roof slope. Commonly known as a spray foam “hot roof,” this sometimes is the best option for homes where insulating the attic floor is simply not a viable option. One such example might be a “Cape Cod” style home with small knee wall attics that are used entirely for storage.
Where Spray Foam Is Often Needed Most: The Rim Joist
Another area of concern in any home with an unfinished basement or crawlspace area is the rim joist. The rim joist is where the foundation meets the wood framing members above. This is often not insulated, or poorly insulated, and full of holes going directly outside! Not only does this lead to tremendous heat loss but is also a major source of unconditioned air and moisture entering the home.
The process by which conditioned air (that you pay for) escapes through the top of the house (the attic) and is replaced by unconditioned air through the bottom of the house (the rim joist) is known as the “Stack Effect.” One of our main objectives is to find ways to slow this process down as much as possible, so one very effective way to do this is to add spray foam to the rim joist. Not only does this add R-value (approximately R-15) to an area where there was virtually none, but it is also a very effective air and moisture barrier as well! This will help greatly with making your basement or crawlspace drier while also keeping the floors above much more comfortable!
Frozen Pipe Prevention
Spray foam can also help prevent pipes in unconditioned areas of the house from freezing, which is an issue for many homeowners living in colder climates. By adding spray foam insulation to the exterior of an unconditioned area (i.e. crawlspace or knee wall attic) any pipes or ducts within that space are essentially brought into a conditioned area and given extra protection against the cold.
This could end up saving homeowners thousands of dollars over the years on future repairs as well as heating and cooling costs! And perhaps the best part, spray foam insulation will never deteriorate. Once it is installed, it will last forever!
Schedule a Free Energy Audit with Home Efficiency Experts Today
Could your home benefit from spray foam insulation upgrades? Home Efficiency Experts’ free home energy audit is one of the best ways to find out. During an audit, a trained building science expert will inspect your home, looking for areas with poor insulation or air leaks. They may also run blower door tests or use infrared cameras to accurately measure how energy efficient your home currently is, and where upgrades will have the biggest impact.
From spray foam and cellulose blown in insulation for your Long Island home to expert HVAC installation, Home Efficiency Experts is your local go-to whole home expert.
Think it’s time to upgrade your insulation? Start saving in your Long Island home with spray foam insulation! Give us a call at 631.657.2378 or schedule a free home energy audit here.