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Do We Really Need Insulation?
Typical Heat Loss
A residential building, poultry barn, workshop and greenhouse all
have something in common – all need insulation. Why is insulation
so important? The answer is simple –saving money and protecting
the environment.
Nowadays, investing money to reduce energy bills is one of the
best, fastest returning investments you can make. A one-time insulation
cost pays back dividends immediately and for a very long time into
the future. A well-insulated building uses less energy, energy bills
are lower, and the environmental pollution is reduced.
For commercial buildings, reduced spending on heating and air-conditioning
is a tremendous benefit to companies (ie. higher profit). For residential
buildings, the reduction of maintenance costs will keep money in
homeowner’s pockets. For both, reducing energy demands means
the saving of valuable energy supplies, and the protection of our
environment. The investment in insulation, even if it seems to be
high, always brings returns – real money.
It is important to understand how your building or home wastes
energy and what type of action can be taken to correct this problem.
Generally heat is transferred from inside a building to the outside
in all directions (side to side, up and down). Heat does not rise;
hot air rises because of relative densities. Heat energy generally
moves from hotter to colder; or more simply, heat follows cold.
That means the building, as a system, must be insulated from all
sides. So far, building contractors have focused their efforts on
insulating walls and ceilings, leaving floors and basement walls
completely uninsulated. In the past, soil was considered a good
insulator, when in fact nothing can be farther from the truth. A
perfect example of this is snow melting around the perimeter of
a home that in not properly insulated. This melting would not occur
if soil were a good insulator.
Insta-Insulation is a company dedicated to energy usage reduction
planning. Our job is to share our knowledge and experience to help
people understand how they can save energy. Insta-Insulation is
a supplier of thermal and fireproofing solutions for commercial
and residential buildings. Insta Insulation’s experience and
continuous research shows that the basement (floors and walls) is
one of the most critical spaces to insulate. Insulating these areas
becomes even more important, when the rest of the building is well
insulated. For a very well insulated house, uninsulated floors can
be the cause of up to 40% of energy loses. For a heated floor that
is uninsulated or poorly insulated, that waste of heat might be
even worse – up to 50%. For a 2,000 sqft house that means
$400 to $700 spent for nothing every year – why waste that
money?
Most commonly used insulation materials require an additional
vapor and airtight barrier to protect insulation. This is partially
because these materials do not insulate well against water and air.
Very popular insulation material – like fibreglass –
drastically loses insulation properties when it gets wet. Polyurethane
foam does not have such a weakness. Polyurethane foam does not absorb
water, it is completely water-resistant and its thermal insulation
properties do not change for a very long time.
From an economical point of view, using INSTA-PANELS®
is the cheapest and most efficient way to insulate your floors and
basement walls. INSTA-PANELS® are made of rigid polyurethane foam
covered in steel sheets to help make the panel stronger. Standard
panels dimensions (22in x 64in) and thickness (1¾ in) makes
these panels very easy to install not only by specialized installers
but by our customers too. INSTA-PANELS® are the perfect choice for
under floor and outside foundation insulation. When installed properly,
INSTA-PANELS® provide excellent insulation protection at an affordable
price, which in turn, puts money back into your pocket.
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