Many buildings today, especially suburban homes, require insulation in their walls and attic so that they can protect their climate control, or their heating and air conditioning inside. In summer and winter, or other times of the year, the homeowner will want to control the home’s internal temperature, but if the walls and attic have poor insulation, or if the windows or doors are drafty, warm or cool air will often escape the house. This makes for unstable and uncomfortable heating and cooling, and this also strains the heating and cooling system and drives up the electric bill. The wall and attic play a direct role, then, in the home’s electric bill, and even if a house is missing its insulation, open cell spray foam or a spray foam gun allow a homeowner to do small-scale spray foam installation jobs. Open cell spray foam or other types can be done on a larger scale, too, and a spray foam business can be hired whose crews will use spray foam kits and rigs to get the job done right. Spray foam parts may also be purchased to repair or update a spray foam rig or gun, and this keeps the work smooth. How can open cell spray foam or other types be used effectively to set up insulation? How much money might it save on the electric bill?

The Home and the Electric Bill

There are good reasons why open cell spray foam and other types are used on homes that need it. If not, the electric bill might get out of hand, and no one wants to deal with that. Why is this? For the average American home, nearly 54% of all the electricity consumed will be used by the heating and cooling system, which may have to work hard in hot summers or cold winters to maintain the climate control. And this is assuming that the system is in perfect working order, which it might not be. Poor air filtration or absent insulation mean that a lot of warm or cool air in the house may leak out every day, and this means in turn that the heater or air conditioner will have to work overtime to compensate for that constant loss, and the whole time, extra energy is being used up to make this possible. This greatly harms the system’s efficiency.

The numbers show that this can really add up. With poor or absent insulation in the walls or attic, the electric bill climbs, and this can add up if a lot of homes are badly insulated. But if homeowners improve the insulation in their homes, they may find a more modest electric bill in the coming months. The EPA’s Energy Star Program has stated that adding insulation and sealing leaks may lower monthly energy bills by as much as 20%, and over time, that can mean a lot of saved money. Thus, paying to have spray foam installed in the walls or attic can pay for itself over time, making it a good investment. The same is true for commercial buildings; estimates have shown that if most commercial buildings increased their energy efficiency (often by improving insulation) by just 10% overall, this could save some $40 billion, a considerable amount. Given how the United States is behind only China in total energy consumption around the world, it is clear that if enough homes and commercial buildings improve their insulation, this can make a huge difference.

Foam

Open cell spray foam, spray foam guns, and rigs can e used either on a small or large scale to set up insulation for any building that needs it. For a smaller job, a homeowner can buy the right equipment and do it all themselves, while bigger jobs, such as at a manor house or commercial building, a whole crew should be hired, who will have their own trailer-drawn rigs and other gear. During use, spray foam mandates basic safety for everyone involved. Goggles and respirators can protect the eyes, nose, and mouth from the airborne chemicals of spray foam until it dries, and bigger jobs may also call for a full body suit. Spray foam must be used responsibly by all involved.