You want to reduce your energy costs, and you’ve heard foam insulation is the way to go. But how much money will you save?
When compared to more conventional insulation types like fiberglass or cellulose, foam insulation can definitely save you money, but the precise savings will depend on a number of factors.
According to spray foam industry statistics, customers can save up to 50 percent on their monthly energy bills depending on some of the factors below.
Saving Money with Spray Foam Insulation
The air barrier in spray foam insulation can help you save money on your energy bills.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, space heating and air conditioning accounted for 48% of a household’s yearly energy usage in 2021. Imagine now that you are unable to keep the temperature in your home constant, causing one or both of those things to run continuously.
The reason your home can’t maintain a steady temperature and some of your rooms are uncomfortable is that the air you pay to heat or cool is leaking outside, and vice versa.
The air barrier that spray foam insulation provides keeps the interior air within and the outside elements outside, where they belong. This is where spray foam insulation really shines.
As one way to save energy, the U.S. Department of Energy suggests air sealing your home’s construction envelope from top to bottom with the right insulation to stop air from leaking out.
Foam insulation is the only type that can offer a complete air seal across the entire house as compared to traditional insulation.
How Much Can Spray Foam Reduce Your Monthly Electric Bills?
The amount of money you can save on your monthly energy bills varies, but we’ve heard from homeowners who say that when they completely insulated their home, they saved anywhere from 30 to 50%.
Saving even a small amount on heating and cooling expenses is fantastic, but there are still other factors to take into account.
Also, since installing foam insulation all around your house is a one-time task, you’ll save money in the long term. If the house contains fiberglass or cellulose, that is not the case.
Both cellulose and fiberglass will deteriorate, sag, settle, and move with time. This means that the fiberglass will need to be replaced at some point and that the cellulose needs to be maintained regularly.
Foam insulation never wears out, moves, or sags, and it never needs to be replaced because it has reached the end of its useful life. You will eventually save money just by doing this because you won’t have to pay for the replacement of your insulation.
Savings on Energy Bills are Affected by the Following Variables
What makes the difference? As we said above, homeowners claim to have saved between 30 and 50 percent on their monthly energy expenditures.
The amount you save on those monthly costs will depend on a few different things. Let’s take a look at your HVAC system, furnace, air conditioner, windows, doors, and the parts of your house that are insulated with foam.
Furnace and AC Unit
Do you typically have your furnace set extremely high in the winter and extremely low in the summer? These two factors may also affect the amount you save after spray-foaming the entire house.
The air you’re treating will remain inside, where you want it, thanks to the air seal that foam provides. You will no longer need to play the seesaw game with your furnace and air conditioner.
The Department of Energy has some advice that can help you maintain your furnace and air conditioner.
You may save about 10% a month on heating and cooling expenses by lowering your thermostat by 7 to 10 degrees for 8 hours a day. You may program that temperature for both sleeping and working. It’s recommended that, during the winter, you set your thermostat at 68 degrees, and, during the summer, set it at 78 degrees.
One thing to bear in mind is that using either appliance at maximum capacity in an effort to quickly cool or heat your home won’t have the desired effect. This won’t change how long it takes to make your home pleasant and will ultimately increase the expense of your monthly bills.
System and Ducts for HVAC
Your HVAC system and ducts are probably costing you money if you haven’t had them cleaned and maintained in a while.
You must operate this system as efficiently as you can if you want a home that uses little energy.
You can get the desired air seal by adding foam insulation throughout the house, but if your HVAC system is not kept in good working order, you will ultimately pay for it.
Make sure to perform annual maintenance on your furnace and air conditioner. This means cleaning the ducts and mechanical parts of your home and putting in new filters.
The more regularly this maintenance is performed, the more effectively these units will operate. When combined with foam insulation, a more efficient furnace and air conditioner means more money in your wallet.
Other Areas Air can Escape or Enter Your Home
Even if you have placed foam insulation in your home, if your windows and doors are inefficient, money will continue to escape the building.
Both in the winter and the summer, you can actually feel the air entering through and around the windows and doors.
If the rest of your home is not efficient, air sealing your home will only go so far. Your furnace and air conditioner will run nonstop to keep your home pleasant if air is leaking through your doors and windows. Because of the ongoing use, the foam’s air seal will save less money.
How Many Areas of Your Home Are Insulated?
If you use foam insulation in only one area of your house, you won’t experience the same level of energy bill reduction.
That’s not to say you can’t start with smaller portions of your home, but if you want to save the most money possible, starting with the entire house is the best option.
Consider the scenario when you choose to insulate only your roof or only your walls. A stack effect is a potential consequence of this.
Air movement, or the stack effect, contributes to high energy costs and unpleasant dwellings. Via the crawl space and up into the living area, outside air enters your home. As the air can’t escape because of the foam insulation on your walls, it builds up pressure and keeps rising, carrying the treated air with it. The attic and the roof are both places where the air flow continues.
This is only one of the reasons we advise insulating the entire house and sealing the building envelope with an airtight seal to prevent this kind of air movement.
Energy Bill Reduction with Foam Insulation
As you can see, increasing foam insulation can lower your monthly energy costs, but there are other factors to take into account as well.
It doesn’t hurt to speak with your energy provider and inquire about having a home energy audit performed if you want to increase the energy efficiency of your house. A blower door test will be performed to check for air leaks during the home energy audit, and the auditor will also check for gas leaks and the exhaust coming from your appliances to see if they are efficient.
Adding foam to your home and making it more energy-efficient overall will lower your bills.
