Home is ‘Not Sweet’ if it’s Not Comfortable
Last month, I worked on a 3,600-square-foot new construction single family home. Originally, the owner of the home, a single mother of four, had selected traditional fiberglass insulation based on “that’s what people use”.
But after the second short blast of “POLAR VORTEX 2019”, the homeowner changed her mind, while she shivered under the covers in the home she was selling to move into her dream home! She called her general contractor and said she wanted spray foam insulation in her new home! She realized that she didn’t want to put all the cost and energy into the project, only to be uncomfortable all winter long in a drafty home.
The contractor “knew a guy” who did spray foam, and because he was considered to be the cheapest, called him for an estimate. After searching online for spray foam providers and seeing all the reviews for Chicago Green Insulation, he also called us for a bid. Ultimately, we got the job. Not only did we have a five-star reputation, our bid was for less money.
Energy Savings Covers the Cost of Spray Foam
Spray foam insulation is more affordable than traditional insulation when building a new single family home. Here’s why I say that…
For this job, we applied 3 inches of Demilec Agribalance, 2 inches of Demilec Heatlok High Lift HFO in the crawl space and basement walls, and 7 inches of Demilec Selection 500 to the underside of the roof. Although that is industry talk, what it translates to for my client is a virtually airtight seal that stops drafts and cold spots, all while massively reducing energy consumption. We also worked with the HVAC contractor to reduce the tons of cooling by 40% and total number of BTU’s for heating by 60% lowering the total cost for equipment and ensuring maximum return on the month over month utility costs.
This homeowner will recoup the additional cost of the spray foam insulation (compared to traditional) in just 4 years—all through lower monthly energy bills.
Do the Math Over a 30-Year Mortgage Term
For this single-family home, choosing spray foam insulation instead of fiberglass insulation cost about $10,000 more. That works out to $60 a month for a 30-year mortgage. But the homeowners will save more than $60 a month in utility bills because they’re using a fraction of the energy to heat and cool the home.
If you’re taking on a new home construction project, it only makes sense to upgrade to spray foam insulation. It will ultimately save you money and will ensure your family is comfortable year round, no matter what Mother Nature has in store. After all, home is not so “homey” or “sweet” if you can’t find comfort!
In the case of this homeowner, the general contractor used traditional insulation in the one place that it might be useful—the interior walls—to give this mother of four some peace and quiet. In the end, everyone won!
Comfort Is Only a Foam Call Away
At Chicago Green Insulation, we handle all aspects of demo, foam and replacement of the drywall to get you back in your living space over the garage. We cannot help with the screaming child, but we can make your home space warm all winter long.
If you have any concerns about air leakage and insulation in your home, call us today at 847-987-3626. The best time to have a conversation is during the planning stages of a construction project so that your crawl space, kitchen remodel or room addition above the garage is everything you want it to be—and not your worst nightmare.
However, if you’re calling post-construction, we can still help. As I always say: Comfort is only a FOAM call away!