Is Spray Foam A Good Investment?

Homeownership is no joke. Whether you tend to hire professionals or attempt more DIYs, owning a home means a number of bills and surprise costs. You never know when something may spring a leak, break, or suddenly reach its expiration date. So what about spray foam insulation? Is spray foam a reliable investment? Or will you spend a lot of money and regret it?

South Central Services has insulated hundreds of new and existing homes with spray foam. Spray foam insulation is expensive but can be an excellent investment for residential and commercial properties. After reading this article, you’ll have a clearer picture of whether or not spray foam will be a good investment for your home.

By the time you finish reading, you’ll understand:

• How much spray foam insulation can cost
• How long spray foam insulation should last
• What kind of results spray foam insulation offers
• How net energy usage calculation can preview spray foam savings

Don't have time to read right now? Check out everything you need to know at a glance.

Spray Foam Insulation Is An Expensive Investment.

Spray foam is expensive: no one is contesting that. Spray foam is on the pricier end of all the insulation products you can choose from. At South Central Services, we charge the following rates per board foot for spray foam.

• Open cell spray foam: $0.25 to $0.75 per board foot
• Closed cell spray foam: $1.15 to $1.75 per board foot

How much spray foam will cost depends on the type and size of the project. Smaller projects like basement band boards can cost as little at $1,500. A giant encapsulated attic could run for as much as $35,000.

If you want to know how much your project will cost, you can use our guides to estimate the cost of spray foam. Or, you can contact us for a professional estimate.

Regardless of if and how you estimate the cost of spray foam, it is safe to assume that spray foam is going to be an investment. Other insulation products can be considered an investment as well, except they offer a lower buy-in cost. Over time, those less expensive products deliver inconsistent results. While spray foam is expensive from the get-go, it will deliver reliable results in the long term.

Spray Foam Insulation Is A Permanent Solution.

How long is the long term? Spray foam insulation is a permanent solution. It is not designed to be removed or recycled. Once installed, it should last for the lifetime of the structure.

Part of this permanence is how solid the insulation is. Unlike blown-in insulation products, spray foam cannot be disturbed or shuffled around. Spray foam also does not shrink, sag, or settle over time. You will not have to worry about maintenance or topping off your spray foam to keep it functional.

The performance of spray foam does not falter as the years go by. Fiberglass batt insulation eventually reaches an expiration date, as it shifts and no longer insulates properly. Spray foam is sprayed in place, and its R-value does not diminish.

It is important to know that spray foam can deteriorate from ultraviolet rays. This information is irrelevant for some applications because the spray foam will not see the light of day. For other applications, additional coatings are needed to protect the insulation from UV rays.

So, even though spray foam is significantly more costly to invest in, the investment period is also much longer than that of other insulations. Budget insulation may require a new solution or replacement down the road, while spray foam is permanent.

Spray Foam Results Vary By Home And Application.

While it is nice to know that you shouldn’t have to worry about insulation again, permanence doesn’t guarantee that spray foam is a good investment. You also need to understand how you may recover that investment money.

If you spend $10,000 insulating your attic, how long will it take for you to get your return on investment?

Every home is different, which changes the results you’ll see. We cannot make a blanket statement about what spray foam will do for you and your home. However, we can present some questions you can ask to determine better what kind of improvement spray foam will make.

What Is The Insulation Like In The Rest Of Your Home?

Spray foam insulation is expensive, but it offers something that few other insulations can: an airtight seal. An airtight seal can stop heat from traveling through air leakage, keeping hot air outside in the summer and inside in the winter.

However, an airtight seal only works where it is installed. You could encapsulate your attic and prevent any air infiltration from happening in that area of your home. However, your exterior walls may have little to no insulation. Air could still exchange from that area.

Evaluating the state of all the insulation in your thermal envelope is essential. There could be air leakage in other areas of your home, which will impact your energy bills.

Where Will You Have Spray Foam Installed?

Some spray foam applications offer better returns than others. Besides the relationship to all of your other insulation, certain areas of your thermal envelope matter more for energy efficiency.

For example, attic insulation is one of the most effective areas to insulate in your home. An air-sealed attic contributes significantly to lower energy bills in both the summer and the winter. Depending on other factors, homeowners in southern Pennsylvania see their energy costs lowered by 30% to 70%.

Another great area to insulate is the crawl space, if your home has one. Crawl spaces offer less impact on energy bills compared to attics, but still contribute to comfort and air quality. Homeowners benefit from an encapsulated crawl space most during the winter, and usually see between 20% and 40% savings on their energy bills.

If we were to generalize, the following could be said about the value of where spray foam can be installed.

1. Attic insulation offers the most impact on your energy bills.
2. Crawl space encapsulation contributes the most to your resale value.
3. Basement band board insulation has the faster ROI.

Where you have spray foam installed matters. Which area of your home is upgraded will influence your results and how fast spray foam can pay for itself.

You Can Estimate The Investment Value Of Spray Foam For Your Home.

If you really want a better picture of your investment value, contact a qualified spray foam contractor. These professionals can calculate your net energy usage, and estimate your net energy usage after insulating with spray foam.

This metric can help understand how long an investment will take to pay off, and how it will pay for itself.

For example, crawl space encapsulation adds to your conditioned square footage. Despite this, encapsulation also saves money on conditioning your air.

Contractors find this estimate using a Manual J calculation, which allows them to preview your energy savings. This type of calculation is well beyond the mathematical comfort zone of most homeowners. However, if you are really interested in what savings could look like for your situation, your contractor should be able to help create that rough estimate.

The Bottom Line About Investing In Spray Foam Insulation

Spray foam insulation is not an investment for everyone. For some homeowners, spray foam is too expensive to consider. Others may not understand the benefits of an airtight seal. Or, waiting for spray foam to pay for itself through lower energy costs may feel never-ending.

Depending on where you have spray foam installed and how the rest of your insulation performs, spray foam may be a wise investment for you. There are ways to estimate potential savings and the ROI timeline. If you’re interested in a spray foam investment, find a qualified contractor and discuss your options with them.

Now that you know why spray foam is often an excellent investment, your next step is to:

• Discover if spray foam can increase your home’s resale value
• Learn more how spray foam insulation can save money over time
• Compare retrofit spray foam options: attics, basements, and crawl spaces