PUR foam insulation cost / benefit analysis
Last Post 12 Nov 2009 05:54 PM by [email protected]. 2 Replies.
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jbirandallUser is Offline
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11 Nov 2009 04:14 PM
Hi, all. I hope I'm not asking a tired question...although my futile search for an answer says I'm not. This is a math story-problem: I'm building a house in New Hampshire, Climate Zone 6. The house will have a "hot roof" (unvented roof) insulated with sprayed polyurethane foam applied to the bottom of the roof deck. The roof area is about 2,500 sqft. I've gotten a pretty good quote from a contractor I trust. He has spec'd R-38 (6") for the roof. For an additional $3,180, he'll increase it to R-51.4 (8"). My question is this: how do I go about evaluating whether or not the extra $3k investment is worth it? If I assume a 10-year payback period (that's as far out as I'm willing to go), then I have to save $318/yr in heating costs. As I'm installing an ultra-efficient Viessmann condensing boiler, it's hard to imagine being able to cut out another $318/yr. Am I right, economists? Any input on how to think about this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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12 Nov 2009 01:38 PM
You'd have to save more than or less than $318/year depending on what assumptions you make on the price of borrowed money vs. the after-tax return you might have expected on it otherwise, as well as the current price & inflation rate of fuel pricing   There are several net-present-value calculators online that can put it in perspective.

Even so, using a very crude insulation upgrade savings calculator, it's hard to say that you'll go NPV+ in 10 years with most reasonable assumptions:


http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/InsulUpgrd/InsulUpgrade.htm


Southern NH is about a 7000HDD climate, insert your current fuel price and 90% efficiency on the boiler for annual and 10 year (simple, not present-value) savings.

A more cost-effective way to go high-R in that climate would be to do R30 (4.5-5") of foam at the roof deck, and another R30 of wet-spray cellulose under that for a net R60.  Closed cell foam is a premium product at a premium price- great for when you need/want the vapor retardency or high R-per-inch, but it's an expensive way to super-insulate.  If your splitting the R value between cc foam & fiber with the foam on the cold side (exterior) of the fiber, be sure that the foam is at least 50% of the total R in your are (40% is OK if you're in the Portsmouth coastal region).

If it's basically a dead-space/storage-space attic, it's fine to use dry-blown cellulose the attic floor for the fiber, but be sure to air-seal the attic from conditioned space well.  A 2x10 joist filled to the top will yield about R30-R33 in the center between joists, R25-ish overall (due to the thermal short-circuits of the joist.  It'll make the attic space colder, but won't get/stay below the dew point. (You can monitor it for awhile- if the RH stays above 80% all winter you could put in a small dehumidifier to guarantee it never condenses.)

Natural gas, or propane?  (There's a ~300%+ difference in $/BTU between the two in central MA right now, but NG prices are highly variable between utility companies in New England.)
jbirandallUser is Offline
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12 Nov 2009 05:54 PM
Thanks so much for the quick response! I think you really nailed the answer. The link to the calculator is especially appreciated.
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