Our country is distinguished by an extremely harsh climate. In a number of regions in the winter months, the temperature can drop to -35 … -45 degrees Celsius and not rise above weeks. That is why high -quality thermal insulation of residential, office, production, warehouse and other buildings is not only comfort, but also security.
To maintain a sufficiently high temperature with a minimum energy consumption, various heater for walls, roofs, floors and foundation are used. And one of the most popular and popular heater remains polyurethane foam.
This is a really magnificent solution. Simple in the installation, which has extremely low thermal conductivity, it fully satisfies all the requirements that experts present to it.
What you need to know about polyurethane foam
This insulation is widely used in the construction of buildings for various purposes for more than half a century. Over the years, in practice it has been proved that the material not only perfectly copes with its purpose, but also has a number of other, no less important advantages. For example, it provides excellent moisture — and vapor barrier. This allows you to save quite a lot of time and money, abandoning the additional work necessary when using other thermal insulation materials as a heater.
The solid in the insulation is an extremely small part — from 5% to 15%, depending on the manufacturer and the type of material. The rest is occupied by air. Thanks to this, extremely low thermal conductivity and high thermal insulation qualities are provided. Thermal conductivity is from 0.019 to 0.021 watts/meter, which can be called a magnificent indicator. It is important that this also allows to maximize the weight of the material — its density is from 40 to 60 kilograms per cubic meter. Therefore, the conduct of any installation work is additionally facilitated — the work can be carried out both by a group of specialists and a single worker.
The positive characteristics of the insulation are not at all limited to high thermal insulation and low weight. This includes significant service life. As tests show, polyurethane foam used as a heater serves on average from 20 to 50 years, without losing its initial characteristics.
Moreover, the material is completely safe from a fire point of view. With direct contact with fire, polyurethane foam melts, but does not support burning. That is, as soon as contact with fire stops, it immediately goes out, reducing the danger of further spread of the fire, which not all heaters can boast.
Many experts value that this insulation is produced in various performance, which allows you to use it to warm almost any objects — from walls and roofs to water pipes. Moreover, the price of the insulation is quite low, which makes it especially in demand. For a faster and lighter choice of suitable material, it will be useful to know more about different types of insulation from polyurethane foam.
In what form is the insulation?
Before you choose the thermal insulation material that arranges you in all parameters and is suitable for a specific work, you should find out what it can be:
Poliuretan foam in plates. The most widely used type of insulation. It can be used for insulation of walls, roofs, as well as the foundation of residential, industrial, warehouse and office premises. It is as easy as possible in installation, so the installation can be done with your own hands. It does not require special tools and special skills, for which it is highly valued by both specialists and ordinary citizens who decided to make repairs in their apartment or house.
Sprayed polyurethane foam. Appeared on the construction market relatively recently, but today is one of the most popular heater. At a relatively low price, it allows you to ensure high -quality thermal insulation of any, even the most problematic objects. When installing, it does not need a crate and other auxiliary materials and tools that increase the cost of repair and increase the time of time. It can be used when installing thermal insulation for pipes, as well as cracks and any inaccessible places in which the installation of polyurethane foam in the slabs is difficult. It is often supplied in cylinders, which allows you to easily set to calculate the amount of material necessary for the insulation of a particular object.
Elastic polyurethane foam. Also known as foam. Can be seen in almost every house — it is used in the manufacture of sponges for washing dishes, and when filling up soft furniture. But also this is a wonderful thermal insulation material. Flexibility in total with extremely low weight and low thermal conductivity allows you to widely use it during thermal insulation of pipes and other complex objects.
As you can see, a polyurethane foam insulation is presented in a wide variety. This allows you to choose the best option for conducting thermal insulation work at any facility. Learn more about this insulation about this, you can watch the video in this article. But it will also not be superfluous to get more detailed information about different types of polyurethane heat.
A couple of words about polyurethane foam panels
As mentioned above, it is polyurethane foam in the plates that is one of the most popular heat -insulating materials to date.
The thickness can fluctuate from 30 to 50 centimeters, which simplifies the choice of suitable material.
The corners can be either straight or have locks “in a quarter”, which greatly simplifies the fasteners, at the same time increasing the efficiency of thermal insulation.
The panels can both have a one -sided or double -sided coating, never have it at all. The coating not only increases the life of the material, but also makes it more waterproof, which allows it to be used in conditions of high humidity. Armafol, foil, craft paper or glass-plastic fabric can serve as a coating.
Products have sufficient strength to withstand minor mechanical loads, both permanent and temporary, without harm to themselves. It is important that they are easily subjected to machining. This additionally facilitates the installation at complex objects.
When installing polyurethane foam, a special crate is used in the plates — the photos can give a better idea of the progress of work. The need to use the crate in total with large plates sizes makes it difficult to carry out installation alone — usually at least two people need at least two people for such work. But the installation process itself is very simple, which allows you not to resort to the help of specialists.
It is important that the elastic surface of the plates allows you to install this insulation both on even surfaces and on certain defects (cracks, bulges and others), hiding them.
A little information about the sprayed polyurethane foam
The sprayed or foamed polyurethane foam is most often used if it is necessary to ensure high -quality thermal insulation by relatively small and problem areas.
It turns out when mixing polyesotation of polyester. The result is a foaming mass that has excellent adhesion, which allows the insulation to any surface — wood, drywall, brick or concrete. Expanding quickly, the insulation fills all the voids and cracks, significantly increasing the thermal insulation characteristics of the object.
Experts value him for the possibility of obtaining a seamless thermal insulation layer. This is very important, because it is through seams that a considerable part of the heat is often lost.
The mixture dries almost immediately after applying. In a matter of minutes you can already walk on it — it is slightly springy, but it does not destroy. And so it will remain the whole period of her service — according to manufacturers, up to 50 years.
The insulation is applied directly to the insulated surface, that is, you can do without a crate, which significantly saves time and means. Moreover, all work can be done by one specialist. As practice shows, in one working day the specialist provides high -quality thermal insulation of any surface of a huge area — up to 300 square meters.
For small work, you can buy sprayed polyurethane foam in cylinders — they are sold in many construction stores. A detailed instruction described on the label allows you to carry out all the work even to a person who had never done a similar job before.
However, if you need to insulate a significant surface (from several tens to several hundred square meters), it is better to invite specialists. Having the right equipment, they can perform a huge amount of work in the shortest time. Try to do the same work yourself using disposable cylinders, you will not only spend a lot of time, but also considerate much more money.
Possessing this information, you can easily choose exactly the thermal insulation material that will be the most successful solution for you, and will last many decades without delivering unnecessary troubles.