Minimize Your Energy Costs with Energy-Efficient Products and Basement Insulation
Save on your energy bill with basement wall insulation and window upgrades
The typical homeowner's investment in insulating their home includes attic insulation, window replacement, and wall sealing and insulation, which cover the basic needs. Unfortunately, basement insulation is often times overlooked or neglected.
The basement is actually one of the most significant factors in your home's envelope and needs to be properly sealed and insulated. Insulating the basement ceiling is a step in the right direction; however, air flow will still travel up through the basement, around pipes, door edges, and any other gaps or voids. Most basements have important equipment that needs to be kept warm, like hot water pipes, water heaters, air ducts and the furnace.
Our patented products can help upgrade your basement's energy efficiency. Contact us today to see how our basement energy services can help you!
Energy Efficient Basement Products
In colder regions, the U.S. Department of Energy reports energy savings from $250/year to $450/year. A warm basement will help you avoid a drafty home, increase your home's value, and help keep the floors above warmer underfoot.
Systèmes Sous-sol Québec has a selection of four different products to increase your basement's energy efficiency:
Basement To Beautiful™ Insulated Panels
These studded, insulated panels are an excellent source of energy efficiency for the basement, and can help prepare the surface for a finished wall product.
The panels are made with 2 ½" thick R-13 insulation and metal studs. The metal studs are designed with a thick, 2" layer of insulation between them and the foundation walls, preventing any heat from bypassing the insulation through the metal's conductivity.
We also use an advanced SilverGlo™™ Insulation for each panel, which features a graphite infusion process in its design, making it 24% more effective as an insulator when compared to similar foam insulation products.
Foamax Basement Wall Insulation & Finishing Panels
Insulating your basement walls with Foamax provides comfort and energy bill savings, while making your walls look clean and bright. Foamax is an advanced foam insulation panel that reduces condensation for exceptional moisture protection.
Foamax is a polyisocyanurate foam insulation panel with a white foil finish on the front and foil vapor barrier on the back. The wall insulation panel makes your basement much warmer, doesn't need to be finished, and wall leaks are drained to a perimeter drainage system below (learn more about our WaterGuard drainage system).
ThermalDry® Radiant Heat & Vapor Barrier
Whether you're finishing your basement walls or trying to get the most out of your basement's energy efficiency, the ThermalDry® Radiant Heat & Vapor barrier is the perfect choice.
This unique product works on two levels to help your basement: it creates a watertight vapor barrier on the walls, and its surface reflects back 97% of the heat that makes contact.
ThermalDry® is a versatile material that can be installed on uneven surfaces and wavy walls or tucked into several of our patented drainage systems to help redirect water from the walls to your sump pump system.
ThermalDry® Floor Tiles
Concrete basement floors are surfaces that tend to be cold and damp, meaning that the flooring placed on them will absorb this cold and create an uncomfortable floor.
All of our ThermalDry® Floor Tile options (available in subfloor matting, carpet, and tile finishes) rest on raised plastic pegs. This separation from the floor's surface creates a thermal break, elevating the tiles above the cold below.
This all adds up to a hardy, reliable flooring product that can be 8-10 degrees warmer than the concrete foundation below.
Do Other Insulations Measure Up?
There's a lot of options out there for insulating your basement walls. Some are great, some are good, and some are less desirable than the others.
Great basement insulation should be closed-cell, able to withstand moisture and water, and resistant to the growth of mold. They should also be effective enough to achieve desired insulation levels at a good cost and minimal thickness.
How Much Insulation Do You Need?
The right amount of insulation recommended for your basement depends largely on where you live.
For example, the US Department Of Energy (PDF) has these recommendations for insulating your home's basement walls:
| HDD Zone | R-Value (Interior) |
R-Value (Exterior) |
| 1 (0-1,500) | none | none |
| 2 (1,501-4,500) | R-5 to R-9 | R-5 to R-10 |
| 3 (4,501-8,500) | R-9 to R-10 | R-10 |
| 4 (8,501-9,000) | R-10 to R-19 | R-10 to R-15 |
| 5 (>9,000) | R-19 | R-15 |
HDD = Heating Degree Days
Your local weather bureau will have information on your city's Heating Degree Days. This is the most common measurement for fuel consumption and/or the heat costs during the actual heating season.
What Makes Good Insulation?
There are a plethora of choices available for insulating your basement walls. They span the gamut- some are better than others, and some are much less desirable.
Great basement insulation needs to be resistant to mold growth, able to withstand moisture and water, and should be a closed cell.
The insulation should be efficient enough to reach optimal insulation levels with the smallest thickness possible and at an affordable cost.
Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades Made Easy
We aren't just your source for basement upgrades, we can help increase the energy efficiency of your entire home!
It's easy and free to meet with your local dealer to discover how we can help keep your basement dry, insulate it, and/or prepare it for the finishing process. Call or email us today for a free, no-obligation basement upgrade quote! This includes a professional consultation and inspection, as well as a written cost quote for planned work, and a complimentary copy of our full-color basement book.
Looking for a price? Get a no cost, no obligation free estimate.
