Preventing Energy Loss By Using Foam Sealant
/A comfortable home, saving money on energy bills, and watching satisfying foam expanding videos – three of my favorite things! I insulated my new french doors with a can of Great Stuff™ Smart Dispenser™ insulating foam sealant to reduce my energy loss - here’s how!
This post is sponsored by Great Stuff™. Thank you to my partners that keep the blogging lights on and thank you, readers, for supporting my sponsors! All words and opinions are my own.
I made a video all about why and how I insulated my door! Click below to watch the 8-minute video that takes you back to the beginnings of installing the door, why I’m passionate about insulation, and also some satisfying clips of foam expanding!
I work hard on these videos so I love it when you folks watch!
Watch The Video:
If the video isn’t displaying properly, click here.
The video is the best view of the process and backstory, but if you can’t watch it, here’s an abbreviated text version below.
During demolition, we took the kitchen down to the studs, it was a good reminder of just how simple our homes are. They're made up of studs, and siding, and that's about it! It's crazy to think that's all that's separating us from the elements.
When our house was gutted, we installed the biggest transformation of our kitchen renovation - new french doors! During the door installation, we weatherproofed the exterior to prevent rain intrusion. We got specialty insulated glass to cut down on heat loss/gain transfer. And we put insulation in the walls.
But there's still that gap around the doors. It may seem insignificant, but these tiny (or in my case, not so tiny) gaps can let so much air in and out. Even when covered with trim, that opportunity for air to move in and out remains.
Heat loss - or in my case, heat gain - concerns me as an environmentalist. So so much energy is used to climate control the inside of our homes. The last thing we want to do is send that energy outside while simultaneously letting in more exterior air inside. It's a waste of energy and a waste of money.
More-so, the use of air conditioning and heating emits green house gasses, which adds to our climate crisis. So, Ross and I try to avoid using the A/C as much as we can. The way we do that is with passive cooling. We use the shade of trees to cool the house, curtains to keep out the sun, and insulation to avoid drafts.
I used the Great Stuff™ Smart Dispenser™ Window & Door foam sealant. You know, because I'm insulating a door! It's very important to use this foam for doors and windows because it doesn't expand with as much pressure as the other foam products. You don't want the foam to expand so much that it moves the jamb and prevents the door or window from operating. Be sure to pick just the right product for your application! Luckily, the names of each foam are super self-explanatory.
Before using the foam, be sure to put that safety gear on your human body and anywhere else you don’t want foam! It can get messy, so cover floors, put on safety glasses, gloves, and a long-sleeve shirt.
Be sure to watch the video to see the process of using the foam, and watch some satisfying foam expanding clips!
The beauty of the Great Stuff™ Smart Dispenser™ is you can now re-use the foam still in the can. Gone are the days of the straw getting sealed shut and wasting the product. Now, I can leave this can in the garage for up to a month, and re-use it whenever needed. I’ll just leave the Smart Dispenser™ threaded on the can, then grab it whenever I have a need for insulating foam. Which, is a great bonus for me, because I’m a slow renovator that chips away at projects over the course of weeks.
