Heat
Comparison - Mississauga, Ontario
Background
In March of 1988 a comparison was done
using two identical houses in Mississauga,
Canada, with the same but reversed
floor plan and insulated with two
different types of insulation. The
purpose was to demonstrate the insulating
and air sealing superiority of The
Icynene Insulation System®.
Results
Lot 41 with The Icynene Insulation System®
had one third less leakage than the
fiberglass house. The thermal scanning
of the fiberglass house showed more
air leakage around doors, windows, electrical
outlets, plumbing and hard to reach
area like bath tubs. In areas where
Icynene® was sprayed there was a
significant reduction in air leakage.
As you can see from the thermal picture
of Lot 41 the wall cavity is warmer
than that of the same spot in lot 40.
Air infiltration in the fiberglass house
is robbing the structure of heat and
reducing its energy efficiency.
A blower door test and thermographic
scanning of a wall section (approximately
4 feet) right below the window was performed
during a cold night on each home to
demonstrate the air leakage.
A thermographic picture is an infrared
image used to demonstrate differences
in temperature. Red shows warmth, blue
shows cold
(Source: Comparative Performance Assessment
of Icynene® Foam Insulation; Buchan
Lawton Parent Ltd. p. 10).
