Walk-in Freezers and Coolers: The SPF Solution Costs Less
Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation is an effective and widely utilized product for food and produce refrigeration, storage, and transportation, which is highly relevant if you operate a business that relies on walk-in freezers and refrigerators to keep perishable products or inventory cool.
Whether your business stores dairy products, frozen meat or poultry, chilled vegetables, shipments of fresh flowers for sale, etc., keeping your products safe and fresh is a critical part of your business operation. It’s also important to install and operate your cold storage units in the most economical way possible.
SPF is often used to create a cost-efficient cold-storage space that exceeds standard requirements without constructing a gigantic, costly stainless steel cooler. In fact, your current facility may already have most of what you need.
SPF: High-performance Insulation
The first element required is the right insulation.
Closed cell spray foam is a very high-performance insulation that’s made up of tiny, strong, densely packed air pockets that resist air movement and heat conduction. It provides incredibly effective insulative properties on the commercial market with an R-value typically measured at 6 to 6.5, making it ideal for refrigeration and storage facilities.
The spray-on installation process allows us to apply a layer of polyurethane foam insulation to the perimeter walls, ceiling, and under the floor, effectively coating the inside of specific rooms or even your entire building to insulate it. We essentially create a large refrigerator or freezer box inside your current structure.
This extremely efficient barrier means we can keep the thickness of the insulation to the minimum, which maximizes your available storage space.
To complete the unit, you’ll simply need to add a refrigeration unit that’s sufficient to lower the air to the necessary temperature. The insulation efficiently maintains that air temperature, which means you save money on energy costs, and you also reduce the workload on the machinery — that means fewer repairs and a longer life for costly mechanical parts.
By using our cost-efficient SPF installation process to convert space you already have, additional construction may not be required, which is yet another way our SPF walk-in freezer or cooler saves you money over other options.
SPF Prevents Air Leaks and Moisture Intrusion
In addition to its superior insulating properties that protect your inventory, a refrigerator or freezer constructed in this way is more efficient and helps extend the longevity of your facility itself.
Using SPF, which is applied as a liquid that then expands, we create a seamless, fully-sealed envelope that eliminates gaps, seams, and air leaks, making it more efficient than any form of panelling or rolled sheets of material that must be mechanically attached.
This seamless structure has a dual function. It both prevents temperature loss due to air leak and also prevents moisture from entering your unit — a tremendous benefit due to the number of serious problems associated with moisture vapor intrusion. Those problems include:
- Poor thermal performance of the insulation and unit as a whole
- Insufficient cooling capacity
- Increased utilities and operating cost
- Mold and mildew
- Ice formation
- Rusted or corroded pipes
- Ruined ceilings
- Slippery floors
- Malfunctioning equipment leading to downtime and repair expense
Simply put, condensation due to air leaks and accompanying moisture can cause a lot of costly damage, and repairing or replacing that equipment usually costs considerably more over time than the larger initial investment made on a superior product that ensures the elimination of leaks.
This seamless, airtight method for constructing coolers and freezers, often able to utilize your existing space, maximizes cooling space and saves money. Applying the proper elastomeric coating also means spray foam insulation is food-safe and fully meets USDA and FDA requirements.
Contact the Experts at DFW Urethane
If your business relies on the capabilities of a walk-in freezer or cold room, spray polyurethane foam insulation can provide the advantages you need.
Contact DFW Urethane here to get a recommendation and a quote on an SPF walk-in freezer or cooler installation.
Preventing Wind Damage to Your Commercial Roof — Invest in SPF
Wind is a big deal for residents of North Texas and Oklahoma. People in our region love telling stories of historic tornadoes or big storms with serious, straight winds. It’s almost a point of pride that we live in such adverse conditions without flinching.
Unfortunately, for local commercial building owners, wind is a very real and serious threat to their property, business operations, and livelihoods.
Wind Uplift: A Serious Concern for Commercial Building Owners
Every roofing system is susceptible to wind uplift, which occurs when wind forces its way between the outer membrane and the roof deck.
When this occurs, wind forcibly tugs at and peels away sections of your conventional flat roof, or it forms splits in your roof’s membrane, compromising the soundness of the entire roofing system and resulting in leaks and water damage to your building.
However, some commercial roofing systems resist wind uplift far better than others.
When it comes to fighting high winds and damage from uplift, spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is the best roofing material available for most commercial and industrial settings. [more]
Reflective Roof Options Save Your Business Money
Day after day under the harsh sun, your commercial roof is taking a solar beating.
When you consider North Texas’s sunny climate, combined with the almost-year-round high temperatures, you can expect premature aging and high utility costs with traditional roofing systems.
Are you wondering what you can do about the weather’s effects on your business’s operating costs? The answer is reflective roofing systems.
The Best Insulation to Reduce Your Utility Bills
There have been many days above 105 degrees this summer, and it’s only going to get worse…
That makes this fall your opportunity to consider better insulation to reduce your utility bills. It’s a great investment for the future.
If you’re like many business owners, you’ve probably been taking a hard look at your electric bills this season and don’t like what you see: Rising electric bills from the extra work your A/C units have to put in to cool your workspace or commercial building under this year’s brutal summer conditions.
On top of that, there’s no telling what the coming North Texas summers will be like. It’s reasonable to expect more of the same conditions…
Or even worse.
Closed Cell Spray Foam Fights the Summer Heat
Summer is here again, and temperatures have already climbed to extreme highs — do you have energy-saving closed cell spray foam roofing and insulation installed at your commercial building?
You should — I’ll explain.
The harsh summer conditions of North Texas mean the utility costs for energy consumption are skyrocketing as you attempt to keep the temperature inside your commercial building and workspace bearable.
As a fellow business owner, I understand what you’re going through — I have a recommendation for keeping your business expenses and your worries to a minimum.
If You Have a Leaky Rubber Roof, Coating Options Could Prevent Costly Replacement
Before you make the really expensive decision to replace your commercial EPDM or rubber roof, you might want to consider an alternative — when it comes to rubber roofs, coating options are available that could help cover some of the inherent shortcomings of these roofing systems and extend the life of your existing roof.
Choosing Flat Roof Materials — What to Do When It’s Time to Replace My Commercial Roof
There are a lot of choices on the market for flat roof materials, and it can be difficult to choose which one is best when it comes time to replace that aging, leaky roof on your commercial building.
It can seem like a tough decision at first glance.
Let’s consider the pluses and minuses of the many options — I think the best decision will become clearer once you have the necessary information at your disposal.
Flat Roof Materials — The Built-Up Roof
Often referred to by the acronym BUR, a built-up roof is your conventional tar-and-gravel roofing system. It’s constructed by building up 3 to 4 layers of hot tar over a reinforcing fabric — the top layer can be covered in a smooth stone ballast to improve the appearance.
Closed Cell Foam vs Open Cell Foam — Which Is Best for Commercial Use?
When it comes to the question of closed cell foam vs open cell foam, the two types of polyurethane foam used for roofing and insulation are not the same, even though they often look similar and can be difficult to distinguish by simple appearance.
These two families of polyurethane foam products bring very different advantages to the table and are utilized for very different purposes.
Let’s discuss the difference between closed cell foam and open cell foam so that, hopefully, you’ll see why we most often recommend closed cell foam for commercial building applications.
Spray Foam Roofing Survives Severe Hurricane Conditions
Although major hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Ike, Rita, and the most recent one that raged through Puerto Rico, Maria, leave unbelievable damage in their wakes, spray foam roofing is proving through each storm event that it can survive these unbelievable conditions.
That means spray foam roofing (also called spray polyurethane foam, or SPF), may be the best choice to protect your commercial building in the harsh weather of North Texas, too.
How Do Hurricane Conditions Affect Roofing?
Let’s look at a little background information on hurricanes that will help us understand just how strong and durable spray foam roofing really is.
Weatherproof Roofing — SPF and Elastomeric Coatings Are Ready for Anything
The weather in North Texas is a constant factor in our daily routines, affecting our business lives and budgets — weatherproof roofing can bring you peace of mind as a business owner.
The summer utility bills skyrocket every year, and constantly changing winter conditions can cause headaches for businesses, too.
Have you ever wondered if there aren’t better options for your commercial roof that would cut these costs — both utility costs and repair expenses?
The good news is that you can improve almost any roofing situation with either SPF (spray polyurethane foam) or an elastomeric coating (or a combination of both).
