Is it Worth it?

[James-W]

I was in a Menards store today with a buddy, he needed to pick up some materials for a project he is working on. While we were there we happened to walk past some 2 inch Styrofoam insulation. (We don't need any, we just happened to be walking past it.) They had two types, the white stuff which is R-8 and the pink stuff which is R-10. The white stuff was $11 per 4X8 sheet. The pink stuff was $22 per 4X8 sheet. I was wondering if it actually pays to spend twice the money to get the additional R-2 value? I imagine if you lived in the place long enough you would eventually recoup the extra cost, but I have to think it would take an awful long time to gain back the extra cost. Would it be best to bite the bullet and go with the higher R value, or would it make better economic sense to go with the white stuff since the difference is only R-2?

 

[Highbeam]

It is not worth it for R-2. There are so many better ways to make up the "loss" of R-2 elsewhere in the structure if you really think you need to.

 

[Coss71]

Agreed; I have the white stuff on my garage door and it does make a lot of difference. Best money you can spend is on weather stripping and door seals.

 

[James-W]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the advice. Like I said, neither of us need any at the moment but it is good to know how others view it.

 

[volleyball]

They aren't the same type of foam most likely, at least from what I can see. If the spot can use the cheaper foam, then that would be the most economical.

 

[James-W]

The white Styrofoam appears to be just regular Styrofoam like is used for packing except it comes in 4X8 sheets. The pink stuff seems to be heavier duty stuff and feels like it would be stronger. But they are both used for insulation and the white kind is R-8 while the pink stuff is R-10.

Seeing the stuff made me start wondering if it I were to finish off the basement would it pay for me to fork out double the price and buy the pink Styrofoam or would it be more economical to just buy the white kind. The pink Styrofoam is twice as expensive and the insulation value is only R-2 better than the white type. I understand that over time the extra R-2 value would mean less heat loss, but the big question is, would the extra R-2 value make it worth the extra money?

The question is just for informational purposes, I don't plan on finishing off any basements anytime soon. Seeing the Styrofoam insulation sheets just got my curiosity up and I wondered what other people thought about it. There are a lot of members here that have first-hand knowledge of things of this nature and I wondered what their experience has been.

 

[48RON54]

I would install whichever one would make my wife complain less about how hot/cold it is on any given day, regardless of price

 

[pseudorealityx]

It's basically $11 difference per 4x8 sheet you need. How many sheets would you need to complete your project?

If you needed 1 sheet, then you only have to save $11 over the life of the structure for it to be worth the pink stuff. If you need 100 sheets, you need to save $1100 over the life of the structure to make the pink stuff pay off.

In southern california, it will probably never make sense. In the upper midwest or in the mountains, it probably will if you're gonna be there a long time.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I believe the white stuff, expanded polystyrene will degrade with exposure to UV light. It has a lessor PSI rating than the pink extruded polystyrene. They both have their place, it just depends on what you are using it for.

I've used the white under the wall sheathing of my garage. It's covered, cheaper and it'll work for what I need it for. If you were insulating the foundation of your home or placing it under a concrete pour for the garage floor, you'd want the pink.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I'm not sure but I believe that there is a difference in moisture absorption. As in the white is open cell and the pink is closed cell.

Richard

 

[Highbeam]

No difference in moisture absorption. We use the stuff underground.

The psi rating is variable. I bought the white stuff with teh same 25 psi rating as the pink stuff. I wonder if the R-value is the same if you match density.

You can buy the white stuff (It's called EPS for Expanded Poly Styrene vs. teh pink stuff which is XPS for Extruded Poly Styrene)with various plastic coatings like white vinyl or aluminum.

Here's my load.