Insulated siding is accepted as home insulation in various energy efficiency programs including the checklist of building products or methodologies that can help meet the requirements to qualify under energy star qualified homes v 3.
House has vynil siding and is not energy efficebnt.
You have to take into account things like maintenance durability and insulation to determine which siding will truly offer the best energy performance.
Contoured insulation that is permanently adhered to vinyl siding.
Get energy star qualified with insulated vinyl siding.
In fact that is code in many areas.
Specifically here s how the different types stack up.
Here s a breakdown of some of the energy efficient replacement siding options.
Insulated vinyl siding vinyl backed with foam insulation bonded permanently to the siding panels carries an r value from 2 to 5.
The truth is no standard siding material offers very good efficiency.
Traditional vinyl siding has an r value of about 0 61 nearly five times as efficient.
But insulated vinyl siding has one unique feature.
According to the irs instructions for form 5695 residential energy credits the nonbusiness energy property credit is available for any insulation material or system that is specifically and primarily designed to reduce the heat loss or gain of your home however a component is not specifically and primarily designed to reduce the heat loss or gain of your home if it provides structural.
The energy efficiency for building materials is known as r value.
The higher the r value the more efficient the building material is.
In many cases insulated aluminum steel and vinyl siding.
This has been around much longer than vinyl.
Wood siding has a rugged classic look that s desirable for many homeowners but it is recyclable.
As we stated before the energy efficiency of standard siding materials is poor at best.
The reasons for its popularity include its efficiency as a plastic based product resistance to fire and long durability.
For instance while a brick veneer will only get you an r value of around 0 11 vinyl siding typically has a measurement of 0 61.
However if you combine metal siding options such as aluminum steel and vinyl with insulating foam you can greatly increase the overall energy efficiency of your home.
The manufacturing process of vinyl siding has also proved to release fewer toxic chemicals and emit fewer dioxins into the atmosphere and environment than other exterior cladding materials.
Similar to blown in insulation insulated vinyl siding provides r value for improved energy efficiency.
That said however definite differences exist among the various types of cladding.
And just like flat insulating sheathings and fanfolds insulated siding also levels the wall for a better looking siding job.
And you ll notice we just used the word traditional there are better options.
Unlike wood siding for example vinyl requires less fuel to transport produces fewer factory emissions during production and is entirely lead free.