I just got two estimates from spray foam insulating contracters for my three pressurized tanks. I was wondering how many inches of foam should I have sprayed on the steel vertical tanks. The quotes I received were for three inches all the way around. Three inches equals a R21,do I need more than that on top? The first quote was for $620.00,and the second quote was for $710.00.
HOW MUCH TANK INSULATION?
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Any way you can box in and use fiberglass + 2" foam sheet? Cost could be 1/2, plus you would have access if needed in future. 6" of fiberglass + 2" of foam is R29 or so.
I wrapped my 500 gallon LP tank with that bubble foil first then built a box with 3 layers of 2" rigid foam= 6".
I like the ability to get back at the tank connections as needed.
Previously I used that white vinyl covered fiberglass that you see in metal building construction. You can find plenty of scraps around new construction jobsites.
But the mice tend to attract to fiberglass, even with my fat, lazy cat sleeping on top of the tank! So I removed the fiberglass and went with the bubble wrap. Very easy to install on a round tank.
hr
I like the ability to get back at the tank connections as needed.
Previously I used that white vinyl covered fiberglass that you see in metal building construction. You can find plenty of scraps around new construction jobsites.
But the mice tend to attract to fiberglass, even with my fat, lazy cat sleeping on top of the tank! So I removed the fiberglass and went with the bubble wrap. Very easy to install on a round tank.
hr
I framed mine in with 2 x 6 construction, R19 fiberglass, and backfilled the whole tank with cellulose fill. This was three years ago and the cellulose has not absorbed any moisture, dry as a bone. I did some heat loss trials at 130 deg F, lost only 2 degrees per day with no flow.
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I just draped over about 7 inches of fiberglass batting, cost? about $10.00 on sale. The tank is always cool to the touch, Randy
I'm another believer in low cost fiberglass with a box. I think I'm roughly R40 after using 10-12 rolls of unfaced batts....
I draped some R-19 batts I had extra. I have not built the "box" around the tanks yet. The IR therometer read 68 on the basement walls, 70 on the insulation face at 160 on the steel tanks. R-19 is working pretty well I think. Just got back from a trip and the tanks went from 106 when we left to 100 4 days later.
Hi
I had my tanks spray foamed,asked for 4".Two 500 gal tanks cost $1500 to get sprayed.Spray foam is only as good as the guy running the gun!Very messy way of insulating things.If i was to do it again i would tape a bunch of pegs to the tanks cut to the lenght of the foam i wanted.Looking at mine there is really no way of knowing how much is actually covering the tanks.He never got the bottom so i might have to do something there,i will see how warm my boiler room gets.If it's too hot i will start insulating pipes and adding to the tanks.
I got the tanks for free so i thought i would spluge on the insulation.The next pair of tanks may just get batts of insulation,that woulnt be for a few years.
Happy New Year
Thomas
I had my tanks spray foamed,asked for 4".Two 500 gal tanks cost $1500 to get sprayed.Spray foam is only as good as the guy running the gun!Very messy way of insulating things.If i was to do it again i would tape a bunch of pegs to the tanks cut to the lenght of the foam i wanted.Looking at mine there is really no way of knowing how much is actually covering the tanks.He never got the bottom so i might have to do something there,i will see how warm my boiler room gets.If it's too hot i will start insulating pipes and adding to the tanks.
I got the tanks for free so i thought i would spluge on the insulation.The next pair of tanks may just get batts of insulation,that woulnt be for a few years.
Happy New Year
Thomas
Thanks for all the imput. I believe my tanks will serve many years of service and I dont want to skimp on the insulation. I think I can make the foam look more cosmetically appealing and $620.00 does not seam that bad of a price to me. In the event of a problem around one of the fittings the insulation could be redone after fixing with a can of Great Stuff. If I went with 4 inches instead of 3 inches it would cost about $800.00. One more option would be to wrap the tanks with a layer of fiberglass and then spray one inch over the top of the fiberglass to seal all gaps?
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