When comparing products prior to specifying or purchasing a sectional door it can be confusing when faced with all the different choices. There are many different styles and designs available. One of the common choices that the consumer is faced with is the material used to insulate the door sections.

It is only natural for a manufacturer to promote their product materials and design. For this reason we would like to present some facts that sometimes get overlooked.

With today’s concerns over rising energy cost’s, your choice of a garage door becomes a major decision. For this reason Haas Door Company is proud to be a supplier of superior, high quality door sections. A Haas Garage door will provide the best performance for your dollar!

Insulating Materials

Two common insulation materials used in garage doors are polyurethane and polystyrene. Polyurethane and polystyrene both have some distinct advantages and some disadvantages. Both materials are commonly misrepresented and misunderstood.

Polyurethane Foam Construction

Polyurethane foams are used as insulation in garage door panels, roof insulation on commercial buildings, wall insulation in newer high efficiency homes, office chairs, refrigerators, freezers, walk in coolers, furniture and in automobiles for dashboards, armrest’s, suspension bushings and many other areas.

Polyurethane foam is a two-part system. It begins with two chemical blends that when mixed together expand and cure to fill the garage door panel. During the expansion, the foam flows and completely fills the inside of the panel and comes in complete contact with and becomes fully adhered to the steel skins of the garage door panel to form a composite structure that is of exceptional strength and rigidity.

Polyurethane foams are very stable when encapsulated (fully enclosed) inside a garage door section.

The polyurethane foam in a Haas garage door section is fully enclosed inside the steel skins and therefore protected from R-Value loss! This design puts the insulation properties of polyurethane foam way ahead of polystyrene foam for performance and value!

Polystyrene Foam Construction

Polystyrene foam board is used as insulation in garage door panels, houses, as vapor barriers, and most commonly as an inexpensive packing material.

Polystyrene foam board must be attached to or inserted into the door sections. The foam must be held in place by mechanical means or by bonding the foam to the door skins by using adhesives (glue).

Insulation Testing

The factors that effect the insulation properties of a garage door depend on the materials used, design of the sections and the air gaps (leaks) between the section joints and the doorjambs. Inch for inch polyurethane foams surpass polystyrene foams when it comes to insulation values.

The publication of R-Values is sometimes listed as the R-Values of the insulation only, sometimes referred to as “core value”. The insulation property of the installed door is the only true representation of the doors performance.

Thermal performance testing is performed using established test methods. Independent laboratories usually perform these tests. The test performed duplicates the normal installation conditions of a 10’-0” x 10’-0” Haas garage door.

The  10’-0” x 10’-0” doors were independently tested by Architectural Testing, Inc., York, PA. SEE CHART BELOW

Insulating with Polyurethane provides a superior product with higher insulation properties and a stronger unitized section.

Future Directions

We are continually working with suppliers to find ways to improve the performance and environmental friendliness of our products.

Some information available neglects to mention that polyurethane foam can and is being recycled. The polyurethane industry has developed recycling programs for polyurethane foams.

One successful implementation of foam recycling reclaims the polyurethane foam materials for use as molded refrigerator linings.

The automotive industry is developing programs to recycle the majority of all plastics (including foam) used in automobiles. A major chemical company is in the process of constructing a recycling facility for polyurethane foam materials that will be capable of recycling over 2 million pounds of urethane per year.

Haas Door Company is committed to providing the industry with quality products that are safe for our customers and to the environment.

When comparing doors ask to see the ANSI/NAGDM 105-1992 test results for installed doors. When you compare the insulation properties of installed doors you will see that Haas polyurethane foam filled products are far superior!

Haas Door Company · Wauseon, Ohio

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