Drop Ceiling vs Spray Foam installation / industrial space

[brandon]

Hey all, just curious if anyone has experience with a drop ceiling scenario vs a spray foam installation for AC and keeping a production area cooler during the summer. I know there are a lot of variables but curious of others experience with regards to both. Thanks!!!

[Admiral]

I think one big consideration is how much is the drop ceiling lowering the conditioned space? You will have some annoyances with it, like if you have to run Ethernet or redo air lines above.  The drop ceiling will be less money of course and if it's lowering how much space is conditioned considerably, that would be a great route to go for AC.  You may have to spend money on lighting as well.  At the same time, the drop ceiling may brighten up the space.  We just put drop ceiling in our back warehouse - to help lower noise from embroidery mainly, but with the new LED lights and all of the extra white to reflect light off of, the whole back warehouse brightened up a lot.

I can't help you money wise on it though, but maybe these things help.

[ebscreen]

As drop ceiling tiles age they break down and make an annoying dust that covers everything.
Especially in areas subject to machine rumblings. That's all I can add.

[blue moon]

we have drop ceilings and I like it. Most definitely lowers the volume of air that needs to be air conditioned. not sure how it would work with much larger volume.

our big problem is that the heat from the dryer is discoloring them. We got lucky and got few boxes of replacements for free so are not too worried about it. If I was building new, I'd probably install them upside down so you can switch when it's time to leave and not worry about the security deposit.

Dust has not been an issue for us, at least not at the level we notice. and the tiles are probably 20 years old if not 30.

I think drop ceiling also feels better, sort of classier, so that might be better for morale. Not a huge impact, but I'll take it.

and I think you are building new, so there will not be any moving of the airlines or lights.

pierre

[mk162]

If it were me, i'd do both.  And still probably silicone the roof.

Spray foam has it's advantages, it seals air leaks and bugs, it can also hide water leaks.  The drop ceiling will lower the cubic footage of space being conditioned, but it still gets hot up there. Foam and silicone will really cut that down.

We spray foamed our walkout basement when we finished it and saw zero increase in utilities even when increasing the house by 50%...we also notice fewer bugs.

Funny thing is we had the siding and windows redone a few years later and included a low-e wrap and our bills didn't change much at all.  We are about to add on to the house(about another 1500sq ft) and I want to take advantage of every bit of energy savings I can since it will pay for itself over the long haul.

[inkman996]

Half our building is drop ceiling, cover all the offices and embroidery spaces. We decided o have a company come in and insulate the drop ceiling with rolled insulation. It has helped with energy costs but I really regret it today. It is a nightmare to now get up there and run wires, fix things etc. But our biggest problem turned out to be a lack of proper ventilation a between the insulation and roof, about 9 feet. It would get so hot and humid up there it was causing issues, so we had to have better venting and a fan installed in the dead space.

[blue moon]

Half our building is drop ceiling, cover all the offices and embroidery spaces. We decided o have a company come in and insulate the drop ceiling with rolled insulation. It has helped with energy costs but I really regret it today. It is a nightmare to now get up there and run wires, fix things etc. But our biggest problem turned out to be a lack of proper ventilation a between the insulation and roof, about 9 feet. It would get so hot and humid up there it was causing issues, so we had to have better venting and a fan installed in the dead space.

ooops, forgot to mention, we do have the insulation on top of the ceiling tiles. roll up stuff. It's easy to move when we need to go up there, but it is itchy if you get it on you.

pierre

[mk162]

Half our building is drop ceiling, cover all the offices and embroidery spaces. We decided o have a company come in and insulate the drop ceiling with rolled insulation. It has helped with energy costs but I really regret it today. It is a nightmare to now get up there and run wires, fix things etc. But our biggest problem turned out to be a lack of proper ventilation a between the insulation and roof, about 9 feet. It would get so hot and humid up there it was causing issues, so we had to have better venting and a fan installed in the dead space.

ooops, forgot to mention, we do have the insulation on top of the ceiling tiles. roll up stuff. It's easy to move when we need to go up there, but it is itchy if you get it on you.

pierre

We have that too in the embroidery room.  Spray foam and a silicone roof will prevent a lot of that heat from getting in in the first place.

[freedomexpressions]

Great article,
 We are in the process of building a new building, and putting in 10' drop ceiling in the print shop area. It is insulated r38 at 14' so we will have 4' space between.