Real catchy title for this post, isn't it. Well, catchy or not, the considerations here will make a difference in your energy bill, improve your wellbeing physically and mentally, and in due course, make your world healthy. Let's continue.
By this time, if you followed our advise, you have cut the drafts from the outside, and have insulated the attic. Before you leave the attic, don't forget to insulate the attic access. Also, make sure that there is no paper on the insulation next to heating ducts or chimneys. Heated paper can burst into flames after a period of being over heated.
If you have a basement, you need to insulate the basement ceiling and the basement walls. If you have a crawl space, that too needs to be insulated. Also, vapor barriers should be added. If you have windows in the basement, check them for air leaks and take the steps we mentioned in our earlier post for doors and windows.
Now if you haven't had a professional energy audit of your home, you need to have a professioal check out your furnace, cental heating, and A/C. You could do this yourself but we don't recommend this. You can go ahead and wrap all your ducts to reduce loss of heating or cooling. You should also wrap exposed water pipes.
On the exterior of your home, you should caulk around anything that "breaks through" your walls. This means windows, water pipes, and doors. Also, have a professional insulate around elecrical lines, central air/heating/air conditioning ducts. And, if you have a chimney, check out the bricks or stones to insure that cracks and loose material are repaired.
If any of your appliances need to be replaced, don't just grab the first thing that looks good. Study up on energy efficient appliances. Energy Star ratings are a good place to start. Also, that "special" at a very cheap price offered this weekend may be an energy guzzzler that the store is trying to get rid of. Don't continue to run old appliances if they are "on their last legs". You are just wasting energy and your money.
Won't everything we've talked about cost money? Yup, sure will. But, if you do what we have discussed (save for the appliances) yourself, the cost is for materials and your time. Sure, you may spend up to $1000 in materials, but saving a $100 each month in your power bill pays you back in less than a year and the rewards go on for many years.
Can you do this yourself? If your handy with your hands, absolutely. If your all thumbs, you can still do some things. Anyone can caulk. Anyone can replace light bulbs. And, most anyone can lay insulation in their attic. This is not rocket science. It's common sense. Get a home repair book at your local hardware store. Black and Decker, the tool company, published a great one. Buy a book, study it, determine what you can do, THEN DO IT! But don't get in over your head. Only do what you, yourself, can do. Hire a professional to do what you can't.
One last note. If you need a professional, check them out. Don't just hire the first one you find. See if your better business bureau has suggestions or your local hardware. Get someone that has an excellent reputation. Do your homework. You want a good job done at a reasonable price. If a high priced repair is suggested, get a second opinion by another reputable professional.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
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How To Reduce Your Energy Bills / Energy Conservation Begins at Home
Imagine leaving a window open all winter long -- the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.
These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in -- costing you higher heating bills.
Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.
But what can you do about the four largest “holes” in your home -- the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Attic Stairs
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.
Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.
Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door -- do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.
Whole House Fans and AC Returns
Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.
If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.
Fireplaces
Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.
Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.
A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.
Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.
Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts
In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.
If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, an attic access door, and is the U.S. distributor of the fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit www.batticdoor.com
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