ENERGY CONSERVATION

ENERGY CONSERVATION
IT’S MORE THAN SAVING MONEY

In recent years we have begun to see a house as a series of systems that are all interrelated. Change one system, and it effects all the others. A modern approach to construction and a full course of study called “building science” is now being incorporated into new houses. These methods can also be retrofitted into existing homes to help make them more energy efficient and healthy. The “sick house syndrome” is very real and probably effects more people (especially children) than we are aware of. This alone is reason enough to look into “balancing” our homes systems.
Add to this the rising cost of fuel, and the feeling that with all the money spent on conditioning (heating or cooling) the air, you may still be uncomfortable in certain areas of the house, and it becomes clear that changes need to be made.

We will focus our discussion on the heating season since we spend about five times the energy to heat our homes in the Northeast as we do to cool them in the summer. Although the same principals do apply so these measures will also save on cooling costs.
We’ve all heard that a house has to “breathe”. Unfortunately our houses tend to “wheeze”. We allow our conditioned air to leave the house, replacing it with “outside” air that we now have to recondition. It’s a 24/7 battle that most of us are losing! The good news is that with a little education we can take control and not only save some money, but live in a healthier environment!

I promise we will keep the physics to a minimum, but there are some laws that will greatly enhance your understanding of this thing called a house.
The first one that I missed (slept through) in high school is extremely important. When I read it again recently it opened my eyes to a lot of the problems in the majority of homes that I inspect and in my own house.
HEAT RISES is common knowledge but not totally accurate.
HOT AIR RISES IN RELATION TO COOLER AIR.
HEAT MOVES TOWARDS COLD!!! IN ANY DIRECTION!!!
Into the basement, into the crawlspace, into the garage, into the walls, and eventually outside. The biggest heat loss combines these two principals (heat rising around cool air and moving towards cold) and sends a tremendous amount of your heat into the attic! This is called the “stack effect” and is constantly moving air through the house and to the outside.

As the heated air leaves the building, a drop in pressure occurs and outside air is drawn into the house to balance the pressure (more physics, sorry). Where does this “fresh” air come from? The easiest path! The garage (with the car, gas, paints, exhaust fumes, etc.), the damp musty crawlspace, with who knows what critters running through it, and the basement, with that smell that lets you know you’re in a basement (called mold). And worst of all it can be pulled back down your heating systems exhaust pipes when they’re running. That can bring carbon monoxide into the house and can be a major air quality concern!

Not to worry! It can be stopped or at least slowed way down! That’s why we’re here. Controlling the natural airflow through the house is a large part of “building science”. Remember, no matter how much insulation you see on the attic floor or basement ceiling (if any) , unless the air pathways have been sealed first, the heat from the house still escapes. These paths can be as small as a ¼” hole drilled through the floor to run a wire into another room or as large as your chimney that hasn’t been properly sealed where it passes through the floor. If you can control the air flow into the attic, the need for outside makeup air will decrease dramatically. Don’t you feel smart! You should. You now know more than a lot of builders do about air flow and heat loss. Unfortunately this probably includes the one that built your house.

Because every house and it’s occupants are different, each will require it’s own program to effectively deal with these conditions.
My initial evaluation consists of a visual walkthrough to further discuss this program focusing on your particular house and situation.
An infrared scan (heat sensing photography) will be performed to show you some large heat loss paths.
More educational information about the overall “Energy Smart” program (appliances, lighting, etc.) will be discussed.
Guidance can be provided as to “what do I do now?”.

This is an important program that will have many long and short term benefits. LET’S GET STARTED!
JPG HOME EVALUATION SERVICES
jpginspect@yahoo.com
845-228-5767

BUILDING SCIENCE BASICS

BUILDING SCIENCE BASICS

We can break the shell of a house into three basic components called boundarys.
The outermost envelope is the water boundary. The roof, siding, foundation, and slab floor form a complete circle around the house and are designed to keep water out. It’s can be fairly easy to see if it fails as you’ll have a roof leak, water in the basement, etc.

Next is the thermal boundary or envelope. It defines the areas of the house that you are going to condition (heat in winter, cool in summer). It is usually not the same line around the house as the water boundary as it will not include the garage, crawlspaces, attics, and unfinished basements. If the area is not heated it is outside the thermal envelope (just like your back yard). Defining this line around your house and making sure it is continuous is extremely important to keeping your conditioned air in the house. Unless your house is new and built to “Energy Star” specifications, you have many breaks in your thermal barrier. WHY! Because nobody really cared about it or understood how a lot of small holes can equal one very large hole. Thirty to fifty percent of your heat can be going into areas that you don’t live in. That’s a lot of money to keep the mice comfortable!

The last barrier is the one that has changed the way we look at houses in the last few years. It is the air barrier (also called the pressure boundry). It’s the innermost surface of the house. It includes all of the walls, ceilings ,and floors that are within the thermal boundary. It should be in total contact with the thermal boundary (insulation) and free of any holes to the outside. This is the hardest concept to visualize, but once you see it (I’ll show you), you’ll be on your way to making your house a lot more efficient and healthy.

The obvious holes to the outside are doors and windows. You probably like to keep them closed during the heating and cooling seasons. But the amount of small holes underneath your attic insulation can add up to an open window! The insulation does not stop airflow (even if it was installed correctly) so heat is constantly leaving your house via the attic. HOW?
Your attic hatch or pull down stairs are usually made of thin plywood that allows a tremendous amount of heat to leave the house. In the summer when your attic is too hot to go into, that heat follows the same paths into the living space and now you have to cool it. Remember - the attic in most houses is outside the thermal boundary - just like your back yard.
All of your interior partition walls allow heat to enter inside them (they are not insulated) and into the attic either through holes cut for wires or the top of the wallboard itself.
If you remove the insulation you will see holes everywhere. Around pipes, chimneys, heat ducts - the list is long. That’s just the way houses are generally built.

Now to add insult to injury, with all of this air leaving the house, fresh air has to be brought in to replace it. From where? You guessed it - Outside! Through openings in your thermal and air barriers in the lower portions of the house. Not only are you losing heat through the attic but you’re bringing outside air in that you now have to condition. Some ventilation is absolutely necessary and we don’t want our houses to be too tight, but a happy medium can be reached between comfort, economy, and health. That’s what Building Science is about!

WHAT DO I DO ABOUT IT?
Generally if you air seal the attic then insulate, you will significantly slow down the air movement and save on heating costs. With some well placed insulation and air sealing in the lower areas of the house you can keep more of the heat that you’re paying for. But have your house evaluated first. Remember - any changes made to the airflow of the house can cause combustion appliances to back draft and allow exhaust fumes into the house. An energy audit by a certified energy star contractor is a must. It will cover how much leakage you have, where the leakage is, how much will it cost to fix, and what the payback on the investment will be. It will also measure appliance exhaust leakage and other safety issues. There are also government programs in place to help pay for the repairs or lower the interest rate for any loans used to do the repairs.
My role in this is to do a less intensive (and less expensive) evaluation with a focus on helping you understand the workings of your house. I want to make sure that you’re “in the loop”. As of now I can recommend people to do the actual audit, but I haven’t purchased the equipment yet.
I really believe this program will benefit you in many ways! Give me a call and we can discuss it further. Thanks! John Polgreen 845-228-5767
JPG Home Evaluation Services

HEAT LOSS WE CAN SEE

WHAT IS THERMOGRAPHY?

Simply stated, everything radiates heat. Photographing this heat is thermography. Of particular interest to us is where our houses are radiating heat. You’ll be surprised how much is leaving without warming you up first.

On the side of the house you can see the warm

walls (light color) under the window and below

the electric meter. Both areas had insulation

removed and not replaced after work was done.

This is a tremendous amount of heat leaving

the attic. Unfortunately it’s very typical and

costing you a lot of money!

The reverse happens in the summer

as hot air radiates through an attic hatch

and now you have to cool it.

Thermal images can pinpoint the largest amounts of heat loss

and make repairs quicker and less costly. This improperly

installed insulation was not visible from the attic due to storage

and is allowing a good amount of heat to leave the house.

Thermal imaging is extremely useful to quickly determine areas of large heat loss and gain, but to fully understand how much this is costing you, how much it will cost to repair, and how it effects your indoor air quality, you will need to have a full energy audit performed.

ENERGY AUDITS are a comprehensive evaluation of your home to help determine how much air is moving through the house to the outside (taking conditioned -heated or cooled- air out) and forcing outside unconditioned air into the house to replace it.

This airflow is extremely important as the house does have to ventilate in order to remove indoor pollution (we do have to breath after all) so we don’t want the house too tight. An important part of the audit is to determine where the replacement air is coming from. We need to control the airflow so we don’t bring more polluted air into the house. The garage, unheated basement, crawlspace, and our heating appliance fluepipe can bring air into the house that is deadly. THAT’S A BIG PART OF AN ENERGY AUDIT! It’s great to save money and help save the planet by reducing fuel consumption, but it’s also about the health of you and your family.