Sunday, January 20th, 2008...2:22 pm
A DIY Energy Audit?
I was just reading an article in a recent Wall Street Journal about energy audits which came out of one of the paper’s reporters having paid to have a professional energy auditor, well, audit her home. Her article explained how these energy audits work and what they’re supposed to uncover–energy leaks in your home that, when fixed, should cut down on your energy bills.
One thing that the article mentioned was that you have to pay for an energy audit and big bucks, too–up to $700. I realize that I should have figured this out, but for some reason I always assumed that energy audits were something that your energy company did for you for free to help you save money. But when you think about it, why would they?
My energy company has a vested interest in making sure that I pay the most for my electricity. Why would PECO want me to pay less for my energy? Also, the reporter pointed out that many professionals who market themselves as energy auditors actual sell the so-called energy-saving devices and services that they’ll eventually recommend to fix your energy leaks. Hmm, isn’t that a little like the fox doing a security audit of the chicken coop and then suggesting that the chickens need a security detail of foxes each night?
If you do enough common-sense thinking about energy leaks in your home and a little bit of research, I’m guessing that you can do your own energy audit for free. And come up with solutions that work for your home and your budget.
Let’s start with draft windows and doors. Stores sell kits of plastic film that you can install over your windows to create a barrier against the drafts. These are great, if you don’t intend to open your windows ever. I’m a bit claustrophobic so the idea of sealing myself in my house with these plastic kits makes me want to ring up a therapist. However, I know that using tight-fitting window treatments can have a similar effect, and I can throw them open in the morning to let the sun shine in–a great free way to warm your home. But seriously, if you’ve got an old house with old drafty windows and you can’t afford to replace your windows (read: big bucks), these film kits available at home improvement stores are probably a good idea.
With regard to drafty doors, there is weatherstripping that you can stick around the door’s frame so that when it shuts, it shuts tightly. Sometimes those nasty drafts come from underneath and you can easily put a draft stopper there. You can make one of these if you’re the crafty type (it looks like a long fabric snake) or pick one up at a craft fair or home store.
If you’ve got an attic, there is a simple visual test that you can do to determine if you need more attic insulation: when you’re up in the attic and you look at the floor (assuming the floor isn’t completely covered and you can see the joists), does the insulation come up to the top of the floor? If the pink stuff sinks below the wood, then you need more insulation.
What bums me out is that I could have used this advice on my own home before December 31, 2007. That was the government’s deadline for receiving tax credits on energy-saving changes you make to your home. I wonder if the government will come up with a way to offer similar savings in 2008 and beyond, especially now that oil has hit the $100 a barrel mark?
Probably the easiest way to to keep your energy costs low is to remember these two tips: keep your thermostat at 68 degrees instead of a balmy 72 degrees. And if you’re cold, put on a sweater or a pair of socks or wrap yourself in a blanket instead of turning up the heat. We have blankets and throws in our living rooms and family room, and this way, no one is ever left shivering.
What are some creative ways that you keep your energy costs low in your home?
How To Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter / 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 http://www.batticdoor.com
Wow, Mark, thanks for that detailed information!
PGE, our local energy company, has an on-line, do it yourself type of audit. It takes you through a series of questions including the type of windows you have, age of appliance etc. The report is actually linked to your own account, so it can then it create a report to let you know what upgrades make economical sense.
It is possible that the gas/electric companies of some of your other readers have this available also. If they have it available it would be on the company’s web site.
I just checked to see if my electricity company offered anything similar, and the only thing they had was a link to a government website that let’s you do an online version of an energy audit. If you’re interested, you can check it out here: http://hes.lbl.gov/
We made the investment in new windows — replaced about half the windows in our home — and it’s been well worth it. On top of the energy savings, it’s safer. The old (original, 1890s!) windows were hard to open and close, and our kids were at risk of getting hands caught in them.