energy efficiency: Metal HVAC Ducts Are Famously Leaky
- 01/26/17 03:44 AM
Metal HVAC ducts are famously leaky.
Metal HVAC ducts leak air. Metal HVAC ducts leak energy. Metal HVAC ducts leak money!
One example is shown in the photo to the right.
This is a duct in a house built in 1979. The seams in the photo have been leaking for all that time.
You can see the stains where air has blown out over the years.
This is one of perhaps a few hundred places where the duct work is leaking - at seams and joints, where the ducts meet the floor registers, and inside walls.
Think of the energy loss over time! Can you say "Money, … (32 comments)
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energy efficiency: Caulking Is The Cheapest Form Of Energy Savings, And Very Efficient.
- 12/22/16 04:31 AM
Caulking is the cheapest form of energy savings, and very efficient.
Caulking is not permanent. Examining the caulking around your house should be something you do at least annually, if not semi annually.
Look at two photos from a bay window on the front of a house.
Gaps existed all around the window where it attached to the house, and all around the framing underneath.
These gaps allow air to move freely.
Even if the insulation inside the cavity under the window is well done, that air will influence the house.
So, is the air moving around inside the box and influencing the house?
Mighty Mo is definitive … (12 comments)
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energy efficiency: As Much As Thirty Percent Of Energy Loss Happens Here
- 12/12/16 04:07 AM
As much as thirty percent of energy loss happens here.
Remember, heat seeks cold. Heat looks for cold! Heat then moves toward cold!
In a finished house, assuming everything is in place (including insulation) the energy loss (meaning thermal movement - heat toward cold) breaks down more or less like this:
> 30% of loss happens through the attic ceiling.
> 30% of loss happens through walls.
>30% of loss happens through windows and doors.
>10% of loss happens through exterior wall or uninsulated ceiling penetrations like switches, receptacles and lights.
Obviously those percentages change if walls or ceilings are not adequately insulated, or there are really lousy … (34 comments)
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energy efficiency: Why This Is Not A Place For Poly Foam Sealant
- 11/11/16 05:56 PM
Why this is not a place for poly foam sealant.
Poly foam is an open-cell foam material that comes with various end results - very expansive to minimally expansive. It's used for weatherization, to seal gaps around windows, doors, siding members, various holes or gaps, vents, and even plumbing, electrical junction boxes, and the like. Poly foam is used anywhere air leakage might result. Very good energy efficiency can be achieved cheaply and easily. Some foams are made for fire blocking applications.
The cans look a lot like shaving cream cans, and come with straws to ease installation. These "canned" foams are ideal … (8 comments)
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energy efficiency: "Air Blows In The Hall, But The Door Is Tight." Door Weatherstripping
- 03/10/15 05:04 PM
I've heard this phone call before - "Air blows in the hall, but the door is tight." Door weatherstripping is something that gets looser over time, and can admit air.
The weatherstripping is an important part of the energy efficiency of any door. And window!
The door itself is insulated metal, or insulated vinyl, or even wood, which is a good insulator. And any surrounding windows will be double pane and be pretty efficient.
But the weak spot is the weatherstripping.
This is a thermal image of the bottom of the front door.
It is very interesting because the warmest temperature … (17 comments)
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energy efficiency: Is Your Builder An Energy Smart Builder? This One Is...
- 10/23/12 07:00 PM
One of the things that attracted this couple to this builder in this neighborhood and buying this style home was that this builder participates in "green" construction techniques and this couple would be helping this planet.
Well, is your builder an Energy Smart Builder? This one is...
Click the link to see if your builder is Energy Smart!
And, if the builder is Energy Smart, what are the benefits? Click here to check your state!
Now hold on. Personally I am a cynical soul and don't believe everything I hear. It pays to check things out. It especially pays to check … (25 comments)
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energy efficiency: Cobwebs
- 10/04/11 10:12 PM
What are cobwebs? And why do they appear in houses? What does a multiplicity of cobwebs mean?
As regards cobwebs, the word cob has nothing to do with corn! It probably originated with an Old English word - "COPPE," which meant spider. So the word "cobweb" might just be a sloppy way of saying coppweb.
Cobwebs look like hanging clumps of silky spider web material. That's what they are! They are what is left after a spider abandons a web. It may be that the spider sabotages a couple of the structural, hanging points of the web so no other interloper … (37 comments)
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energy efficiency: "We Just Bought An Efficient New Heat Pump And The House Still Isn't Comfortable"
- 04/02/11 12:04 AM
At least that's what I heard over the phone. I thought this might be a job for Mighty Mo.
I named my thermal camera "Mighty Mo."
Being a life-long Washington DC guy, as a child we used to go out to the Hot Shoppe's Drive In. That was the Marriott family's first business venture in town.
It was a drive up restaurant, where you would order from a menu with a microphone, and get served by girls on roller skates, and eat in the car.
Their two signature offerings were A&W Root Beer (standing for Alice and Willard) and the Mighty … (48 comments)
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energy efficiency: A Tale Of Two Furnaces - Great Expectations
- 02/09/11 10:04 PM
It was the best of furnaces. It was the worst of furnaces.
Now, if I was to truly wax Dickens, this would be a REALLY wordy post (Dickens was paid by the word).
When one is buying new, and buying a $1.5 mil house NEW, one has great expectations. My clients carefully poured over the sales literature of many builders to see what they were getting for their money. Then they selected a builder, and for two reasons - house design and stuff. When the ad says, "Starting in the mid $700's," it means, "You get the normal, builder grade everything, … (86 comments)
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energy efficiency: A Lesson On Windows - This Is Instructive!
- 06/25/10 11:45 PM
Here is everything you need to know about efficient windows. When you buy a new house, or replace your windows, you want to know about two things -
1. Do they have high, moderate or low solar gain, and,
2. What is the U-factor? From this you can calculate the U-value.
New, efficient windows are designed for different climates. In a cold climate you probably would want high solar gain. In hot and sunny places, obviously, low solar gain would be preferable. High solar gain transmits about 71% of solar heat to the interior, yet protect heat from escaping the house. … (19 comments)
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energy efficiency: A Tale Of Two Doors
- 01/09/10 11:24 PM
I had the recent pleasure of inspecting a 100+ year old house in Manassas, Virginia. I love historic properties!
Sometimes on old houses the people want to retain the original historicity and keep original stuff.
Like these front doors. This particular house had two gorgeous side-by-side wooden doors. But they are not very efficient. And the people know this. They use the front door as little as possible. Why? Because on the inside they are covered with very thick, insulating, sliding drapes. And one door has a "draft dodger" at the bottom. In my day draft dodger meant something different! But … (9 comments)
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Metal HVAC ducts are famously leaky.
;)
;)
;)
