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Your House is a Home… and your home is a System

By Donald Hester

Home Inspector with NCW Home Inspections, LLC

December 10, 2011 05:36 AM

One thing as a Chelan Home Inspector I realize is that as we create homes that are more energy efficient we need a understanding that the home is a complex arrangement of various independent components and you the occupant to create a system. The operation and/or failure of one of the components can affect many other components and you.

When the systems all work together they create a home that is comfortable, efficient, safe and durable. You can take advantage of energy savings and avoid creating health and safety issues.

Yet the home may experience problems when its systems do not work together properly or systems are not used as designed. The problems can be very obvious such as condensation on windows and mold. Other issues may be invisible such as condensation in wall cavities where rot and mold can go unnoticed. Certain problems could appear immediately and others can be several years in the future.

Building and component failures can be symptoms of failures in the house as a system. Contractors and home owners will need to understand the underlying problem(s) and not just replace the obvious rotted wood or moldy sheet-rock.

Understanding the climate that your home will occupy and building the home for that climate is an important fundamental criterion.

Understanding and controlling the flow of air, heat and moisture is critical in the durability of the home. Home as systems, in effect, are less durability because as we seal the home up the potential for trapping moisture and pollutants increases.

So ensuring that the systems are functioning properly, are designed correctly and we use the systems as designed becomes more important.

For more information on the home and it various components-

House as a System
House as a system or not

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

Steve Jobs

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

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Charles Buell

Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA

Seattle Home Inspector

Don, good post. The days when people can simply live in their house with NO information are long gone. Now everyone must understand how these systems work, and most people don't know they are even supposed to care. That can get pretty hard on a house.

Dec 10, 2011 05:51 AM

Vince Chinell

VICO Home Inspection - Branson, MO

CPI

Don, Good job in helping others understand the true complexity of a house. Most don't think of the house as a system until only fairly recently. It explains so much about how the whole house system works as a unit. It helps identify problems and ensures true solutions and how they need to be addressed.

Dec 10, 2011 06:02 AM

Donald Hester

NCW Home Inspections, LLC - Wenatchee, WA

NCW Home Inspections, LLC

Charlie, Thanks, We are quickly moving into a time where we need to be more informed on the home as a whole. IT not much different from the days of the muscle car to the modern cars. Them old cars could take a lot of abuse and function. Todays cars rely on all systems functioning within specific parameters.

Vince, Thank you. I think as home inspectors the days of serviceable/not serviceable need to go and we need to help home owners understand their homes so they can better protect their investment and quit kicking the can down the road.

Dec 10, 2011 06:15 AM

Jay Markanich

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA

Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Things work together. One thing I learned when studying economics is that one thing affects another! That's why putting ethanol in cars can cause pizza prices to rise when there is no corn in or on pizza! People don't get that.

One interesting dilemma we have today is tightening houses so much to make them efficient, yet needing to introduce fresh air to make them healthy! I wonder if we weren't healthier in my grandmother's house with the leaky windows!

Dec 10, 2011 09:26 PM

Jay, You make a very important point on fresh air. Them older drafty homes may have better indoor air quality. But this is usually due to homeowners not using the ventilation as they should.

Many times contractor really do not try to design a home to be efficient when it comes to air exchanges. The just do what the prescriptive requirements are and not really thinking about the home as a whole system.

Dec 11, 2011 02:02 AM

James Quarello

JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC - Wallingford, CT

Connecticut Home Inspector

I think the house as a system concept is just begining to be understood by the public and building trades alike. There are all types of causes and effects, some direct, some not, that happen with a home.

Dec 15, 2011 07:15 AM

Jim, I think many of us who are evaluating homes as whole systems may be on the true front line of this area of building science. So many times the improper functionality or improper use will lead to some other indication in the home. Mostly to due with water.

Dec 16, 2011 01:28 AM

Your House is a Home… and your home is a System

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