Lets talk about the thing that we get to see alot of in the northeast. Ice dams are where an improperly sealed and insulate part of a home on an incline is heating too much space above it and slowly the water drips down the roof of the house til it meets the end of it. There an unheated portion of the roof is solid ice and builds a dam. Now this dam can be best eliminated by taking time to properly seal up the attic space and then in turn insulating the attic space, or wall space more. How much more? Well, I know that in my area of the northeast USA I would not be happy without adleast R-50 in my attic space. If you are having problems with ice dams, air seal first, insulate second, and then if none of that works finally call to have the wires or the flashing installed on the roof.

Today I was in a three story home in Cambridge MA. The homeowner was a nice gentleman that was most interested in following the bottom line. He wanted a direct account of how many BTU's he can save with the upgrades. Part of the reason that most auditors can only guess at the number of BTU's that you will save is because of the homeowners lifestyle. If suddenly by reinsulating your home you stop keeping the heat at 68 and knock it down to 64, then there is a significant change in the ammount of BTU's that you will use. Sometimes people will do this after they see their first energy bill post work done. They see the change and go, "I was spending that much?" Ideas and thoughts along those lines are what can change our lifestyle faster than any politician or idealist can. The bottom line is the best way to target people.



PS. I always knew that glasses were cool....

PSS. (yes I know it's the reflection of the IR waves and the spectrum not heating the glass up directly)

-WW

Mass Residents

So in Massachusetts right now people that heat with things other than wood can qualify for a 2000$ rebate right now from the state or the electric companies. Good time to get this done as the last day that you can get this is the 31st of December. Remember the ROI on air sealing is incredibly fast and most insulation is in the 3-5 year time frame, not including the rebate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A note on windows that has come up quite frequently. If your paint is chipping and peeling around the windows then you should consider resealing them with painters caulking or a clear silicon caulking. It's an easy process and a do-it-yourselfer can accomplish this in an afternoon.

BTW I do like working for do-it-yourselfers, they see the work that we are doing and realize that the skill set is easy but the training to see where to insulate/air seal is the whole thing. When NRG (energy) auditing a home for a DIY I do enjoy pointing out the things that they can do that I would normally add to an estimate for my own company. I like seeing the click/light bulb go off in their brain and them realizing that some of the work can be subcontracted to them. It saves them money and it saves us time. Got my first blog follower, thanks dad.

Yesterday I was in an energy star rated apartment building. They had taken great care to two-part the basement rafters. They had sealed up all the windows painted everything and worked really hard to put in all energy efficient appliances. Low and behold we walk into the basement and there are more energy efficient systems, ie boiler, hot water heater and all new electrical wiring.

And after all that work they dropped the ball on the most easily recognizable way to save money/energy in a home.

They did not insulate the hot water pipes. :/

Everyone, if your going to make your home more energy efficient, start with the hot water pipes. Insulate them, if you show a fifteen year old kid how to do it he can do the work. Jimmy from down the street will be happy to make 12 bucks moving the ladder around in the basement just to put that stuff on the pipes. It's relatively inexpensive and it has a payback faster than just about anything else that can be done. Ok no more rant for now..... maybe.

Adventures in the life of a weatherization worker.

This blog is going to not be too exciting it will be for the most part just general oddities that I encounter through energy auditing and weatherization/insulation upgrades. Pictures as they are available is the hope.

One thing that I have noticed as of late is that 1 out of every 4 homes has a stud bay with no insulation. Laziness or something more sinister?