How Your Home Breathes & Why You Want to Stop this Air Flow
|
We're very aware of our own breathing. Did you realize your home also breathes, bringing in fresh air with the oxygen we need? Equally critical is the air that leaves our homes as it is full of moisture we give off and chemicals from building materials and the furnishings we bring into our homes.
 Looking around your home, you might wonder how this air enters and leaves your home? There aren't any ducts for air exchange in your basement or the main part of your home. Only the attic has vents specifically meant to exchange air. This is critical to remove warm, moist air that rises to the attic that might otherwise support the growth of mold.
Air enters and leaves your home between/through the materials your house is built with. There are thousands of cracks and gaps where materials meet, i.e. where siding meets windows and doors, where the wood frame of the house sits on the foundation, etc. Air circulates within your home through heating/cooling systems and the natural movement of warm air rising because it is lighter than cool air.
There are 2 basic strategies you can use to control the air flow in your home:
- You can have your home's energy efficiency analyzed and systematically implement recommended changes from top to bottom.
- You can learn to recognize when your home becomes uncomfortable (warm or cool), and implement common solutions to make your home more comfortable.
Whether you choose one approach or a combination of the 2, you will be making your home more energy efficient, increasing your home's value for resale and increasing the comfort of your family. An older house will benefit from a thorough review, and costly improvements like wall insulation or replacing all your windows deserve more analysis. Some problems also require creativity, i.e. if your home is constructed with 2 x 4 wall studs, we often recommend building a second wall to provide enough depth to bring insulation up to current building codes.
Making Your Home More Comfortable
Making your home more comfortable starts with recognizing there's a problem. How often do you turn the heat (air conditioning too) up or put on a sweater? Now you should add another step to this action:
- Look at where you were standing or sitting when you decided you weren't comfortable.
- Stand in the center of the room and see if you're comfortable there? When doing energy reviews, we often see a difference of 20 degrees/more between the center of the room and outside walls.
- Walk to the place where you first felt uncomfortable. Try to see where the cold (warm) air is coming from, an exterior wall - the window, next to the window, an outlet and sometimes it might be from the floor or a ceiling fixture.
- Recommend logging each of these "comfort" problems. You're likely to see patterns over time, which will help in finding the best solution. Use this home energy checklist or create your own to capture:
- Problem & temporary solution, i.e. turned heat up.
- Permanent solution and estimated cost, i.e. some improvements like insulating electrical outlets you can do yourself while other repairs will need professional help.
- Date completed.
- Cost of home energy improvements (useful when selling your home).
|
Who Can Help with Home Energy Savings
|
The US government is focusing on energy savings in numerous ways, i.e. the current Energy Tax Credit of $1,500 which home owners can use through 2010, for qualified improvements (check here). Some states also offer energy incentives to home owners.
Americans noticed energy prices when gas went over $4.00/gallon in 2007. We're actually spoiled with some of the lowest energy prices in the world and this won't last forever. Countries in Europe and Australia are much further along in setting energy standards for building, and we should expect to see more over the coming years.
Time to Take Action
You have lots of choices in how you assess, prioritize and implement home energy improvements so let's review your options but please, the most important thing is that you do take some action!
 For Do-It-Yourself home owners, we have identified a comprehensive Home Energy Report for you to create your energy plan. - My Handyman offers a cost effective home energy review for home owners. We will walk through your home and identify problem areas from inadequate insulation in the attic, to doors and windows (we'll test 3), plus we'll review your hot water system and pipes/ducts for your heating system. We'll leave a report to help you plan your energy improvement.
- For a more comprehensive energy audit, we have identified Affordable Weatherization Solutions of Dover, NH as an excellent resource. Their Energy Audit is designed to identify specific areas of major heat loss. The Energy Audit includes blower door testing, thermographic laser scanning of the interior, furnace efficiency testing and a complete report of the findings with recommendations including costs of upgrades and project management services if requested. Audit costs are based on the size of your home.
|
Insulation FAQs
|
My newsletters introduce you to one or more key home owner topics each month. Owning My Handyman means dealing with a wide range of problems (we like to think of them as opportunities) so we're really good at pinpointing problems and identifying possible solutions. We are not experts in each and every aspect of home construction. Here are some of the best resources we found ... for those who want to learn more:
|
