Save
10-50% on Home Energy Bills by Making
Some Energy Smart Improvements at Your Home!
Did You Know?
•
The
average U.S. family spends close to $2000 a year on their home’s
utility bills.
• The U.S. continues to consume the largest amount of oil
in the world, accounting for about 25% of total global production.
• We now import 60% of the oil we use.
Unfortunately,
A Large Portion Of The Energy We Use Is Wasted.
•
The amount of energy wasted just through poor insulation is about
as much energy as we get from the Alaskan pipeline each year.
• And electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single
home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than the average car.
The
Solution?
• Energy-efficient improvements help prevent pollution,
make your home more comfortable, and can yield long-term financial
rewards.
•
Reduced operating costs more than make up for the higher price
of energy-efficient appliances and improvements over their lifetimes.
•
Improvements may also qualify you for an energy efficiency mortgage,
which allows lenders to use a higher-than-normal debt-to-income
ratio.
•
Your home will have a higher resale value.
•
You may also be eligible for a tax credit up to $500 that encourages
homeowners to perform specific energy efficiency home improvements.
Where To Start?
• The best approach to energy-efficiency is to find out
which parts of your house need the most help.
•
A home energy audit can pinpoint the most effective ways for you
to reduce your energy costs.
Blower Door Tests
Professional energy auditors use blower door tests to help determine
a home's airtightness. Here are some reasons for establishing
the proper building tightness:
• Reducing energy consumption due to air leakage
• Avoiding moisture condensation problems
• Avoiding uncomfortable drafts caused by cold air leaking
in from the outdoors
• Making sure that the home's air quality is not too contaminated
by indoor air pollution.
How Do Blower Door Tests Work?
A blower door is a powerful fan that mounts into the frame of
an exterior door. The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering
the air pressure inside. The higher outside air pressure then
flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings. The auditors
can then detect air leaks. These tests locate excess air infiltration.
Preparing for a Blower Door Test
Take these steps to prepare your home for a blower door test:
• Close windows and open interior doors
• Turn down the thermostats on heaters and water heaters
• Cover ashes in wood stoves and fireplaces with damp newspapers
• Shut fireplace dampers, fireplace doors, and wood stove
air intakes.
Insulation and Air Sealing
You can reduce your home's heating and cooling costs through proper
insulation and air sealing. This will make your home more comfortable.
Air sealing work will multiply your insulation efforts. Proper
moisture control and ventilation strategies will improve the effectiveness
of air sealing and insulation.
A home's energy efficiency depends on a balance between all of
these elements:
• Air sealing
• Insulation
• Moisture control
• Ventilation
A proper balance will also result in a more comfortable, healthier
home environment.
Air Sealing
Air leakage, or infiltration, occurs when outside air enters a
house randomly through cracks and openings.
Properly air sealing such cracks and openings in your home can
significantly reduce heating and cooling costs, improve building
durability, and create a healthier indoor environment.
It is unwise to rely on air leakage for ventilation because it
can't be controlled. During cold or windy weather, too much air
may enter the house. When it's warmer and less windy, not enough
air may enter. Air infiltration also can contribute to problems
with moisture control. Moldy and dusty air can enter a leaky house
through such areas as attics or foundations. This leakage causes
comfort and/or health problems.
The recommended strategy in both new and old homes is to reduce
air leakage as much as possible and to provide controlled ventilation.
Air Sealing an Existing Home
Air sealing alone can't replace the need for proper insulation,
which is required to reduce heat flow.
Air sealing is one of the most significant energy efficiency improvements
you can make to your home. Air sealing will reduce energy costs
and improve your home's comfort and durability.
Air sealing professionals do the following:
• Detect air leaks
• Assess your ventilation needs for indoor air quality.
If you're completely remodeling your home, which will include
some construction, also review some of the techniques used for
air sealing in new home construction.
Air
Sealing for New Home Construction
Air sealing is an important factor when constructing an energy-efficient
home. These are some air sealing techniques and materials:
• Air barriers
• Airtight Drywall, and Simple Caulk and Seal
• Caulking
Caulk forms a flexible seal for cracks, gaps, or joints. You can
use a caulking compound to seal air leaks in a variety of places
throughout your home, including around windows, electric outlets,
ducts and door frames.
Weatherstripping
You can use weatherstripping in your home to seal air leaks around
movable joints, such as windows or doors.
Insulation
Properly insulating your home will help reduce your heating and
cooling costs and make your home more comfortable.
How Insulation Works
Home insulation provides resistance to heat flow. The more heat
flow resistance your insulation provides, the lower your heating
and cooling costs.
Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter,
this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to
adjacent unheated attics, garages, basements, and even to the
outdoors. Heat flow can also move indirectly through interior
ceilings, walls, and floors—wherever there is a difference
in temperature.
During the cooling season, heat flows from the outdoors to the
interior of a house.
To maintain comfort, the heat lost in the winter must be replaced
by your heating system and the heat gained in the summer must
be removed by your cooling system. Properly insulating your home
will decrease this heat flow by providing an effective resistance
to the flow of heat.
You insulation's resistance to heat flow is measured or rated
in terms of its thermal resistance or R-value.
Adding
Insulation to an Existing House
Unless your home was specially constructed for energy efficiency,
you can usually reduce your energy bills by adding more insulation.
Many older homes have less insulation than homes built today,
but adding insulation to a newer home may also pay for itself
within a few years.
To determine whether you should add insulation, you first need
to find out how much insulation you already have in your home
and where.
A qualified home energy auditor will include an insulation check
as a routine part of a whole-house energy audit. An energy audit
will also help identify areas of your home that are in need of
air sealing. (Before you insulate, you should make sure that your
home is properly air sealed.)
Selecting Insulation for New Home Construction
Your state and local building codes include minimum insulation
requirements. Energy-efficient homes aim to exceed requirements.
For improved energy efficiency, consider the interaction between
the insulation and other building components. This is called the
whole-house systems design approach.
To properly insulate a new home know where you need to insulate.
Use the U.S. Department of Energy's Zip-Code Insulation Program
to determine where you need to insulate and the recommended R-values
based on your climate and type of heating and cooling system,
etc.
Where to Insulate
For energy efficiency, your home should be properly insulated
from the roof down to its foundation. This includes the following
areas:
• Attic spaces
• Attic access doors to unfinished attics
• Knee walls in finished attics
• Ducts in unconditioned spaces
In general, you want to have a supply and return duct for each
bedroom and for each common living area. Duct runs should be as
short and straight as possible. The correct size duct is necessary
to minimize pressure drops in the system and thus improve performance.
Insulate ducts located in unheated spaces, and seal all joints
with duct mastic (never use ordinary duct tape on ducts.)
Loose-fill insulation consists of small particles of fiber, foam,
or other materials. These small particles form an insulation material
that can conform to any space without disturbing any structures
or finishes. This ability to conform makes loose-fill insulation
well suited for retrofits and for places where it's difficult
to install some other types of insulation.
Types of Loose-Fill Insulation
The most common types of materials used for loose-fill insulation
include cellulose, fiberglass, and mineral (rock or slag) wool.
All of these materials are produced using recycled waste materials.
Cellulose is primarily made from recycled newsprint. Most fiberglass
contains 20%–30% recycled glass. Mineral wool is usually
produced from 75% post-industrial recycled content.
Sprayed foam and foamed-in-place Cementitious Phenolic
Polyisocyanurate Polyurethane
Applications: Enclosed existing wall or open new wall cavities;
unfinished attic floors. Applied using small spray containers
or in larger quantities as a pressure sprayed (foamed-in-place)
product. Good for adding insulation to existing finished areas,
irregularly shaped areas, and around obstructions.
Call
732-996-0179 or 732-280-2748
Call to schedule your professional home energy audit
today.
Ask about our Basic Air Seal Package Special. As You Begin Saving Money on Heating, Cooling, and Electricity
Costs,
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