I love it when a plan comes together

Most people reading this would probably agree that the government spends too much money on the wrong people. I say this because, to some extent, I think it is true as well. But that doesn’t mean that we just throw our hands in the air and give up, it means we do our best to track where every nickel is going! Demand as much transparency as you can.

I’m not going to tell you horror stories about wasteful spending in the Weatherization Program (WX); I’m going to tell you about something good. I have seen a few things in the last two years of monitoring the work that “got my hackles up”, but honestly way less than I expected. The main thing that continued to bother me was duct sealing…or lack thereof.

Halfway through the two year contract the government looked at every agency’s first year of spending. If they had spent too much, their budget was cut for the second year. Sounds fair enough to me! This kept those that were spending correctly from being punished. But when the budgets were lowered, so was the amount of work being done; the consumer (client) was really the one being punished. But in my mind this was supposed to be an air sealing program, so maybe we were finally getting back…to where we should have started from.

But one of the first measures dropped when funds were short was duct sealing. This went against everything I had been previously taught because technically a hole in the duct is a hole in the home! The inside of the ductwork is the inside of your home! I complained to the workers; I complained to the coordinators; and I complained to the government! Nothing happened because the priority list (the order in which work was to be completed) had air sealing as #1 and duct sealing way below…I don’t even remember the number. But they are one in the same!

Well the good news is twofold. First of all there was money left over at the end of the two year period. There will be a six month extension using the remaining funds and 1500-2000 more Georgia homes will be weatherized. But the great news is that there is a new priority list for the extension and at the top of the list sits…DUCT SEALING! I won’t pretend that I made this happen, but I’m glad it did. To quote Hannibal Smith of the A-Team “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Baffle them with BS

Everything has a private language and specific nomenclature. It can be a business, a hobby or a field of study; it doesn’t matter. The more we are interested, the more we want to familiarize ourselves with the terms; knowing the correct terminology makes us think we know more about the subject. You were taught dog in the first grade, but now that you love dogs you understand that Spot is actually a Cocker Spaniel. He is a specific type of dog that has a specific name.

Actually a Cocker Spaniel is a Canis Lupus Familiaris, but exactly who is going to say that? Not me! I don’t pretend to know very many scientific names, but I love dogs and I swear I knew that one. But if I did choose to use this term I would probably be ignored. I would be thought of as a smart ass for one, but I would also limit my audience; nobody would know what I was talking about. So unless I was either trying to impress someone or alienate myself why would I ever use this term? How about because I was trying to sell you something?

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I received an invitation for a free meal at a nice local restaurant. Of course we would have to agree to listen to a short sales pitch during (and after) the meal, but she wanted to go and honestly I couldn’t think of a good reason to tell her no. My wife was nice enough not to mention that it really wouldn’t be much different for her since she was accustomed to listening to my crap during meals anyway, so I agreed to go. She didn’t tell me until a few days before we were supposed to go exactly what the sales pitch was about; “New and cutting edge products that will slash your energy bills”. Somebody in the reservation department is not asking the correct questions!

I don’t pretend to know everything there is about saving energy, but over the last two years I have had some pretty intense training on the subject. I have learned quite a bit about what works and what does not; what makes financial sense and what does not. I could only imagine what this company was going to try to sell us, but I agreed to be good during the sales presentation and to consider myself (as my wife described me) a spy! “You’re mission, should you choose to accept it…” Sounds like fun.

Well the products offered were not exactly new, and the only edges they cut had happened years ago. Several of the items would probably save you a little money, but they would save even more if they were installed correctly and not the way the salesman was describing. His numbers were inflated and his pleas for saving the planet were a little over the top, but the food was very good and I was behaving. I had decided that everything would be okay, and then he told a big lie. He used some very specific nomenclature to try to quiet my concerns, and when I responded with a battery of equally specific terms questioning his statements, he quickly changed the subject and moved on to another topic.

I let him off the hook and managed (for the most part) to keep my mouth shut. But what I could not manage to do was see him in any other light than for what he really was; he was a criminal. He lied to every person in the room to make a dollar. When he got caught he tried to baffle the room with technical bullshit! The part that angered me most was that if he had simply told the truth about the products he was trying to sell they would have (at some price) been worth purchasing! The products will never perform to the levels he professed, and by making these exaggerated and inflated statements he did the buyers and the real world of energy conservation harm. I can’t speak for the rest of the room, but let’s just say that I seriously doubt that anyone sitting at my table bought anything from him!

Kneewalls

Another topic that seems to make most homeowner’s eyes glaze over is kneewalls. Many may not be exactly sure what a knee wall is, or even if their house has any, so first let’s clear that up. Simply put a knee wall is any wall in your home that has living space on one side and attic on the other. It is considered an exterior wall, but really it is even more susceptible to energy loss than other walls. The reason that these walls are so problematic is that when it is 95 degrees outside the home, it is more like 140 degrees in the attic. So how would you like to try to cool your home in 140 degree weather? If your kneewalls are not sealed...you do!

The new energy codes have addressed how to handle kneewalls in new construction, but it is really not being enforced in most areas. It does add a few dollars of cost to a home, but the energy savings/payback is rather fast.  The following is how the new code handles knee walls:

 All attic kneewalls must be insulated and air-sealed. Attic kneewalls may be insulated using R-13+R-5 insulated sheathing, R-15+R-3 insulated sheathing, or R-19 compressed into a 2×6 cavity. The attic-side of the kneewall must have a rigid air barrier (with seams sealed)

The only real difference in how they were handled in the past (wall cavities stuffed with batts) is that they must now have an air barrier (insulation board) covering the batt insulation on the attic side. Think of it this way; what if your home had no siding and only exposed batt insulation on the exterior? Sure there is no wind and rain in the attic, but how much hot or cold air would leak in your home if that was all that was separating you from the outside. The answer is a lot and when you raise that outside temperature to 140 degrees it gets even worse.

The fix is easy and it is do it yourself friendly. The work can be ugly because no one will ever see it but you unless you invite friends to your attic. Simply nail the insulation board to the wall studs with roofing or plastic-cap nails a seal the joints with spray foam. Be sure you get all the way to the bottom because you need to cap off the floor system below.

But I'm already saving energy

I was recently asked a question that, at least on the surface, seemed like a straightforward one…"There are several ways to save energy, but often times the payback on the energy saving device is close to 27 years because I already live a very energy efficient lifestyle. So the question becomes, "How does a person who is already saving energy make the improvements to their home that will yield a return on investment (ROI) and because they are the right thing to do.

I started to think of Energy Star appliances, a high efficiency water heater and other improvements that one can do after they have the basics covered. Then I thought I’d better ask them what they had already done to consider themselves energy efficient. I got the typical answer of “we bought a 15 SEER HVAC system, added some attic insulation, put in some CFL bulbs, you know the typical stuff.” There were a few more things that were added to the list during the conversation, but I never heard them mention any air sealing work that amounted to more than “spray foaming the pipes in the kitchen cabinet”. So I asked a few more questions.

Me-“What was your duct leakage number when the HVAC was installed?”

Her-“I don’t remember there being one, but the unit is 15 SEER!”

Me-“Did you air seal anything before putting the attic insulation in?”

Her-” We didn’t need to. The contractor told me that the insulation would seal up the holes and keep the cool air in.”

Me-“Have you noticed much of a drop in your power bill?”

Her-“Not yet, but this winter was pretty mild and we just installed the AC.”

This was a conversation with someone that considered themself energy efficient. I have to say that their intentions were good, and I certainly don’t want to make light of that, but they missed it by a mile. Step one in any energy conservation program with your home is air sealing…keeping the conditioned air in and the unconditioned air out. You must have a clearly defined thermal barrier before you attempt any energy saving measures. Well you don’t have to, but without it you will never reach your maximum saving potential.

I meet people every day that assume blown or batt insulation will keep the conditioned air inside their home; it will not, it simply slows down the heat transfer between conditioned and unconditioned space. Spray foam insulation will slow the heat transfer and air will not penetrate it, but it is expensive and if you already have some attic insulation it may not be worth spending the extra money. Sealing attic penetrations under the insulation before adding the new might be the simplest and cheapest approach. The payback will certainly be much quicker and it is something to consider doing yourself.

The 15 SEER HVAC was not a bad idea…if it needed replacing anyway. If it was still in working order you could probably have saved as much money by duct sealing as you did by replacing the unit. And if the ducts weren’t sealed properly on the new one, you won’t save a dime! The difference in Kilowatt hours (KWH) used by a 13 SEER and a 15 SEER is about 15%. If you used 10,000KWH to air condition your home the savings would only be $165.00 annually! (10,000X.15X.11kwh=$165) You could probably save that much in six months from duct sealing alone and I don’t imagine that the new unit will last long enough to ever pay you back!

There are a lot of companies out there that advertise products that will save you 40%-50% on your power bill. I don’t think any of us really believe this, and I think companies like this do more harm than they do good. You can make statistics say anything you want! I’ve monitored several hundred homes over the last two years and have documented some great energy savings, but a practical approach that is low in cost and done in steps will be the quickest path to putting more money in your pocket after the bills are paid.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Every evening my local news channel flashes a pie chart on screen that gives the results of some type of viewer’s poll. If the subject of the poll interests her my wife will often say something like “Wow! Can you believe that? People are stupid! What were they thinking?” And while I will admit that it makes me take a second look myself, I quickly dismiss it. Results from a poll like this mean absolutely nothing. I love it when they show the pie chart with the little blue slice that tells you that 33% of the callers are in favor of something that you think is crazy. The part that they don’t tell you is that only three people responded to the question-2 against it- 1 for it. How scientific does that sound?

I think of this today after an online discussion (if you want to give it that much credit) that I had with an individual about weatherization. They commented on a picture I posted of an HVAC duct system that was full of trash. Pencils, barrettes, gum wrappers and other household junk that a little kid might play with were inside the duct…and it was filthy. The conversation quickly jumped from finding a contractor to clean their system to why the government would buy lazy people cellphones and duct cleaning. I personally don’t know if the government does either, so I jumped out of the loop. What I do know is that for the last two years the government has assisted low income citizens with the energy efficiency of their homes. Has it worked perfectly with no abuse? What do you think…it’s a national program?

Here is what I do know; of the 15,000 homes weatherized in Georgia I have only personally viewed about 200 in 20 of the 159 Georgia counties. There was a group of roughly 25 monitors hired by The University of Georgia that scrutinized 10% of the total amount of work done by the government. We talked to the homeowner, looked at the work done, and looked at their complete file. Did I see some abuse? Sure. Did I see some life changing results? Sure. Did I see a study with enough participants to be considered meaningful and scientific? I believe I did.

I am as guilty as the next person of condemning the typical recipients of government assistance. The people we all imagine are straight out off of the People of Walmart website; they are people that want something for nothing. But this is not what I saw. I saw elderly widows heating their homes with a gas oven that you could only stand to operate with the batteries from the Carbon Monoxide detector removed. I saw children of single mothers studying for tomorrow’s algebra test with a coat on and blankest nailed over door openings to keep the heat from a small electric heater inside the un-insulated room. I saw wheelchair bound husbands at home with the kids while the wife worked two jobs. I saw people without enough to eat that had two years ago had paid income tax of five figures. I saw someone with a Lexus in the driveway. I saw all of this in only 20 counties of 1/50^th of the United States.

So we want to know what works and what does not. There are several ways to find this out, but let’s look at two:

Bring up the level of insulation, air sealing and heating in people’s homes to modern standards using conventional fuels (gas and electricity). Study the results and determine what give the greatest payback. The homeowner saves money on the operating cost of their home for the life of the home. Pass these results to the average person that wants to save money.

Give billions of dollars to companies that want to manufacture expensive solar panels in the United States. If they fail, they simply file bankruptcy and you have nothing to show for money spent. Well you do have a pile of solar panels that maybe you could sell to the Chinese? I doubt it…give maybe.

We put men on the moon by trial and error; we didn’t just borrow the money and shoot them straight up there. By weatherizing homes and studying the results we accomplished two things. We brought many homes into the 21^st century and we found out what works and what does not. We completed our study and gave the gift that keeps on giving!

About this blog

The purpose of this blog is to bring a practical understanding of energy usage. Usage=money. To me it's that simple. You can't stop using energy completely, and I don't think any of us want to anyway. I love all of my gas and electrical appliances and toys and have no intention of not using them. But what I want to avoid is spending money unnecessarily to operate and enjoy them. Saving the polar bears and the ice caps can be just an added benefit...I want to save money!

This is a highly technical and polarizing subject. I have taken hundreds of hours of classes on this subject and I don't pretend to understand all of it; I'm not that smart. But I do know that even a little knowledge will save you money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If replacement windows cut your power bill in half, you must have left them open year round. Closing them would have cut your bill in half. Even if they did cut your bill in half, would paying $3000-$5000(or more) to save $100 a month be a good idea? It would if you had money to throw away; but to most of us...no. The quickest savings will come when you spend the least amount of money. This may sound stupid, but what if a $5.00 tube of caulk saved you $5.00 on your first power bill. That would give you 11 months of profit! I know this is a small amount, but it adds up.

There will be times when you have to spend large amounts of money; nothing lasts forever. When you have to replace those windows or HVAC, this is the time to save. Getting a new HVAC unit for a tax break and a reduction in your power bill might not be the smartest idea. If it still functions you should consider making sure that it is functioning at it's highest level. Low efficiency can be compensated for (somewhat) by a good delivery system; the duct work. If you are losing half of your conditioned air to duct leakage all of the SEERs known to man won't save you that much. Sealing your ducts is do-it-yourself friendly and cheap. Insulating them is slightly tougher, but not much. The pay back on this one is fast and it will only compound itself when you have to replace the unit!

I would like to add one final and important note; don't let your politics keep you from saving energy. Don't do it for them, do it for yourself and your pocketbook! The government is full of ideas-some good and some bad. Ideas good-application bad. Buying a $40,000 electric car that essentially runs off of coal anyway is not very smart; the payback on that one is the day after...never! But I don't want to get started on these topics, I just want you to save money and use common sense at the same time! Don't be sold by a contractor and don't be sold by the government. Once again, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

Attic stairs

Insulating and air sealing the attic is of utmost importance here in the south. R-38 insulation is recommended in both flat and vaulted ceilings, but it won’t do much for the air infiltration/exfiltration that takes place between your attic and your living space. Blown cellulose does air seal slightly because of its weight, but it will not truly define the thermal envelope of your home. Top plates of walls, knee walls and HVAC penetrations are big culprits for energy loss, but one overlooked energy drain is the attic access. The photo below is of an uninsulated attic access taken with an infrared camera.

Many older homes here have a small (24”X24”) attic hatch that is often hidden away in a closet. These are relatively easy to deal with by weather stripping and gluing batt insulation to the attic side of the panel. If they are too light to fully compress the weather strip, adding another layer of drywall or plywood to the back side will help. The large pull down stair cases or “disappearing stairs” as architects like to call them can be tougher to deal with, but when properly sealed will make a tremendous difference.

Most builders or insulation companies will simply place an R-13 batt between the stairs and the cover panel. This makes little sense when you have an R-38 attic, but it is common. There are several commercial options available to seal and insulate the access that work very well, but some are rather expensive. An attic tent is good for providing an air tight seal, but has little R value. There are foam options that both air seal and insulate, but you want to be sure that what you install is tall enough on the attic side to hold back 13 inches of blown insulation (an insulation dam). If you are the least bit handy, building an attic “coffin” is the cheapest and easiest approach. One sheet of cheap plywood or OSB will do the job and you will find that it is much more rigid than the commercial options.

The coffin is a simple 5 sided box with a lift off lid. The weight of the top is heavy enough to compress the weather stripping and give a good seal. Be sure to make the sides of the box tall enough for the stairs to fold up in! This may sound like common sense, but it was my first mistake. Once you have sealed the attic hatch you can proceed with air sealing and insulating the remainder of the attic.