Protect yourself and your family from CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning

A story in today’s Burlington Free Press again points to the importance of making sure you protect yourself against carbon monoxide poisoning.

As we’ve discussed here before, check out the National Safety Council’s general recommendations.   As mentioned, all homeowners should get at least an annual check-up on their heating and hot-water system to make sure they are operating properly.  And anytime you make changes to your home, from building an addition, to adding air-conditioning, to changing your windows, you should have an expert make sure that all equipment is operating and venting properly. As a secondary measure, all homes should have a CO alarm.

Please, be safe.

Thanks,
Mike

17% of Homes built in 2008 met ENERGY STAR criteria

II mentioned earlier that ENERGY STAR had passed the million home mark. I was reminded in Friday’s USA Today that 17% of homes built in 2008 qualified. This is a big step in the right direction. As Maria Vargas of the U.S. EPA says in the article, “They are better homes,” with more efficient windows, lighting, appliances, insulation, heating and cooling. All elements that can be improved in existing homes, too!  (Don’t just guess, though.  Start with a comprehensive energy audit.)

Thanks,
Mike

LEDs have lower life-cycle energy use than Incandescents

Photo from the NY Times article

The NY Times reports on a German study which indicates that LED lighting requires 1/5 the energy of incandescent bulbs over their life cycle–that includes manufacture and disposal in addition to the obvioius electricity consumption while they’re being used for lighting.  Just another sign the LED lighting will likely play a big role in our future.  (And some LED lighting is ready today.)

Thanks,
Mike

Smart Power Strip to Reduce Phantom Loads

A couple of months ago I mentioned phantom loads, hidden uses of electricity throughout the home.  They really add up with a lot of electronics that continue to draw power even when they’re “off”.  One way to address this is to use power strips to completely cut off energy to the equipment/adapter/transformer when you’re not using them.  This can be particularly useful with entertainment centers and computer stations which have many separate components quietly sucking electricity and spinning your electric meter.  I’ve got my own kids well trained to turn off the power strip when done watching a movie–it kills power to the monitor, the DVD player, the sound system, and PlayStation, etc. all of which would otherwise keep draining watts.

Smart Strip LGC3 energy saving power strip

This requires behavior change, though.  There are a new breed of “smart” power strips that hold great promise.  The feature a “control” switch and subordinate switches.  When the equipment plugged into the control outlet is turned off or in the case of a computer goes to sleep, power is killed to everything plugged into the subordinate outlets.  The strips also have “always on” outlets, so you don’t have to worry about your router or TiVo getting powered down inadvertantly.  And the strips provide surge protection for the equipment, too.  A simple way to chip away at electricity use.  There are different makes/models out there.  We like the “Smart Strip“

Thanks,
Mike

Congratulations to ENERGY STAR Homes

Earlier this month, EPA announced that its Energy Star program passed a major milestone with 1 Million Energy Star Homes having been built in the United States.  Good stuff–with families saving energy, money, and being more comfortable.

This type of performance isn’t limited to new homes, however.  With a comprehensive approach, existing homes can be retrofited to perform better than many newly constructed homes–even exceeding the Energy Star standards!

Thanks,
Mike

Roof killers—icicles and ice damming

I just touched on insulation and air-sealing in a few recent posts. And we’ve noticed a big increase in the last few weeks on people asking about icicles and ice damming. It’s probably time for a quick refresh and retread of an earlier post.

What is Ice Damming?
Big icicles and ice dams are typically caused by poor or missing insulation and air leakage from your house into your attic.  In the winter, this warms the roof and causes the snow to melt. The melting snow then moves down the roof slope until it reaches the cold overhang, where it refreezes.

The process forms icicles and can actually create a dam that eventually forces the water to back up under the shingles and sometimes into the ceiling or wall inside the home. In addition to roof and water damage, ice dams can cause structural decay and mold and mildew to form in attics and on wall surfaces. 

Big icicles themselves, like those shown here, are obvious signs that you’re at risk.

But snow melt patterns can also indicate a problem of too much heat loss. In this photo below, you can see snow melting off the roof at different rates, driven by heat loss from the house. 

Uneven snow melt also is a sign that something is awry

And in the townhouse complex below you can see the building that GreenHomes treated with even snow still on the roof—a sign the building isn’t losing energy rapidly. Conversely, you see the untreated building with the snow melted–a sign that it’s losing a lot of energy. No big icicles this time—but had it been a bit colder, the melting snow would have refrozen at the eaves and created big problems.

The townhome treated by GreenHomes loses heat more slowly through the attic and thus snow melts slowly and doesn’t accumulate as ice out at the eaves.

 

  

This town home has not been treated and the wasted heat melts snow quickly. In the right temperatures, the melted snow would refreeze and create ice problems--bad news. And in any event, this folks in this building are spending a lot more on energy than they should.

The Fix
Fortunately, you can dramatically reduce damage from ice damming by sealing the holes connecting your heated living space and the attic, as well as properly insulating your attic. There are different techniques to stop air leaking through recessed lights, leaky heating ducts, attic access doors, and plumbing and electrical penetrations. Sealing these leaks keeps warm air in your house were it belongs. Together, with adequate levels of insulation, this greatly reduces the chance of ice damming and large icicles.  You do NOT just want to add more insulation before sealing the air leaks—this can actually create additional problems that can also damage your roof.  You can’t eliminate icicles completely.  Small icicles are normal.  And some roof architecture–especially big valleys draining to a small corner–are especially challenging.  But if you have long icicles or thick heavy ice you should act quickly to prevent damage.  (And this means preventing the ice from forming in the first place, not risk life, limb, and your roof trying to chip off ice that’s there.)
 
 Do it right.  Find the important leakage points and seal them up.  Then add a lot of insulation.  And afterwards, as with any time you change the way your house works, have your combustion appliances tested to make sure they’re operating safely and efficiently.

An added benefit to this, of course, is you’ll save energy, save money, and be more comfortable in your home, too!

Save the ice for your holiday cocktails!

Thanks,
Mike

P.S.  The added insulation can qualify for the $1,500 federal credit.  Save money while you save you roof!

Can’t get anything by Tom!

Right in the middle--Tom Reynolds, circa 1977

Pictured here in 1977 with the Dallas Tornado, goalie Tom Reynolds later led the ASL with the lowest goals allowed average.   You couldn’t get anything by him.  Now, as a GreenHomes production manager in Syracuse, he still doesn’t let anything by–and that means top quality for our customers.

Whew!  You never know what you’ll stumble across on the internet, including 30 year old pictures.  But here’s to Tom, then and now!

Thanks,
Mike

Small air leaks add up to an open “window” all winter long

OK, I’m stating the obvious. When it gets cold out, you want to close your windows to help keep the heat in. What many people don’t realize is that air leakage throughout their home can add up to the equivalent of having a window wide open all winter long.

The many air leaks in a home can add up to the same as leaving a window wide open all winter long.

Sometimes the holes are big as in the case of this wide open chase. But all of the little holes add up, too. One hole for an electrical wire in your attic isn’t much. But you might have dozens of these. Add to them gaps at interior partition walls, around chimneys, flues, recessed lights, and other locations where somebody has left a hole open, and the typical home has an enormous number of ways for air to leak out. As show in this simple example from one of the GreenHomes Syracuse crews, we can seal these leaks and help keep the heat in.

By themselves, small holes don't seem like much. But collectively, they can add up to a big problem in homes. Fortunately, a good audit can find these problems, and a good insulation crew can seal the holes BEFORE adding insulation to your home.

Air-sealing helps you close that hidden “window” and can make a huge difference in your comfort and utility bills. And it’s very important to air-seal BEFORE you add additional insulation—insulation doesn’t work well if you allow air to air to move through it.

Thanks,
Mike

P.S. Important Note: After insulating and air-sealing, it is very important to make sure that your combustion equipment—furnaces, boilers, water heaters, etc.—are operating safely and venting properly.  Most homeowner don’t have the equipment or skills to do this, so I won’t describe it here.  Your fuel company, a home performance specialist, or a good heating contractor should be able to do this for you.  As I’ve mentioned previously, carbon monoxide is not something to take lightly.

Watch for questionable insulation practices

It might be interesting to show some of the conditions we encounter in the field every day to help illustrate home performance.  And I’ll randomly kick off this thread with something Daniel–an Advisor with Air King, our Simi Valley location–came across this week.  He visited a home where another insulation contractor had already come by.  Well, not all insulation contractors are equal.  It’s clear some don’t understand the importance of air-sealing.  Or not filling the water heater closet with insulation.  (Or cleaning up after the work was done.)

Your insulation contractor should be blocking holes and air-sealing before adding insulation. Filling the hot water closet with insulatio and blocking the vent hood is considered bad practice (now that’s a bit of an understatement).

If your insulation contractor doesn’t talk with you about air leakage and the importance of air-sealing, run away!  (For that matter, if your heating and cooling contractor doesn’t look at your insulation levels and air-leakage rates–and help correct problems–how can you be sure you’re getting the right system?)

Thanks,
Mike

New Home Buyers–Turn $6,500 to $8,000

Here’s great idea from, Laura Reedy Stukel, an enlightend real estate agent in suburban Chicago.  New home buyers can parlay the new homebuyer tax credit into energy-efficiency improvements, and squeeze out up to an addtional $1,500 in home improvement tax credits–and gain a more comfortable and energy-efficient home in the process.

Thanks,
Mike