Crawlspaces – those nasty, damp, moldy spaces under your home that you dread entering. They’re one of the least understood parts of a home and the source of countless problems. In this post, I’ll review some of the worst problems and how to avoid them. Crawlspaces often have two big issues: Water / moisture – [...]
Archive for the ‘Energy auditing’ Category
Insulating Basement Crawl Spaces
Posted: February 1, 2012 in Building Science, Conservation, Construction techniques, Ducts, Energy auditing, HVAC, Insulation, Mold & Moisture, PlumbingTags: basements, crawl spaces, frozen pipes, mold
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Doing your own energy audit and save energy – step 1: Open your eyes
Posted: December 10, 2011 in Conservation, Construction techniques, Energy auditing, InsulationDuring the winter, as I look around, houses yell out to me. Do they speak to you? Look at this photo. It’s a beautiful day after a light snowfall. Half of the roof has virgin snow. The other half is totally melted. Clearly, the melted side is losing energy compared with the other side. This [...]
Are you unintentionally poisoning your family?
Posted: December 6, 2011 in Building Science, Conservation, Construction techniques, Ducts, Energy auditing, HVACTags: back-drafting, backdrafting, boiler, carbon monoxide, co, furnace
A family friend recently told me of “issues” with their home heating system – “when it runs, the lights get halos around them from all the soot in the air.” I couldn’t believe it when I heard this, and immediately warned him that the condition likely is making his family sick and could easily kill [...]
The Top 5 Things to winterize your home
Posted: November 18, 2011 in Conservation, Energy auditing, HVAC, WindowsTags: energy efficiency, weatherization, winter, winterization
Freezing temperatures are setting in around much of the country, so now what do you do? While each house is unique, there are some things to remember to avoid unpleasant surprises and expensive repairs later one. #1: Winterize your outdoor water pipes We all know, when pipes freeze, they often burst due to the extreme [...]
Ted’s Top Tips to Help You Beat the Heat!
Posted: July 20, 2011 in Building Science, Conservation, Construction techniques, Energy auditing, HVAC, Insulation, Lighting, WindowsTags: air conditioning, heat, insulation, save electricity, save energy, saving electricy, saving energy, summer, top ways to save electricity, top ways to save energy
Record temperatures are creating uncomfortable conditions all over. Here in Pennsylvania, we’re expecting near 100F temperatures for much of this week, while Chicago just suffered through a heat index of 115F! Along with high temperatures come big utility bills because of all the air conditioner usage. In this post, I’ll give you some tips for [...]
Even an Energy Auditor can get Bitten by an Energy Hog
Posted: June 8, 2011 in Conservation, Energy auditing, PlumbingTags: energy monitor, pool pump, save electricity, save energy, saving electricy, saving energy, TED, The energy detective, well pump
I am embarrassed! I was recently bitten by an “energy hog” – an unwanted waster of energy hiding in the deepest recesses of my home. He snuck in last week while I was using a lot of energy for opening/cleaning my pool. You see, at that time, I was running a big pool pump 24 [...]
Q&A – Should I get a high efficiency heat pump?
Posted: May 10, 2011 in Conservation, Energy auditing, HVACTags: air conditioner, heat pump, replacement heating system
A friend dropped me this email yesterday, asking for some advice (slightly edited): We spent a lot on oil last winter. We have a 23 year old heat pump which gives us A/C in the summer, but no heat any longer. I had a proposal from the installer for a new 14.5 seer heat pump [...]
How to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Your Existing Home
Posted: April 25, 2011 in Conservation, Construction techniques, Energy auditing, HVAC, Insulation, Lighting, Mold & MoistureTags: energy audit, energy efficiency, save electricity, save energy, saving electricy, saving energy
This post by an energy auditor in central PA summarizes a lot of the information required to make your home more energy efficient, all in one spot. It’s like you took all my posts to date and wrapped it up into a single article! Definitely worth a skim. For those of your unfamiliar with ChrisMartenson.com, Chris [...]
What’s the best way to insulate your attic? or How I learned to think like a child
Posted: March 27, 2011 in Building Science, Conservation, Construction techniques, Energy auditing, Insulation, Mold & Moisture, WindowsTags: attic, attic insulation, attic moisture, attic mold, blower door test, cellulose, fiberglass, insulation, ridge vent, ridge vents, spray foam
Many of my posts come back to air sealing and insulating the attic. Why is that? If you’ve done any searching about home weatherization, insulation, energy efficiency or related topics, you’ve probably come across the picture shown above. And for good reason – it clearly shows all the common sources of air leaking into (infiltration) [...]
What does it mean if your fiberglass insulation is black?
Posted: March 25, 2011 in Conservation, Construction techniques, Energy auditing, Insulation, Mold & MoistureTags: air infiltration, air sealing, attic, black fiberglass, black insulation, cellulose, discolored fiberglass, discolored insulation, diy air sealing, energy audit, fiberglass, insulation, mold, moldy insulation
You might have noticed some black insulation in your attic or maybe around the perimeter of your basement, where the house rests on the foundation. What does this mean? Is it moldy? Wet? Why is the insulation black? In fact, black insulation is the energy auditor’s best friend because it tells us where the problems [...]
