Unlike a modern system, using copper pipe that run through baseboard radiators, we have a system that appears to be one step beyond the old steam-heat systems: big, heavy cast-iron radiators that take up a lot of space; and big, heavy cast-iron piping that runs through the basement and upon which I regularly knock my noggin.

Insulating my pipes was, to use an indelicate expression, like pissing in the wind. Or at least it was then. Today, I finished that job. But it took 13 years — insulating my heating pipes was probably the only thing I did that I should have done last. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Last Things First: Insulate the Pipes

We live in an old house — 1920′s era, nothing fancy — small and rather plain. Back in those days, it had a modern heating system — not an old coal-fired steam system, nope, this house had hot water heat. Well, that was fancy! But it doesn’t make for a great basement, since the hot water pipes get in the way.

The pipes have to be low in places, since the system was initially designed as a gravity feed system — hotter water is lighter, so the pipes are all arranged so the outgoing lines are higher than the return lines. The burner heats water and it tends to flow through the pipes, through radiators, and as it cools, it gets heavier and rolls back down into the boiler to get heated again.

There’s a reason these systems were replaced — they only work if your boiler is firing pretty much any time it’s cold. When we moved in here in 1997, little had been done — the boiler was a 1940′s era gas burner; huge and inefficient. On our first or second winter, it was so cold during January that it ran continuously and still couldn’t keep parts of the house above 55°.

And that first winter we couldn’t keep the house warm. I realized it was freezing cold in the basement, and by the time the water got to the radiators, especially the ones at the end of the loop, it was tepid, at best. So I bought some rolls of insulating tape — foil on the outside, some foam, and adhesive that made it stick to the pipes. For several weekends, I diligently wrapped pipes — starting with the outgoing pipes. I must have bought 30 rolls of tape before I called it good enough, but I figured that might help a little bit. It didn’t.

Insulate The House, Of Course! (Not)

Not really realizing what was wrong, we figured the house was uninsulated (we were right) and had blown-in insulation installed the following summer. They removed the clapboard siding, drilled holes in the board (no plywood in 1920′s) siding, blew in cellulose, plugged the holes with styrofoam, and replaced the siding.

Of course in this process they broke many of the clapboards, and broke any seal that 80 years of paint jobs had created. And, as we subsequently learned in our energy audit, they didn’t realize that before plywood was created, houses needed diagonal wind-braces in the corners in order to prevent the walls from “racking”. So they missed part of pretty much every corner on both floors.

Next winter, we still couldn’t keep the house warm … in fact, it might have been worse. (In retrospect, it probably was: the insulators broke air seals in a number of different ways, so cold wind was probably blowing right past that insulation). At the time, our son was a toddler, and he tested positive for lead paint (on the skin-prick test — blood was fine), but it made us research lead, and we learned that old windows are one of the biggest source of lead dust, since the sashes move up and down and disperse paint particles into the air.

The windows sucked anyway, so we got them replaced with high-quality Pella, double-insulated windows.

Replace The Windows, Of Course! (Not)

The windows are excellent, and still working nicely, but again, we only learned much later how poorly they were installed. The old windows they replaced had iron sash weights and cords that (theoretically) made the window sashes easier to open. But when the replacement windows were installed, they failed to do anything to insulate or seal these cavities, leaving us with relatively efficient windows, surrounded by wood hollow wood frames.

Next winter, we still couldn’t keep the house warm … in fact, it might have been worse. Now we had the combined effect of the cracked and broken clapboards, letting air into the uninsulated cavities surrounding our high-tech windows. I think I realized that fall, that if you put your hand near any window, you could feel a breeze coming in the house.

So I got a bunch of caulk and went around outside and did my best to caulk the holes around the windows. But we realized the burner was still running almost all the time during the cold part of the winter.

Replace The Furnace, Of Course! (Not)

That summer, we had the house painted (finally covering up the scars left by the insulators), and also re-sealing the corners and other joints that were broken. We also sucked it up and had a new gas burner installed — far, far more efficient, and the installer added circulator pumps that forced the water around, rather than letting gravity to the job. Also, the new system had some ball-valves we could use to adjust the amount of flow to a couple of different pipe circuits. These changes made it possible to heat the house so it was warm and mostly rooms were about the same temperature.

Next winter, we were able to heat the house, as long as we had the heat on most of the time. It wasn’t so much that the house was more efficient, just that the new burner could use the gas it did burn to more effectively get heat into the house. It didn’t stay in the house for long, but at least we weren’t freezing all the time.

So by now we had insulated, replaced windows, caulked outside, replaced the boiler and upgraded the heating system. But the house was still drafty, and very costly to heat.

Warm Now, But Expensive Still

We added some insulating shades. We had part of the basement finished, and replaced some of the old windows. We insulated much of the floor under the unfinished parts of the first floor. Several years back, we had the ceiling over the sun-room insulated. And I realized there was still some air leakage around the windows (I could feel it with my hand), which I caulked.

The house was tighter, and we were able to get a programmable thermostat. But I still had to set the heat to go on at 4:30am in order to have the house relatively warm by 7 in the morning, and, then again in the mid-afternoon so it was warm again by the time we got home from work. But at least we were in control, and a couple years ago, we saw our fuel consumption actually fall, but only a little. Hrrm.

The Epiphany: Learn What The Problem Is, Then Solve It

Finally, last spring, we did what we should have done in 1997 when we moved in: we had an energy audit. After everything I had done (and paid big money for), we learned that some of the biggest causes of heat loss were ones that had existed when we bought the house, and that I could have fixed with a properly aimed caulking gun, and others were obvious and simple.

That steel bulkhead door to our basement — yeah, the one that leaks and you can see light through — it also leaked air. The whole house fan that allows us to avoid air conditioning in the summer — yeah the big hole punched through to the icy cold attic — it leaked air. The chimney leaked air. And despite all of my valiant caulking efforts, the window frames still leaked live sieves. And the remaining old basement windows which we never open, may as well be open, now that we know how much air they let in. And the sill of the house (the one that let all the ants in the house every Spring) leaked air. And on, and on. And yes, the original insulation missed a bunch of spots where the wind braces are.

The energy audit showed us in black and white (actually red = warm, blue = cold) exactly what was working and what needed fixing. These were the main problems the house had when we bought it.

Energy Audit: Why Are They Not Required By Law?

We have now fixed most of what needs fixing (at a far, far lower cost than the windows, boiler, original insulation and other fixes), and a re-audit confirmed most of what we did had worked. And we have re-programmed the thermostat to come on much later and for a shorter time. And our fuel usage, and heating bill has fallen dramatically.

Now have a far tighter, far more comfortable house.

Would we have needed to replace windows and the boiler, and insulate? Yes, we would have. But what we have only just realized is that most of those expenses were wasted until we did the basic air sealing that keeps cold air from blowing away any heat you add or try to keep in through other means. We had 10 or so years of living in an inefficient, drafty, uncomfortable, expensive, and wasteful house.

Last Things Last

So today, I finished a job I started 13 years ago. Now, having fixed the major problems, in almost exactly the opposite order that we should have, it made sense for me to buy a little more pipe insulation and make the house just a bit more efficient.

And here are the results. Well, actually, the results are on Energy Circle — they have real editors and a wider audience than little ol’ Five Percent, and it was Energy Circle that helped me find Flemming and learn about a lot of this stuff from the start.

I hope you’ll take a minute to pop over and read my story. Our savings from the whole process, from an energy audit, air sealing, insulation, and good old caulk are pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

Here’s a little teaser…

by Marcy Tate
 
Energy conservation is not only good for the planet, it’s also good for your pocket. It’s pretty simple to conserve energy at home and you’ll notice the savings right away. Still, changing your energy habits isn’t easy for every homeowner. Start by picking a few energy conservation techniques and gradually add a few more each month. As you go along, remind yourself how much of a help your efforts are for the planet and how much lower your utility bills will be. That should give you the inspiration to turn your energy conservation habits into a way of life. The tips below do not involve high investments. 

1. Light Bulbs

Those curly-shaped light bulbs, called compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs have been around for over a decade. If you haven’t replaced your energy wasting incandescent bulbs yet with CFL bulbs, then make this your first move in greening your energy spending habits. CFL bulbs last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Here’s a chart from General Electric that will help you select your CFL bulbs:
 
Standard Bulb = CFL Bulb
40w = 10w
60w = 13w-15w
75w = 20w
100w = 26w-29w
150w = 38w-42w
250w-300w = 55w
 

2. Dimmers

Dimmers let you control the lighting in your home. When you need less lighting, you can easily dim the lights and save energy and money. Dimmers are inexpensive and can be used with most lighting fixtures, including pendant lights and recessed lighting. Dimming a light by just 10 percent more than doubles the bulb life.
 

3. Programmable Thermostats

A programmable thermostat is not only good for conserving energy, it’s extremely convenient. You won’t have to get out of bed if you have forgotten to lower your thermostat. Instead, you can program the thermostat to lower the temperature each night at a designated time. According to the US Department of Energy, you can save approximately 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by turning your thermostat back 10°–15° for eight hours. Programmable thermostats give you the ability to do this easily.
 

4. Appliances & Electronics

Refrigerator

Refrigerators account for about 20 percent of household electricity use. Raising the temperature in the refrigerator will help lower your electricity usage. Check the gaskets around your refrigerator and freezer doors to make sure they are clean and sealed tightly. If they are not clean, it will cause the refrigerator to work harder, wasting unnecessary energy.
 

Water Heater

Turning the water heater temperature down can also save energy. Many thermostats are set to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Lowering it by 20 degrees can save almost $100 a year.
 

Computer

Turn off your computer at night. According to the US Department of Energy, you can save an average of $90 a year. If you are in the market for a new computer, consider a laptop. They use less energy than desktop computers.
 

New Appliances

If you are in the market for new appliances, select energy-efficient models. Look for the Energy Star label on appliances. The label means that the product is an energy saving product.
 

5. Standby Power

Standby power, also known as vampire power, is the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. Unplug appliances, power adapters and other electronic devices when not in use and you’ll save.
Microwaves, cell phone chargers, televisions, and power adapters for laptop computers should be un-plugged for optimal energy savings.
 

6. Weatherize

The little cracks and crevices around your home can cause hot or cool air to exit your home. Sealing the cracks and crevices can save you up to 15 percent in heating and cooling costs. Depending on where the draft is, you can use weather stripping or caulk to fill in the crack. Weather stripping is easy to install and your whole house can be weatherized in one day.
 

7. Insulation

Do you find that you need to run your heating or air conditioning unit all the time to achieve a comfortable temperature? It could be that you do not have enough insulation in your attic. Improper amounts of insulation means that the hot or cool air is entering and exiting your home, causing your heating or air conditioning system to work harder. This is a waster of energy. Adding insulation will keep the cold or hot air in your home.
 

8. Hang-Dry Laundry

Gas and electric dryers use a lot of energy to dry your clothes. There are many inexpensive drying racks on the market that can hold an entire medium sized load. Alternatively, consider cutting back on your dryer usage. You can do this by drying the clothes on a lower temperature setting or drying them until they are half dry and then hanging them to dry.
 

9. Stovetop

On gas burners, the hottest part of the flame is right at the tip. If your flame has a larger diameter than the pot you are heating, you are wasting a lot of the heat produced by the flame. If the flame isn’t under the pot, it’s not working to heat it. Avoid producing unnecessary heat by using a burner that is the same size as the pot or pan.
 

10. Home-Energy Audit

A home-energy audit assesses how much energy your home consumes. It also evaluates what you can do to make your home more energy efficient. Many local utility companies offer low-cost audits. Contact your local utility company to see if they offer this service.

Marcy Tate is a blogger at Networx. She is also a featured author at Electricians Networks.

Mission Accomplished! (Or Is It?)

I talk to a lot of people about their energy conservation measures. Naturally, not wanting to look uncaring, people talk about how they have changed and are going green. Perhaps a light bulb or two changed to CFL. Perhaps they a jacket on their water heater. Some weatherstripping on their door? A programmable thermostat?

These changes sound fine, and they may actually make a difference. But there are two ways that just making changes alone doesn’t really change things.

Perhaps your two CFL bulbs reduce your electrical use a little, but isn’t it important to know how much? (For example, the oft-repeated water heater jacket is of almost no value if you have a relatively newer one). So it’s possible that your changes haven’t improved anything. And the second way changes alone are bad: you may feel like you have “gone green” … mission accomplished.

So to my great chagrin, I realized recently that I had very little clue what my heating usage was, or for that matter what it should be. I had made lots of great changes. Mission accomplished? Not so fast.

I logged in to the National Grid website, and was able to see my last three years of bills, including how many therms of natural gas we used each month. I added it all up, and realized: I have sinned indeed. My energy use for heating has been basically flat for the last three years. I have made almost no progress.

(Of course, denial kicked in, and when another green blogger friend pointed me to a site where I could see my heating degree days for our zip code. My denial says I will find that there were more degree days each year, meaning even if my consumption was flat, it was because it was colder outside, not because I hadn’t done anything. Hope springs.)

But my darker, more realistic side kicked in. I asked myself the hard question: “Tom, what have you done, really done, to reduce your use of natural gas in the last several years?”

Mission not accomplished.

Ghost of Conservation Past

Oh, sure, we did lots of very good things … years ago. We insulated. We replaced all the old windows with good ones. And we replaced our gas burner with a new, efficient model. These are big changes. And they cost us some big change (by which I mean: a lot of money).

To be honest, our motivation was simply to be able to keep the house warm enough to avoid being raided by the local child-protective service for abuse of our babies — the damned burner could run day and night when the weather was especially cold, and still not put out enough heat to keep the place warm. Global warming had nothing to do with it — this was local warming (or the absence thereof) to the extreme.

We did our first round of conservation well before we realized that our use of energy was about more than comfort, or more than expenses.

Our profligate use of global resources, especially energy, has impacts beyond the our walls, or checkbook. In 2004, I read, The End of Oil, and that’s when we ordered our first Prius, which took 9 months to arrive. We loved it so much, we got another. In 2005, I started writing down all the other changes we made to save energy and started reading my energy bills.

Well, the truth is, I can run, but I cannot hide. Since 2005, I have written down almost everything we have done to save energy. And I have categorized and tagged my posts here, and the answer is, I have talked a lot about how important it is to be able to measure. But I haven’t done much to save on household heating.

There are a couple changes we have made that might have made a difference in heating. We insulated the ceiling of our sun room. We installed storm doors with actual working weather-stripping over our front, and back doors. We added some insulation under the floors of the kitchen and sun-rooms. But (heating degree-day data denial notwithstanding), the numbers show they haven’t made a big difference in how much fuel we use to heat the house.

The Ghost of Conservation Present

Last Spring, my denial hit a speed bump: I had an energy audit.

Fleming Lund, owner of Infrared Diagnostics did our energy audit — he came to my house on a sufficiently cold Spring morning and rendered the awful truth. Well, actually, he was very nice about it and said that our house was relatively tight and reasonably well insulated. But I know now, he was just being nice.

Missed Insulation First Time Around

We knew we had punted on insulating the whole-house fan, and, well, you could see daylight through the bulkhead door to the basement. And yes, those basement windows were, um, bad. I knew all of this, but how much could it really matter?

Or how much could the poorly caulked windows matter? Or the draft under the kitchen door (even after the storm door was replaced) on winter mornings? Would it really make any difference if we increased the existing insulation in the attic?

And yes, there was cold air leaking in through the light fixtures in the recently remodeled kitchen — why hadn’t they insulated properly when all the walls were down? And on, and on.

We don’t know the answer to all of these questions, but as the winter kicks in, I think we will.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

After the energy audit was delivered, we took action. We have:

• Hired a contractor to insulate missing areas, seal the basement sill and other air leaks, and top off the attic with insulation ($500, with rebate)
• Caulked around leaky windows in the house as identified by the infrared photos ($15)
• Built an insulated cover for our whole house fan ($20)
• Installed an insulated cover over the attic stairs ($10)
• Installed insulation over the incredibly leaky bulkhead door ($10)
• Installed a chimney balloon to prevent leakage of air up the chimney ($56)
• Caulked the horribly leaky basement windows ($15)
• Installed pipe-insulation over our hot-water pipes ($12)

Total cost, around $650. This was greatly reduced by an excellent rebate program offered by our gas delivery service, National Grid, who paid for 75% of the expense of the major insulation and weather-sealing update we did. We will also be eligible for a small federal tax rebate on the cost of the actual insulating materials we purchased.

But then, this morning, we re-ran a part of the energy audit test: we closed all the windows and doors, removed the whole house fan cover and turned it on high. This replicated part of the test done during the energy audit: the blower-door test. That test put a specially calibrated, computer-connected fan over the front door of the house and measured carefully how much air was leaking in. Our test this morning used less scientific methods: we put our hands over the (formerly) leaky places and felt for drafts.

And what’s important is: we did find drafts. So once again the caulking gun came out, and we sealed up the spots we had missed in the first round. I ran my hand around the floor, ceiling and openings (windows, doors) of the entire house. And I found a lot of little leaks, still. Probably not anything like the ones we had found before — then again, it’s hard to find little leaks when you still have huge leaks. Having plugged all the huge leaks now, our whole house fan, taking the place of the fancier blower-door, was able to help us quickly find the remaining leaks, and plug them up.

The Ghost of Conservation Future

Given how much air was leaking in this morning, and given how much air leakage and extra insulation we had already installed, I predict that our house will need perhaps 5% or 10% less fuel to maintain the same temperature as last year. If we saved 5% through these actions, we would reduce our annual expense by about $90. However, the energy audit did a calculation saying that if we reduced our air infiltration to the degree possible, we could save $300, given our current gas rates, and other factors. This would reduce our annual bill of around $1,800 to $1,500 — almost 17%.

And what we always must remember: that number is effectively permanent. Every bill, and every year I’ll save that $300 or so.

And the other cool (warm?) thing about money saved is that it’s worth more than the same amount earned. If I got another $300 a year in income, I would pay some percentage of it to federal and state taxes, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of my “raise” would go to taxes. So making these energy efficiency changes is like getting a $400 a year raise.

And the most important thing has nothing to do with money. By making small, relatively inexpensive changes, I will reduce the amount of CO2 we emit from our household. And if I leave not a dime to my children, this change, as part of a social movement made by many of us to cause significant change, will leave my children with a planet in slightly less peril than the one our current course seems destined to lead them to.

It will pay off. One way or the other.

Can you make some of these changes, too?

But now that it’s fall, we might as well call it a “house hole” instead :-)

We have a 32″ square hole in our attic. We had an old mattress cover that was about the right size and we tossed it over the top every fall thinking, “close enough”. Then we had our energy audit last Spring, and this is what we found: the picture on the left is of the louvers that cover the fan opening when it’s not on; the picture on the right is an infrared photo of the same area taken (with our mattress cover installed). Blue is cold, and cold is bad.

Whole House Fan, or House Hole (click for full size image)

Blue is bad.

Since the energy audit, we have had the house insulation filled in where the first contractor messed up, and topped off the insulation in the attic. But I still needed to improve on the mattress cover.

How To Make A Whole House Fan Cover

Before

You can get them at an lumber yard, or home store like Home Depot or Lowes — I bought 3 pink panels, 2 feet (24″) wide, 8 feet long and 1 inch thick. But first I measured.

Oh, and a roll of duct tape, wide if you can find it. Total cost for three panels and tape was about $20.

The trick is to make a box with one face open. This isn’t precision engineering, so give yourself and extra inch. My fan opening is around 32 inches square, and about 14 inches off the floor to clear the motor. These are the inside dimensions — you’ll need to add an inch to the length of the sides to account for the thickness of the panels. Start with the 4 side panels.

You can mark the measurements on the board — I used a pen and a 4″ carpenter’s level. If you don’t have the level, any straight-edge will do.

There are a couple of ways to cut this insulation. If you have a sharp blade on what used to be called a “Stanley knife” (before 9/11, now “box-cutter”) you can make a nice clean cut — just pull the blade smoothly. With 1″ board, the blade will cut almost all the way through — I just snapped off the remaining part. If you have thicker board you can cut in from both sides and snap it. If you have power tools, you could also use a jigsaw or sabre-saw if you wanted, or for that matter a circular saw. A carpenter’s finish saw would work, too. In a related job, I used a hacksaw blade mounted in a frame designed for cutting in tight places, which lets the blade extend out. I would not recommend a chainsaw. Bottom line: this doesn’t need to be finish carpentry.

Cut the long way first for the box sides, then out of the two long pieces, cut four sides to length, in my case, 33″ x 14″. Overlap one edge with the other and tape the first two sides together. Try to align the tongue-and-groove edge the same way, and make sure what will be the top edge of the box is about the same height so the top will fit on flat. Keep working around until you have all four sides taped together.

Now for the top. Lay down an un-cut board over the box edges, and tape two of the sides temporarily — aligning the two edges of the board with the box sides will make everything nice and square. Use the underside of the opposite edge to mark the length of the board and cut it (you can take it off the box sides). The other half of the remaining board should fit, tongue-and-groove and make a nice seal — mark the undersides, and cut them.

After

I am still experimenting with methods for creating a good seal between the box and the attic floor. I bought a can of spray foam, which might do the job. Or maybe just duct tape — my attic floor is just rough-cut boards, so that poses a little challenge. I am thinking of creating a permanent flat surface with left-over rigid panel that sits on the floor and seals tightly against the fan frame — this might be a good idea in my case — if your attic has a nice plywood floor then you’re probably all set.

In any case, this is an air sealing job with an insulation component. The duct tape will do a good job with air-sealing the box itself. The insulation value of the 1″ rigid board isn’t all that great — R 2.5, I think, but I think this will be a far better outcome than the old mattress cover.

This job took me about a half hour once I had the board home from the lumber yard.

How To Do It Right the First Time

All of this insulating was needed because I bought the cheapest possible fan from Home Depot. It’s loud, was difficult to install, and despite the gaping maw I hacked in my ceiling, does only a pretty good job of sucking air through the house.

If I had it to do again, I would get a top quality, quiet, self-insulating whole house fan that didn’t require cutting a ceiling joist, since it is narrow and designed to fit a standard 16″ width between joists. This model has two smaller, quieter fans; when on, the doors open up to let air flow; when off, then close down and have a thick layer of insulation on top, built right in.

Oh well, live and learn.

Our energy audit found two other gaping holes in our house, and the rigid pink Styrofoam panels are a good solution for those, as well.

More adventures in air sealing to come :-)

We’re not martyrs, cheap, or holier than thou. OK, maybe cheap, but that’s really not it. We’re quite comfortable in our un-air-conditioned house, in fact.

[Update, August 23rd. We caved. It has been miserably humid, still, and hot and has been for a week or so. We both agreed on Sunday to put in one of our two window AC units. But it was too hot, so I didn't. And then it cooled down a little. We survived.]

The main contributing factors to our comfort are:

• Management of Sun
• Management of Air
• Our Recent Trip to Europe
• Proper Attire

And these things have also worked in our office space. I am proud of my company and of my co-workers for embracing a few changes that make this possible, and seen how much nicer life is without A/C.

Management of Sun

I suppose it goes without saying that the sun is what makes things hot. But there, I have said it. So keeping the heat of the sun out of your house keeps it cool. Several significant changes to our house have made each successive summer more comfortable.

We have had shades on our windows for years, and lately have been using them. Several years ago, we installed Cooleroo Shades over the exterior of some of the south facing windows — while not perfect, they do their job very well. I am also expecting delivery of several awnings to install over our bedroom windows. Keeping the sun out doesn’t mean the house has to be dark — on days when I work at home, I open the shades that are not currently exposed to the sun, and adjust during the day.

This year, we added insulation — in our walls and attic. We had some insulation before, but the extra amount clearly is helping keep the heat out. We also did a good deal of sealing for drafts: a chimney balloon, some foam insulation installed in areas where there were drafts identified in our home energy audit, as well as some good ol’ caulking. Also, we keep the doors and windows shut tight when it’s really hot. Keeping the hot air out makes a big difference.

CFLs and other efficient light bulbs also burn cooler than standard bulbs. Use any light sparingly.

Management of Air

What can I say: I think ceiling fans are awesome. We have one in our bedroom, and another in the kitchen. The bedroom fan makes sleeping comfortable in almost all conditions — even if the air is humid, a slight, quiet breeze provides for a much more comfortable and peaceful environment for sleeping and other bedtime activities than anything other than the four to six days of great “sleeping weather” we get annually. We plan to install ceiling fans in the kids’ rooms.

I am almost as smitten with our whole-house fan as I am with ceiling fans. With very few exceptions, the evening or morning air is cooler, and it’s always the case that the basement air is. Depending on conditions, we open some windows and turn on the fan, which sucks cool, fresh air in, and pumps hot air out through the attic.

If it’s really hot out still, we open up the basement windows only, and turn on the whole-house fan so that air is drawn in through the cool basement. But so far, at least, the night air has been a few degrees cooler and we can replace the air in the house in a matter of minutes. If we leave the fan running on its lower speed, we can adjust which windows are open to create drafts where we want them — this is nice in the evenings or mornings.

This year we installed two ceiling fans in our office. So far, we haven’t used the A/C, which is a crappy metal ducted version — the air handler is so noisy that none of us can think when it’s on. The ceiling fans have just worked, so far.

Another benefit of the whole-house fan is that it flushes the super-heated air in the attic out. I also installed a thermostat-controlled attic exhaust fan which accomplishes the same thing during the day or when we’re not using the whole-house-fan. Getting the hot air out of the attic is a big win.

Cooking is best done on a grill. No ovens, boiling (although we enjoy the occasional Salad Niçoise, which calls for boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs. Turn on the kitchen exhaust fan to move that hot air out!

Speaking of exhaust fans, take cold showers, but if you need a little warmth, turn on the bathroom fan and keep the steam at bay.

Finally, good, old-fashioned table fans allow simple air management when and where it’s needed.

A lot of fans, you say? Yes, but none of them uses that much electricity, and we only run them as needed. Compared to the window units they have replaced, they merely sip electricity. And compared to central air … well, don’t get me started.

Recent Trip to Europe

OK, I’ll admit, the recent trip to Europe seems kind of like a teaser. But I am quite sure it helped us acclimatize our bodies to heat — it was quite warm there, and hardly anyone uses air conditioning — not in cars, hotels, subways and most other places. As you may have guessed, this was a great thing in my mind (perhaps other American visitors were less thrilled than I).

I have no real facts to back up my long-held belief that one’s body can adjust to hot and cold, and that it takes a little time. But it was hot in Europe, and I recall being acutely aware of that in our first few days, less so as the trip progressed. When we arrived home, it seemed downright chilly here.

So, given the carbon footprint associated with air travel, I cannot recommend that readers all go to Europe to acclimatize. If you do, beware: they exchange rate sucks these days, and there’s a restaurant in Venice where you can get a crappy, poorly prepared meal with a half-bottle of cheap wine for $140 if you’re not careful.

Instead, I offer that the best way to beat the heat is to come to terms with it.

I was shocked by several things in Europe (not just that a Euro cost $1.45 — yikes!). I think the biggest one was just how we have come to expect conditioned air where ever we go, and on the way here in the US. There are certainly some cases where it’s nice, but a refrigerated world is not a necessity. There are other ways to cope with heat and be quite comfortable.

Proper Attire

All southern gentlemen appear to dress in light colored, cotton and linen with an impeccable hat. Or at least that’s how it seems from the movies. But the idea is right: shorts, or light pants, a loose, un-tucked shirt, and sandals (or better yet, bare feet) all make for comfort. It helps to work in an informal environment such as my office (where bare feet seem to be acceptable) or my home where anything goes.

You can do it, too!

The chimney balloon is an inflatable bag, available in various sizes to fit inside your chimney. A tube and valve on the bottom allows you to inflate it so that it conforms to even the roughest, oddest shaped chimney interiors. The inflating tube is detachable, so there’s nothing visible when installed. The balloon is made of a tough, durable plastic. It can be easily removed as needed (but don’t forget to before lighting a fire!) and just as easily reinstalled. The cost is under $50, and their web site has a lot of great and helpful information on how to choose the right size.

I can tell that the chimney balloon works because it has solved an annoying problem for us already this summer: during cooler evenings, we get fresh and cool air into the house using our whole-house fan. If we don’t have enough windows open, the living room would have a smokey smell, as the fan would draw air in through the chimney. After we installed the Chimney Balloon, the problem is solved, and we get fresh air in the house.

As a result of an inadvertent slip, I did manage to put a small puncture in our chimney balloon (don’t ask: I’ll just say it was not a very clever move on my part, and involved a razor knife :-). After a quick look around on their site, I found good instructions for repairing it: a patch with packing tape did the trick and it’s as good as new.

It’s hard for me to quantify the savings in heating (and cooling) one could expect from this product. Based on our audit, we’re expected to save about $350 per year on our heating bill after completing the various air sealing projects identified. It’s pretty clear, just from walking around with the inspector while the blower-door sucking air out of the house during the test that the chimney, even with damper closed, was one of several large sources or air leakage. Perhaps if it accounts for 10% or 15% of the fixable leaks, the cost of the larger sized chimney balloon we needed should be paid for in a year or less. This seems to be backed up by independent testing reported by the seller which suggests savings of more than $100/year (for a house in Minneapolis). At a cost of under $50, it’s a quick payback on fuel alone.

Another solution for blocking chimney drafts is to install glass doors over the fireplace opening. They are far more expensive, however (around $250 and up), and a bit of a chore to install, especially if your fireplace opening is not relatively flat. The tests I note above suggest that the chimney balloon is a bit more effective than glass doors, too, although I suspect either makes about the same difference.

This is a small expense and small effort that can save you a lot of money over the years, and reduce your carbon footprint a little bit.

After our energy audit, I started thinking about how I would get the things I needed done. I really didn’t know who should do the work, but I got a lead from the man who did our audit. His reference turned out to be a company that was defunct (or something), however I found this through searching the name he provided. The site I came across was called Service Magic, and they provide a referral service for contractors. I explained what I wanted, and they referred me to HomeWorks Energy, an insulation contractor in the Boston area. I called them, and Scott, the owner, told me that not only could he do the work, but that there was a great deal for NationalGrid gas customers doing insulating project using approved contractors in Massachusetts until the end of July — 75% off, up to $2,000.

(This kind of stuff never happens in real life, does it?)

But I checked it out, and it’s the real thing. Scott came over on Tuesday, and using the infrared photos taken last week, was able to provide an estimate for the work needed. The estimate includes numerous items — many are items missed by the first contractor we hired years back, others are AIR leaks identified in the audit, and more work will bring our attic closer to the level of insulation it should really have. The total cost: $2,519, of which I’ll pay only $630 in the end. Not to mention a possible federal tax credit.

I was lucky to find this deal. Trust me, while NationalGrid is doing a great thing indeed, they do not appear to be exactly anxious to give away thousands of dollars — the site with the discount information is entirely different than their normal site with nary a reference I could find. But it was there. So I thought I would share my general strategy for locating the various incentives that apply, at least here in Massachusetts.

• Here’s a fancy Google search for locating various consumer energy incentive programs in your state (change the “ma|mass|massachusetts” bit in the search box to your state)
• Federal Energy Tax Credit Information from EnergyStar
• Service Magic, referrals for qualified contractors

It turns out that I can get a $300 discount for upgrading my hot water heater, and there are a few other potentially interesting rebates and incentives involving energy conservation. You paid your taxes, right — now get back the part that will make the world a greener place!

• The most of the corners of the house were never insulated the first time
• Our bulkhead door leaks like a sieve (maybe that’s why I can see light through it :-)
• The attic door and whole house fan let in a lot of air
• The chimney damper is pretty useless in terms of insulating
• Air pours into our basement through the sill and old windows
• Most of our windows still need to have caulking around the edges — air is getting in
• All the leaks result in a complete air exchange about once every 70 minutes in winter

How the Audit Worked

There were two parts: a “blower door test” and an infrared camera inspection (the actual reports are linked below).

The blower door test basically is a way to create some suction of air out of the house with a sophisticated method of measuring air infiltration, or how well sealed your house it. One measure is air changes per house (ACH) — a house does need some fresh air from outside, but the target is something like 0.3 ACH — our house measured an average of 0.65 ACH, and in the winter when windy and colder the estimate is 0.87 ACH (about one change every hour and 10 minutes).

The blower door rig fits in the front door of your house, covering all but a hole sized for a special fan. The fan and some small air-tubes are hooked to a control unit, which runs the tests and measures how hard it has to pull to create a certain amount of vacuum in your house — the harder it has to work, the tighter your house. It runs for about 20 minutes at various settings, and sends the results to a computer when done.

The infrared camera can “see” heat and cold. Hot areas are red, cold are blue.

Our house was constructed around 1920 — in order that the house doesn’t move, all the corners have diagonal “wind braces” from floor to ceiling, in additional to the usual vertical wooden studs (when plywood sheathing replaced boards, wind braces became unnecessary). We had our house insulated with blown-in cellulose insulation several years back — they take off some of the siding, drill holes in the sheathing and pump the insulation in under pressure, one hole for each 16" stud bay. But the insulators missed every exterior corner because the wind-bracing. This is very evident in the infrared picture.

If you look closely at the IR photo, you’ll also see that there are vertical lines in a lighter blue — these are the wooden studs in the wall, which shows that wood is not a good insulator.

The third part of the inspection was a walk-through while the blower was running. I could feel the draft blowing up from the basement as we walked down. Flemming, our auditor, used his IR camera to locate problem areas, then took an IR photo and a matching regular photo. He also had a can of “smoke” that he sprayed in certain areas so that I could see how much wind was blowing. When the fan was running, it produced almost 8 ACH (about 10x more than normal), but still, there was a lot of air flowing.

Part of the report calculated a potential savings of more than $300/year if all of the items are addressed properly.

I was properly motivated, to say the least.

How to Address the Findings

We have been given our marching orders on what to fix, and how. Some of the items any home owner could do, including:

• Spray foam around the leaky sill in the basement
• Caulk around windows
• Seal other areas where cold air is leaking up from the basement
• Improve weather-seal on our kitchen door
• Buy a “Chimney Balloon” to block air-flow through the fireplace

There are other tasks that require carpentry or other specialized skills, including

• Build a box to cover the whole-house fan in the winter
• Build a cover for the attic stairs
• Install a regular (exterior) door at the base of the stairs to the bulkhead door
• Insulate the areas missed in the first round

I have a guy coming over this afternoon to do an estimate on the insulation (and maybe the other items). Cooler still, it turns our our fuel company, NationalGrid, is offering a 75% rebate on the cost of insulating, and there are some federal tax credits available, as well. Wow!

Here are the reports from our energy audit, from InfraredDiagnostics. They are both PDF files. Note, the IR file is 2.7MB.

• Infrared Test Report (pdf)
• Blower Door Test Report (pdf)

Uninsulated Ceiling

I’ll write more about the details in another post, but it occurred to me that many, if not most houses could get a payback. If someone like me (obsessive, crazy) failed to take this simple step for at least 5 years, there’s something wrong. Here are some of the things I think need to happen:

• The rapid payback opportunity should be promoted more visibly;
• It should be a lot easier to find the companies that do this kind of service in your area;
• If there’s a tax incentive, I don’t know about it, but there should be;
• Utilities should have an incentive to promote this kind of action, and even do no-cost financing of the audit cost;
• There should be a good, current, easily accessible registry of contractors and “finder” tool on the EnergyStar site;
• There should be some certification for contractors who can do the audits, as well as those who can do mitigation; and
• Everyone should know that it’s easy, quick, low-cost, and has no downsides!

And probably a few others.

I watch, read and listen to many energy conservation articles. They’re all good, but they tend to be laundry-lists. When it comes to houses there are scores of things that can be done and I suspect people listen, nod along, then maybe do a couple things here and there. Wouldn’t it be cool if there were a single “valet service” that would negotiate all of this stuff for homeowners?

I would certainly respond to a message that said “Want to save $300 dollars a year? We’ll come to your house and take a quick look around. If we find opportunities to save we can arrange to have all the work done. There are many simple changes that will cost little or nothing and save you big bucks on your energy bills, and help save the planet while you’re at it!”