2.26.2008

The Fireplace Draftstopper: A Damper Cover

In February '06 after we'd been in the house five months, it seemed like a good time to make our beautiful fireplace serve its purpose. I thought that would take the chill off our evenings downstairs.

A chimney sweep cleaned the gutters, swept the chimney, left a fine black dust on the living room, inspected the chimney and then considerably overpriced a new cap. That's okay, I wasn't going to climb up there with a new cap. He said we had one of the strongest downdrafts he'd ever seen. He left the damper up, saying it would make the downstairs more comfortable without costing us more and that I should test it, at least.

We bought a new HEPA vacuum to suck up all the soot and then gleefully let it pull us across every room. We had a couple of glorious little fires using a Duraflame and then a Crackleflame log, which sounds like real wood burning. But the room was no warmer. I was surprised, since my mom's fire heats her family room very well. Of course, she closes the doors to the room. And we have no doors to close off the room from the rest of the house: it's an open floor plan.

Days after the fire was out, the room was still colder than before the sweep had come: the experiment failed (What a surprise! Not.). I managed to dislodge the damper instead of shutting it. We put a blanket over the front of the fireplace and watched the gusts inflate and deflate the blanket animatedly. The sweep came back and fixed the damper, and closed it.

Months later, to prevent the AC from rushing up the chimney, I was looking at fireplace doors online and found a damper pillow at http://www.batticdoor.com/fireplacedraftstopper.html. The Fireplace Draftstopper creates a better seal than a metal damper encrusted with past fire debris. I set the black, plastic inflatable cushion in place and blew it up. It's just as easy to take it out if we want to have a fire.
draftstopper
We definitely noticed the strong draft from the fireplace was much weaker with the cover in place. A small draft still comes up from the gaps in the masonry on the firebox floor. It's on the To Do List.

Last month, our energy auditor was glad to test a house that had a damper cover. He had recommended this type of solution to others since they are so affordable. We discovered ours had deflated a little over time, so I added some air and he said it helped. I checked it again when I replaced the furnace filter, and I'll make it a habit to do them together each time.

2.19.2008

In Hot Water

Though we moved in over two years ago, our 70s house still sports much of its original decor. The second owners showed off a switch plate perfectly wallpapered to match the leafy pattern on the wall behind it. It really is amazing. And it's pretty tasteful. Both of our moms love it. That works for us, because we've had enough to do with our jobs, cleaning, and unpacking.

We did start on the home inspector's list. A Sears tech cleaned and inspected the furnace & the hot water heater and was about to give a clean bill of health, when he saw a rust patch lurking in the back, broaching the final remaining layer of the tank. The home inspector had missed that.

I bought a new hot water heater from Home Depot. I replaced a gas one with an electric one for better indoor air quality. That removes a potential fire hazard, too. I didn't know then that gas is the current environmental choice, even though gas isn't renewable, because power plants are a bigger problem. At least I bought one with a 12-year warranty. Ones with longer warranties, according to Consumer Reports, are much more energy-efficient than the models with shorter warranties, because they typically have larger heating elements, thicker insulation, and thicker or longer corrosion-fighting anodes. Yes, this one is much wider than the old one, and though I measured, it was a relief when it fit!

Our home energy audit report said that water heating is our second largest single energy use. One recommendation is to insulate approximately 4 feet of the hot and cold pipes as they exit the top of the tank to reduce the convective heat loss. I've been looking at types of insulation to use for this and when I looked at our pipes to see what size to get, I saw that they touch. Yes, the hot water pipe, which felt like it might burn me if I kept touching it, actually touches the icy-feeling cold water pipe! Very close to the top of the tank!! So I'll be getting insulation that fits between them...

We already have the hot water heater thermostats set at 120 degrees, which was the factory set temperature, and is often recommended by energy efficiency articles. We've never run out of hot water and it's definitely hot.

I wondered later if I should've chosen a tankless hot water heater, but from what I've read we probably would've had to increase the amps to the house to support it! I'm going to look into the AirTap Water Heater Add-On among other options on http://www.aceee.org/consumerguide/waterheating.htm, which would be a good site to check out if you need to pick out a new one.


Update: I wrapped Armaflex insulation tape around the hot water pipe, overlapping halfway for the first layer and then just a little bit for the second layer. water pipesI barely managed to get both layers between the two pipes. pipes touch

2.12.2008

Our Home Energy Audit on NBC4's Going Green!

Wendy Rieger interviewed me about our home energy audit for NBC4's Going Green series. She also interviewed our contractor Thom, who did the audit and led the air sealing and insulation work. A videographer shot the work being done for the segment, which aired this evening at the end of the 5 o'clock evening news hour. You can read it and see video at http://www.nbc4.com/goinggreen/15285616/detail.html.

If you're in Maryland, did you go to mdhomeperformance.org yet to pick a contractor for your energy audit? Please let me know if you have any questions!

Many other states now have a locally-sponsored Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, too. If your state does not have one, see the U.S. Dept of Energy's Home Energy Audits information.

If you're in DC, did you hear Pat Lawson Muse say that Pepco provides free energy audits to DC customers? Call the Department of the Environment at 202-673-6750.

If you're in Northern Virginia, here is another Energy Star partner: http://www.nspects.com/faqs/default.htm

Air Sealing & Insulation

Thom and Brad of Energy Services Group came and built a platform for attic storage higher than the new insulation would be to prevent compressing it, which would reduce its effectiveness. Brad sealed the gaps in the attic with foam, and foamboard where appropriate.

Here is the biggest gap, sealed for the first time in the house's 37 years, along the framing void for the master bath.
Sealing the Framing Void

A common gap is around the furnace flue, like this one:

Furnace Flue Sealing

Another gap was found hidden under the old insulation over the stairs near the upstairs hall bathroom. They covered and sealed it too:
Another Gap Found
Thom opened the drywall in the shed to check the air gap and then close it with foamboard and seal it with foam:

Shed Gap

They installed baffles to keep the eaves clear of insulation for good attic ventilation: Baffles






Another contractor blew the cellulose insulation carefully all over the attic floor while Thom fed cellulose into the blower outside:

Blowing Cellulose

We went from R11 to R38, which is 10" of cellulose. Then they ran the blower door test again and showed a substantial reduction of the air leakage rate. There was still some air leakage. I could feel it in the furnace room, but nothing like the torrent I felt before the work. Thom said it probably wouldn't be cost-effective to tear up the house further to find more leaks. He said that doing more of the recommendations from the audit should take care of our needs.

Now the upstairs is wearing a warm sweater. We lowered the thermostat by four degrees right away with the same comfort upstairs. It's been neat to try the thermostat one degree lower each night. Our latest try: 61 degrees was just fine while we slept. So we're saving money at night and when we're in the office, since it's upstairs. We still raise the temp a few degrees when we plan to spend the evening downstairs, a few times a week. The downstairs will continue to improve as we finish more of the recommendations.


Update: We've been sleeping at 60 degrees comfortably for a few days!

Our Home Energy Audit

On January 4th, Thom of Energy Services Group came to do an energy audit of our house. He asked for our primary reason for doing the audit. I told him that we wanted to save money on energy, have healthier indoor air and reduce our carbon footprint, but our primary reason was to have more comfortable indoor temperatures. The upstairs was around five to seven degrees warmer than the downstairs year-round and being warm enough downstairs meant turning up the heat a lot.

The difference between our upstairs office at the Western corner of the house and our living room underneath it could be even more. Thom said that replacing our Venetian blinds in both rooms with solid shades would create an air cushion that would help, drapes even more. Low-E glass would help in the office, but I like the warmth of the sun through the glass and I work there all day. (Since my husband likes it cold, a compromise may be that after enjoying warmth and sunshine in the morning, I close shades and drapes midday to prevent the room from being too warm in the evening when he gets home and gets on his computer.)

Thom said he was pleased to be able to audit a house with a damper pillow in the fireplace. He had recommended them as a low-cost way ($50) to seal the fireplace when not in use, but he had not had the opportunity to test one.

He used the infrared scanner and showed me on the scanner where the cold air was coming in. As expected, it was coming in through the windows, the fireplace, where ceilings meet walls, through the sliding glass door. Less expected was that cold air was coming in where the shed meets our kitchen wall and well into the room along the top of that wall. As expected, cold air was coming in around the attic door. He said it's difficult to address the attic door and I told him that the damper pillow company makes a product to seal attic doors too and we agreed it's cheap enough at around $60 to try. Surprisingly, cold air was visible through the wall just above the furnace.

Blower Door
Then he put the blower door in our front door and used the scanner again all around. This time we found where cold air was coming in by feeling the blasts of air with our hands. The damper pillow wasn't sealing, so I blew more air into it and it did better but still not complete --I'll try to position it better later, and check on it regularly to see if it needs more air. There was a lot of cold air coming up through the masonry that needs "pointing" --some of the bricks are missing cement between them-- in the firebox floor. There was also cold air coming in the register that's low on the outside wall in the kitchen. He said it may be worthwhile, if we replace our furnace at some point with a high efficiency one or a heat pump, to cap that register and put a new register --angled to send air in two directions-- on the kitchen ceiling. That placement would avoid two bends in the duct for greater efficiency.

Cold air came in most dramatically right above the furnace. He said we'd see where that was coming from in the attic. Cold air also came in the upstairs bathroom fan openings. He said that eventually we should get better bathroom fans for about $150 each that have a damper that closes completely when they are off. He said making the house tighter would necessitate bringing more fresh air inside and efficient bathroom fans could do that on a low setting. He also said that a new furnace or heat pump would have a fan that would cost one-fifth of ours to run. Since we run it all the time when it's warm, that would be substantial savings.

Then he turned off the blower and we went into the attic. Thom recognized my BoGo solar task light since he gives them to clients! He borrowed it, because it was brighter than his flashlight. Looking under our loose fiberglass insulation, he was surprised to find a vapor barrier but said it isn't that helpful. He said our attic had better ventilation than most, which is good, and our home inspector had told us that, too. Thom found gaps in the loose insulation, some probably caused by our custom cable installer sliding through it. Thom showed me how the furnace chimney needs to be sealed where it meets the attic floor. He said if we replace the furnace with a high efficiency unit, we should cap the old vent where it meets the attic floor or remove it and seal the roof.

Looking for dirty insulation as a good indicator, he found other gaps. The biggest gap was an inch or two wide and several feet long, along the edge of the house above the master bath. He said even today's builders often use this type of plumbing cavity and then never seal the top of it. That's the source of the major draft we felt right above the furnace. The air travels down that shaft along the outside wall and then along a duct into the furnace room. He said, "We'll seal that." Thom has an air sealing company, so he spoke as if he would do the work, although he offered to give me a list of other approved contractors if I wished. He said 80% of houses lose most of their heat through unsealed gaps and poor insulation in the attic. He also said that sealing or replacing windows rarely has a big impact.

We looked in the utility shed. He said he would cut open the drywall of the shed attic, to see why so much cold air is going into the house where they meet. I suggested it might be the central vacuum system ductwork: the unit is no longer hooked up to it, so the duct is open in the shed. He looked at the air conditioning unit nearby to check its capacity.

I asked him if we should wait to do any of the steps we talked about. He said he would send and email his report, which would include the recommended order. He said that basically it's attic, then shed, then anything else we're going to do, then replace the heater last, so we really test the final tightness of the house to determine the size/capacity of the heater we need. He said that we could wait on the heater until we're ready or it quits, since it may be the original unit from 1971. He said the new furnace would be around $6,000 for our house size. He is encouraging the state to do a low-cost loan program for high-efficiency heaters. That's the same price we were quoted by another company for replacement windows, by the way.

To Do List:
  • Have the air sealing and insulation done to the attic and shed attic.
  • Get an attic door cover, shades & drapes.
  • Look into an electric fireplace insert.
  • Put clear caulk around the fireplace at the sides and ceiling, either by the trim with painter's tape or remove the trim and do it and then put the trim back. Use clear caulk to seal the frame around the sliding glass door.
  • Save up for an energy-efficient sealed gas furnace or heat pump.

Thom teaches air sealing and learned about energy efficiency from the Princeton researcher who started the company 27 years ago. He said that some of the $450 audit fee I paid would apply toward the air sealing work, because he wouldn't need to do the inspection again, so I chose his company to do the work. They will re-do the energy audit afterward to be sure the changes have been effective.

Deciding to Have an Energy Audit

December '07 began with not only Christmas shopping but also preparing the house for our first party, set for New Year's Eve. We replaced the kitchen faucet with a shiny chrome Delta model with a sprayer since the old one leaked and the plumber said the model was too cheap to fix! A friend came over and commented how cold it was downstairs. I thought, "It'd be nice if our party guests were warm enough to enjoy the decorations..." That led me to search for "energy audit Maryland" so we could put our money toward the right effort.

In our quest to save money, energy and the environment, we'd replaced 23 lightbulbs so far among several other efforts which I will comment on later. In 2007 we used 17% less energy than in 2006. In Sept. we switched to 100% wind power at a slightly higher rate. So we were ready for the next step, but wanted expert advice to get the most bang for the buck.

I found the MD Energy Administration site and chose a contractor, Energy Services Group, because they had the most experience in Maryland of the ones listed, and left a message. MDhomeperformance.org is an easy way to find the approved contractors including mine.

We bought sustainable rubberwood bookcases (Target online) for the office to finally unpack several more boxes, a new futon cover, a couple of fresh wreaths and a cut Christmas tree. We also bought a steamer to clean (tile especially) without harsh chemicals, but so far we can't get the top off to put in any water. We ran out of time on doing any home performance improvement before the party and just turned up the heat for our guests this time.

Welcome to Our Home Energy!

Hello and welcome to Our Home Energy! My husband and I bought our first home in the Fall of 2005 and have been learning to care for it while being responsible with our piece of the Earth. We have friends who've been better environmentalists than we have for a long time, but that's a reason we're sharing our experiences, to show that a couple, who both work and play a lot, can gradually fit in changes that will...

  • save money,
  • make the house more comfortable and safer inside,
  • and reduce our carbon emissions significantly

so you can do it, too.

I've been keeping a log offline during our first two years in our first house, so some posts will flash back yet also have the benefit of my more recent research. Please feel free to offer your own experience or advice from hot water heaters to hygrometers or other concrete steps we or others could make right away with our homes.