My immersion into the home performance industry has yielded many interesting findings. However, I would like to share five discoveries that I have made, discoveries that have either proved a commonly-held belief wrong or have given me insight into a realm of possibility of which I was unaware. Hopefully these will provide you with some insight, and allow you to take a different perspective in regards to your home’s efficiency and environmental impact.
1) A new house isn’t always an efficient house. Before starting my internship, I took a look at Energy Circle’s website. While reading the “About Us” section, I discovered that Peter and Lisa were first inspired to found Energy Circle when an energy audit revealed that their house — a cape built in the 1980’s — leaked the equivalent of having a window open year-round. Though a home built in the last thirty years is certainly more efficient than, say, my 1860’s cape, a new home isn’t as efficient as one might think. In fact, a standard new home HERS (Home Energy Rating System) score is 100, which is 15 percent worse than an ENERGY STAR certified home (which achieves a score of 85). In sum, it’s better to make adjustments to your aged home rather than buy a new place in hopes of improving efficiency.
2) You waste a lot more energy than you think. Turn off your lights at night. See how many appliances are blinking in the dark. How many of these need to be on? How many don’t? How many did you not even know were on? How many did you not even know existed?! There are a lot of electronics that we leave carelessly plugged in that we don’t even use. Reduce your consumption by unplugging unnecessary items. Your wallet will thank you.
3) Leaks in the attic and basement are the basis of many problems. Though it may appear that the root of all evil in terms of energy efficiency is poor insulation and cracks around windows and doors, the majority of leaked air escapes through poorly insulated attics or basements. I held the belief that the biggest problem areas were poorly-insulated windows and doors; however, Peter informed me that attics and basements — spaces which are not traditionally used for living — often cause the most issues. An infrared diagnostics examination of your house will reveal which spots are the most problematic. Often times, these spots can be in the upper and lower extremities of the home, which is why they aren’t usually at the forefront of your priority list when thinking of where to fix. Examine the neglected spots — they may not be shouting for repairs, but there’s a good chance that they need them just as bad (if not more) than the rest of your home.
4) Total insulation isn't always a good thing. In fact, it can be a very bad thing — especially in places like the attic. When there isn’t enough attic ventilation, moisture and mold can build quickly, resulting in increased heat. As a result of this, stress is put on your home’s duct system. It is important to ensure that your attic has adequate ventilation to counterbalance the insulation. If not, heat generated in the attic can leak into your home, giving you unwanted temperature changes. They say that too much of a good thing is a bad thing — putting insulation in your attic without any ventilation to stabilize temperature can be a very bad thing.
5) Two-thirds of ducts installed in the United States are bad. That’s right. For every three feet of ductwork, two are poor enough to either be replaced or fixed. Though ducts are a hidden component in most houses, their vitality is incredible, as they are the vehicles through which conditioned air — whether cold or hot — travels. Additionally, the fact that 20% of illnesses are caused or aggravated by poor IAQ and that an average six-room house collects 40 pounds of dust per year makes it clear that poor ducts are a common culprit for easy-to-fix problems. Given that most people are indoors 60 to 90 percent of their time, it pays to have good air quality! Fix or replace your ducts to improve comfort and save money. There’s no point in having a system if it doesn’t work — ducts are no different.
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