Home Energy Squad

Recently, through a program with our energy company, we had a visit from the Home Energy Squad.  Every three years, they can come and help assess the energy systems in the house to guide homeowners in making energy-conscious choices.

With all the changes we've made in the last several years, I figured it was time for a second opinion and a review of our systems. It turned out to be a little bit of confirmation of what I already knew!  Thankfully, our decisions seem to be on the right track.

​Windows, Doors, and Lights

The choices we've made -or were made for us- have definitely affected our home's energy.  With modern windows, we have functioning double-hung, double pane windows.  These all seal well and don't leak during the winter.  With windows -modern or single pane with storms- the most important thing to achieve is a good seal.  Our attic windows need some work, but we're getting there!  

The back door is a modern fiberglass door with its original seal, so there are no concerns there.  The front door we just put in could use a little more refining.  It's still a little tight on warmer mornings, and is a bit sticky.  This can stop it from sealing all the way.  

Since all our lighting is already switched over to LEDs, we're in good shape with energy consumption there.  I seriously love LEDs: more on those here!

Home Utilities

Since we already run our HVAC on a heat pump and have disconnected all our gas utilities, we didn't require a combustion check.  Typically, this will make sure there are no carbon monoxide (CO) leaks through systems and appliances like the furnace, water heater, dryer, fireplace, and stove.  

It did check the operation of our current systems, and like I had planned, recommend that our next water heater be a heat pump water heater.  These run with a tank and use a heat coil for rapid heating, much like we curerntly have.  But they also have a small heat pump that maintains the water temperature in the tank for a lot less energy. 

The other area we are doing well is with our two bathroom fans: since we have ventilation through our bathrooms, our house is less likely to get a build up of moisture or pollutants.  Since we have a recirculating fan in the microwave range hood, adding adequate ventilation to the kitchen is the next logical step for our kitchen, though using the heat pump system also provides some mitigation as well.

Insulation

This where all our problems are, as I predicted.  We have no insulation in our exterior walls, so that is an area that we'll look into in the future.  The plan would be to use blown-in dense-pack cellulose.  The one thing to check before doing this -which we did in last year as part of our rewire- is to decommission any remaining knob and tube wiring and make sure everything is properly grounded.  Without grounding, two-wire cloth dissipates energy through heat into the surrounding air cavity.  If that is filled with insulation, it can cause a fire.

As for the attic... that is still a major project for this year.  With the age of our house and the original systems in place -and an R-value of 4- we are definitely working to get this buttoned up.  In the ceilings already, we have a rating of R-15, and I'll get the knee walls to R-21.  The goal in the attic ceiling is R-30, and I have a plan to get us right to R-32 in the next few weeks!  

So, we're getting there.  Our old house is well on its way to being a sustainable house as well.  I'm here for it with new goals and even more ideas of what to do next.