We have covered a lot of ground concerning energy-efficient appliances and equipment. So what if you have taken all our advice? Will that necessarily reduce your bill by hundreds of dollars a year? Maybe, but if you've replaced your lights, windows, and air conditioning, put in new appliances, but the bill still seems too high - its time to check your habits.
>Jason: This week's post probably should have been written first, but it just seemed too mundane to talk about until now. I feel the need to remind you of what you already know. I'm going to start with lighting. When you walk into a room, what is the first thing you do? You turn on the lights. When you leave the room though, do you shut your lights off? If the answer is "No," check your habits. an average light bulb will cost you $15 per year, assuming 3 hours of use per day. An average CFL will only cost you $3 per year with the same assumptions. But both of these figures increase incrementally as you leave the lights on longer. Granted, changing the bulb will decrease your bill, but changing your habits can decrease your bill even more. Also, leaving a light on adds heat into your room. In winter, this can be a cozy benefit, but in summer your lights will always work against your air conditioner. In fact, an incandescent light can add up to 3 degrees per hour in a a small room. Thats like running a small heater in your house.
>Ken: How about air conditioning, and heating? If you are gone all day, what do you leave the temperature at? If you shut it off, the temperature in summer can increase in an inefficient home to well over 90 degrees. Then turning the AC on when you get home can be expensive because it isn't just the air that has heated up. The walls, furniture and floors have all heated to the same temperature. That means the entire house has to be cooled which can take a lot of time and energy. Starting with an efficient AC unit of at least 13 SEER, set the temperature 8 to 10 degrees from the ideal. In other words, in summer if you like the temperature to be 78 degrees, set the thermostat to 85 degrees when you leave. In winter, do the same thing. If you like the temperature at 68 degrees, set it to 60 degrees when you leave. The building won't take nearly as long to become comfortable, and the energy demand will be decreased.
>Jason: Of course, leaving your doors or windows open will let all of your conditioned air escape outside, doing you no good at all. Remember that the more sealed your home is inside, the more effective your AC or heater will be. Anyway, we're about done for today. Take this with you: your practices in your home will largely determine your cost in your home. In my home, if I'm careful I can use less than $100 of power all month, even in summer. With someone else in my home, it has gone up by more than 30%. This was all costs due to bad practices. In closing, remember that power flowing in you house is money flowing out of your pocket...every second. Ok, that's all. Be energy smart!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
"A Free Source of Energy" Part 2
>Ken: The last time we talked about Solar, we mentioned the Federal tax credit of 30%. Some utilities also have rebates available. These rebates can total anywhere from 10% to 40% of the total cost of the system. If you add this to the tax credit, you can see the total final cost to you can be comparatively low. In California, the two major utilities, PG&E and SCE are offering $1.10 and $1.90 per watt rebates right now. With top tier utility rates topping $.42 per KWH, solar is looking better and better.
>Jason: Perhaps if you're in the top tier of your utility company, solar really is a good option. But I still think that most commercial properties, with rates between 8 and 13 cents depending on where you are in the country, would still not benefit from solar. Whatever. Believe it or not, after all these years, I never knew about the rebate for solar in CA. What about the rest of the country? This seems to vary quite a bit from state to state and among utility companies. See, this just shows how important it is to have all the information about a subject, especially one as big as energy conservation. So Ken, obviously I don't know as much as I need to about solar. Tell me about solar water heaters. Educate me, and all our readers.
>Ken: Jason! Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your post? You are right about varying rebates nationwide, check with your utility to see what they are offering right now. The tax credit of course is nationwide. If the utility rates you are paying average more than about 15 to 20 cents, you may want to look into solar.
Regarding water heating, if you are in a part of the country that gets plenty of sun, and you are using propane, or your natural gas prices are high you may also want to look at solar water heaters. This is how they work. A large (usually 100 gallons) tank of water will be located somewhere near a few thermal solar collectors. The tank may be on your roof, or directly below the collectors in a garage. In warmer climes, the water is circulated directly through the panels, heating it to approximately double the outside air temperature. In the area of the country I live in, the coldest daytime temps rarely go below 50 degrees. This 100 degree water is stored in the water tank and heated the rest of the way by natural gas or electric filament. In summer, the temp gets so hot the water needs to be cooled before being delivered to your home. Federal tax credits and utility rebates also apply here, so it may be cost effective to look into this form of Solar as well.
>Jason: Perhaps I was a touch sarcastic, but regardless, in finishing with the topic of solar, the solar water heater usually runs around $5000 installed before rebates. With a reduction close to 75% off your water heating costs, this can pay itself off in...oh about 12 years. This is a long payback, but out of respect for the solar salesman above, I'll tell you its a good deal if you plan on living at your current house the rest of your life. Anyway, we may never agree, but the bottom line is that solar will be pricey but what you get is your own, personal power plant. Until next week, dont pay too much for your power bill, and be energy smart!
>Ken: PS: I do not currently sell solar.
>Jason: Perhaps if you're in the top tier of your utility company, solar really is a good option. But I still think that most commercial properties, with rates between 8 and 13 cents depending on where you are in the country, would still not benefit from solar. Whatever. Believe it or not, after all these years, I never knew about the rebate for solar in CA. What about the rest of the country? This seems to vary quite a bit from state to state and among utility companies. See, this just shows how important it is to have all the information about a subject, especially one as big as energy conservation. So Ken, obviously I don't know as much as I need to about solar. Tell me about solar water heaters. Educate me, and all our readers.
>Ken: Jason! Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your post? You are right about varying rebates nationwide, check with your utility to see what they are offering right now. The tax credit of course is nationwide. If the utility rates you are paying average more than about 15 to 20 cents, you may want to look into solar.
Regarding water heating, if you are in a part of the country that gets plenty of sun, and you are using propane, or your natural gas prices are high you may also want to look at solar water heaters. This is how they work. A large (usually 100 gallons) tank of water will be located somewhere near a few thermal solar collectors. The tank may be on your roof, or directly below the collectors in a garage. In warmer climes, the water is circulated directly through the panels, heating it to approximately double the outside air temperature. In the area of the country I live in, the coldest daytime temps rarely go below 50 degrees. This 100 degree water is stored in the water tank and heated the rest of the way by natural gas or electric filament. In summer, the temp gets so hot the water needs to be cooled before being delivered to your home. Federal tax credits and utility rebates also apply here, so it may be cost effective to look into this form of Solar as well.
>Jason: Perhaps I was a touch sarcastic, but regardless, in finishing with the topic of solar, the solar water heater usually runs around $5000 installed before rebates. With a reduction close to 75% off your water heating costs, this can pay itself off in...oh about 12 years. This is a long payback, but out of respect for the solar salesman above, I'll tell you its a good deal if you plan on living at your current house the rest of your life. Anyway, we may never agree, but the bottom line is that solar will be pricey but what you get is your own, personal power plant. Until next week, dont pay too much for your power bill, and be energy smart!
>Ken: PS: I do not currently sell solar.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A "Free" Source of Energy?
Solar power is all the rage. It is so popular that many people want it for their homes or businesses without considering the cost vs savings. Is solar power really the answer to our energy crisis? Will solar power sweep the world and become the wave of the future? We don't have those answers, but we can tell you how to determine if solar power is right for you.
>Jason: First up this week, let me set one thing straight - solar energy is NOT the answer to a greener future, it is only AN answer to a greener future. Solar companies and government-sponsored environmentalists have everyone hypnotized into believing that if you buy a solar panel for your home, you will magically save the planet and simultaneously give yourself free energy. Wrong. What you will get is a rather expensive, home-based power plant that will in 5-30 years pay itself back and reduce greenhouse emissions by approximately one car. So, for only $50,000 you can effectively remove one car of emissions from the road, and quit paying your utility company for electricity. Of course you need also to consider that the maximum allowable loan for a solar system (assuming the bank will lend you money in the current economy for such a project) is 15 years, which at 5% interest is a $395 per month cost.
Don't get me wrong, I am not here to tell you that solar power is a waste of time or money, but you do need to fully understand it. The above numbers are averages, and may be higher or lower depending on your electrical needs. What's important to understand is that solar power is like buying your own power plant; its expensive but you own it, and all the power it produces is yours to keep. Sunlight is free; harvesting it is not. I'll let Ken take over from here.
>Ken: Jason and I may not see solar quite the same way. I was involved with the photo voltaic (solar electric) and passive solar (water heating) industry for several years. If you are concerned with the length of payback you will get by putting a power plant on your roof, perhaps you need to ask yourself what kind of payback are you getting now by renting your power from the utility? If you own a home and are paying an average of more than $200 per month for your power, look into solar. The payback will be under 10 years and the investment would be worth it in my opinion. In Central California, a $200 monthly power bill is low. I have personally seen averages topping $1500 per month! The life expectancy of most solar systems is 25 years. If you amortize the amount of installing a solar system over the life of the array, the cost would be approximately 12 cents per kilowatt hour. If your utility is charging you more than this, perhaps solar is right for you. Of course the amount of shade on the roof, orientation of the roof line and other factors must be considered to determine if a system would benefit you. Ask a professional because training of sales personnel in the solar industry can take months, so don't think you can figure it out for yourself.
Businesses are another story. Typically, business utility rates are much lower than residential and usage is much higher. This translates into a much larger system to reduce your bill significantly and a greater cost. Payback for businesses will typically be far longer than 10 years.
Other factors to consider are the tax breaks and rebates that are available. Right now there is a federal tax credit of 30% available for power plants. This is significant because a tax credit reduces the amount you pay the feds by the entire amount of the credit. In other words if you owe $5000 in taxes annually and you purchase a $60,000 solar system, the tax credit would be $20,000. You can spread the tax credit out for 5 years, so for the next 4 years you would owe no taxes.
>Jason: This is a lot of information to take in. Ken I think it may be best to finish this up next week. If you are confused (as I am becoming) please re-read the post and remember that you mostly just need to figure out if solar would be a cost effective measure for you. Until next time -be Energy Smart!
>Jason: First up this week, let me set one thing straight - solar energy is NOT the answer to a greener future, it is only AN answer to a greener future. Solar companies and government-sponsored environmentalists have everyone hypnotized into believing that if you buy a solar panel for your home, you will magically save the planet and simultaneously give yourself free energy. Wrong. What you will get is a rather expensive, home-based power plant that will in 5-30 years pay itself back and reduce greenhouse emissions by approximately one car. So, for only $50,000 you can effectively remove one car of emissions from the road, and quit paying your utility company for electricity. Of course you need also to consider that the maximum allowable loan for a solar system (assuming the bank will lend you money in the current economy for such a project) is 15 years, which at 5% interest is a $395 per month cost.
Don't get me wrong, I am not here to tell you that solar power is a waste of time or money, but you do need to fully understand it. The above numbers are averages, and may be higher or lower depending on your electrical needs. What's important to understand is that solar power is like buying your own power plant; its expensive but you own it, and all the power it produces is yours to keep. Sunlight is free; harvesting it is not. I'll let Ken take over from here.
>Ken: Jason and I may not see solar quite the same way. I was involved with the photo voltaic (solar electric) and passive solar (water heating) industry for several years. If you are concerned with the length of payback you will get by putting a power plant on your roof, perhaps you need to ask yourself what kind of payback are you getting now by renting your power from the utility? If you own a home and are paying an average of more than $200 per month for your power, look into solar. The payback will be under 10 years and the investment would be worth it in my opinion. In Central California, a $200 monthly power bill is low. I have personally seen averages topping $1500 per month! The life expectancy of most solar systems is 25 years. If you amortize the amount of installing a solar system over the life of the array, the cost would be approximately 12 cents per kilowatt hour. If your utility is charging you more than this, perhaps solar is right for you. Of course the amount of shade on the roof, orientation of the roof line and other factors must be considered to determine if a system would benefit you. Ask a professional because training of sales personnel in the solar industry can take months, so don't think you can figure it out for yourself.
Businesses are another story. Typically, business utility rates are much lower than residential and usage is much higher. This translates into a much larger system to reduce your bill significantly and a greater cost. Payback for businesses will typically be far longer than 10 years.
Other factors to consider are the tax breaks and rebates that are available. Right now there is a federal tax credit of 30% available for power plants. This is significant because a tax credit reduces the amount you pay the feds by the entire amount of the credit. In other words if you owe $5000 in taxes annually and you purchase a $60,000 solar system, the tax credit would be $20,000. You can spread the tax credit out for 5 years, so for the next 4 years you would owe no taxes.
>Jason: This is a lot of information to take in. Ken I think it may be best to finish this up next week. If you are confused (as I am becoming) please re-read the post and remember that you mostly just need to figure out if solar would be a cost effective measure for you. Until next time -be Energy Smart!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Energy Vampires Revisited
>Ken: This week we want to talk about finding out exactly which vampire is sucking the most energy from your home. Try using a device called a Kill-a-watt plus. By plugging it into any electrical device in your home it will tell you how much energy it is using in amps, volts, watts, or kilowatt hours. You enter your electrical rate into the device and it will tell you the cost to operate your appliance by the hour, day, week, month, or year. If you want to check the Kill-a-watt plus website, all you need to do is click on the title for this post.
>Jason: Great. Thats all folks. Just kidding, this device is useful if you are thinking about taking your energy consumption seriously, and it only costs about $50. This may seem like a lot of money, but it is a small price to pay to assist you in finding the most costly devices in your home. Obviously some appliances use more power than others. For example, an air conditioner should cost somewhere between $0.30 and $2 per hour to run, while a refrigerator should not cost more than about $30 per month, unless you have a walk-in freezer. Use the Kill-a-watt on everything you can, and try to get an idea of where your power goes. Remember, be energy smart!
>Jason: Great. Thats all folks. Just kidding, this device is useful if you are thinking about taking your energy consumption seriously, and it only costs about $50. This may seem like a lot of money, but it is a small price to pay to assist you in finding the most costly devices in your home. Obviously some appliances use more power than others. For example, an air conditioner should cost somewhere between $0.30 and $2 per hour to run, while a refrigerator should not cost more than about $30 per month, unless you have a walk-in freezer. Use the Kill-a-watt on everything you can, and try to get an idea of where your power goes. Remember, be energy smart!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Drastically Reduce Your Cooling Costs for Almost Nothing!!
Ok, not really. But we do have a neat idea to make your air conditioner more efficient. Read on to find out more...
>Jason: This is a pet project of mine, and I'm excited to share with you today. We've all heard of an evaporative cooler, or swamp cooler, but we don't all know how they work. Let me start with an introduction in the properties of evaporation. When any substance evaporates, it becomes expanded, and it uses energy to get this expansion from somewhere, in the case of water evaporating from the air around it. This means specifically that any time a compound becomes gaseous, it cools rapidly. Hence an evaporative cooler works by evaporating water inside an air filter, and the air blown through the filter sheds its heat into the water-vapor. This process allows the air to cool by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The good news with this is that evaporative cooling is relatively cheap. The bad news is that with a maximum of 20 degrees cooling capacity, this method is only effective up to about 95 degrees. Also, if the air is already moist, you lose ability to cool the air. Florida gets virtually no benefit from evaporative cooling while places such as the San Joaquin valley in CA and deserts get a lot of benefit.
>Ken: Don't think that you can get better cooling by using a swamp cooler and the AC at the same time - it won't work. Air conditioners work to cool the air by moving it over cold tubes that have refrigerant running through it. These cold tubes remove water from the air by condensing it onto the coils. Colder air cannot hold as much humidity as warmer air. The higher the humidity of the air being cooled, the less efficient the AC becomes. So by running the swamp cooler, you lower the efficiency of the AC, and make the units work against each other.
What would happen if you used the idea of a swamp cooler to cool the coils on the air conditioning condenser unit? Right now that condenser is using air, not the most efficient way of cooling. Using water is far more efficient, cooling the coils much more than air possibly could. So how could this be done and are there any downsides. Jason?
>Jason: Well I'm glad you asked! That is exactly how you can drastically reduce your cooling bills very inexpensively. Installing a patio mister system around your condenser unit does effectively the same as using a swamp cooler. Heres how: a patio mister creates water mist. That water mist gets sucked into the condenser with the air. The water mist then evaporates off the coils cooling the coils much like it cools the air. With this already-cooled coil, the condenser can more easily cool the refrigerant in the coil, providing you cheaper, colder air. This process can be likened to splashing your face with water and then blowing a fan onto it versus simply blowing a fan on it.
All you would need to complete this revision to you AC unit would be a water source with a patio mister attached. This mister needs to be controlled by an electronic valve that turns on with the condenser unit. Ask an electrician for help on this step, or don't sue us if you do it yourself. If you have hard water in your area, you may need a water-softener. Otherwise the water-vapor will create a calcium deposit on your coils, making it much less efficient than it is now. This may sound complicated, but you can buy all the materials for less than $200, and it will likely save you many times that amount in the years to come. However, just as in the case of the evaporative cooler, the more humid the air, the less effective this revision will be.
>Ken: I know this has been a long complicated explanation for a rather simple concept. Spraying purified water onto your AC coils will make it run more efficiently. There is at least one AC manufacturer that is using this concept now for home use. Freus has a seer rating in the mid to high 20's using the same basic equipment as any 13 seer. I'm not saying that your AC can reach that level of efficiency, but it should help significantly. Remember, be energy smart!
>Jason: This is a pet project of mine, and I'm excited to share with you today. We've all heard of an evaporative cooler, or swamp cooler, but we don't all know how they work. Let me start with an introduction in the properties of evaporation. When any substance evaporates, it becomes expanded, and it uses energy to get this expansion from somewhere, in the case of water evaporating from the air around it. This means specifically that any time a compound becomes gaseous, it cools rapidly. Hence an evaporative cooler works by evaporating water inside an air filter, and the air blown through the filter sheds its heat into the water-vapor. This process allows the air to cool by as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. The good news with this is that evaporative cooling is relatively cheap. The bad news is that with a maximum of 20 degrees cooling capacity, this method is only effective up to about 95 degrees. Also, if the air is already moist, you lose ability to cool the air. Florida gets virtually no benefit from evaporative cooling while places such as the San Joaquin valley in CA and deserts get a lot of benefit.
>Ken: Don't think that you can get better cooling by using a swamp cooler and the AC at the same time - it won't work. Air conditioners work to cool the air by moving it over cold tubes that have refrigerant running through it. These cold tubes remove water from the air by condensing it onto the coils. Colder air cannot hold as much humidity as warmer air. The higher the humidity of the air being cooled, the less efficient the AC becomes. So by running the swamp cooler, you lower the efficiency of the AC, and make the units work against each other.
What would happen if you used the idea of a swamp cooler to cool the coils on the air conditioning condenser unit? Right now that condenser is using air, not the most efficient way of cooling. Using water is far more efficient, cooling the coils much more than air possibly could. So how could this be done and are there any downsides. Jason?
>Jason: Well I'm glad you asked! That is exactly how you can drastically reduce your cooling bills very inexpensively. Installing a patio mister system around your condenser unit does effectively the same as using a swamp cooler. Heres how: a patio mister creates water mist. That water mist gets sucked into the condenser with the air. The water mist then evaporates off the coils cooling the coils much like it cools the air. With this already-cooled coil, the condenser can more easily cool the refrigerant in the coil, providing you cheaper, colder air. This process can be likened to splashing your face with water and then blowing a fan onto it versus simply blowing a fan on it.
All you would need to complete this revision to you AC unit would be a water source with a patio mister attached. This mister needs to be controlled by an electronic valve that turns on with the condenser unit. Ask an electrician for help on this step, or don't sue us if you do it yourself. If you have hard water in your area, you may need a water-softener. Otherwise the water-vapor will create a calcium deposit on your coils, making it much less efficient than it is now. This may sound complicated, but you can buy all the materials for less than $200, and it will likely save you many times that amount in the years to come. However, just as in the case of the evaporative cooler, the more humid the air, the less effective this revision will be.
>Ken: I know this has been a long complicated explanation for a rather simple concept. Spraying purified water onto your AC coils will make it run more efficiently. There is at least one AC manufacturer that is using this concept now for home use. Freus has a seer rating in the mid to high 20's using the same basic equipment as any 13 seer. I'm not saying that your AC can reach that level of efficiency, but it should help significantly. Remember, be energy smart!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Energy Vampires
>Jason: If you have taken all the advice on this site, changed windows and lights, added insulation, and put on a new AC, and still have high energy bills, there's a good chance that you may be using old appliances in your home. All the appliances in your house (water heater, refrigerator, washer and dryer, stove, etc) use some form of power, usually either electricity or natural gas. We often don't think about these things running up our power bill, and so often ignore them until they go out. This can be an expensive habit, because the older an appliance gets, the more expensive it becomes to operate. For example, replacing your refrigerator, while it may cost anywhere from $500 -2000 for a new one, may also save you as much as $100 per month. This would mean a payback on your expense of 1-2 years, which is well worth the money. Of course, the key is knowing when to replace the unit, and when it isn't cost-effective.
>Ken: Do you hear the sucking sound coming from your garage where the old refrigerator is keeping your favorite beverages cold? That's the sound of the money going to your utility when you could be using it to buy even more favorite beverages instead. If that appliance is older than about 10 years, you may want to consider replacing it. If it is an old dinosaur built when Thomas Edison was still finding new ways of using electricity, you may want to unplug it and sell it on Ebay. Then go find a new appliance with an energy star rating on it. You will not be sorry. Not only will it save energy, but you probably won't have to worry about it breaking down and destroying everything inside it before you discover what happened. Makes sense, right? That's why we say you need to be ... energy smart!
>Ken: Do you hear the sucking sound coming from your garage where the old refrigerator is keeping your favorite beverages cold? That's the sound of the money going to your utility when you could be using it to buy even more favorite beverages instead. If that appliance is older than about 10 years, you may want to consider replacing it. If it is an old dinosaur built when Thomas Edison was still finding new ways of using electricity, you may want to unplug it and sell it on Ebay. Then go find a new appliance with an energy star rating on it. You will not be sorry. Not only will it save energy, but you probably won't have to worry about it breaking down and destroying everything inside it before you discover what happened. Makes sense, right? That's why we say you need to be ... energy smart!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Let's Put Order to Chaos
Before reading this post, take a look over the past 6 entries. Everything that we have talked about thus far has been the basics of building efficiency - covering insulation, ducting, HVAC, lighting, and windows. With a good understanding of these 5 topics, you are prepared to begin making your home more energy efficient. However, these measures are not always effective by themselves, but instead only save money when coupled with another energy conservation measures. This week we are going to talk about getting your home efficient in the most safe and economic way.
>Jason: You cant just buy any "energy efficient" product and expect it to save you money. That only works in the world of smooth-talking salespeople who want your money. For example, installing windows out of order can acutally make your home unsafe, and not save you a penny. Fortunately, there is one measure that can be done all by itself, and that is high-efficiency lighting. As a lighting expert, I know that most homes older than 10 years are using primarily incandescent, or regular, light bulbs. These bulbs might produce a nice-looking light in your living room, and admittedly, I use several in my home. The drawback is that they consume four times the electricity of a compact fluorescent light (CFL). Today, CFLs are cheaper than incandescent lights, last longer, look brighter, turn on instantly and save the average home $9-12 per year per bulb. The best news is that you can change your lights at any time and it will still save you $9-12 per year. CFLs are the cheapest, quickest way to save money on your electric bill, and if you have more than 25 light bulbs in your home right now, changing them out will cost you no more than $20, but you will likely more than $200 in your first year, if you turn lights off. If your lights are on a lot, that savings is significantly higher. Sounds good? Get to work.
>Ken: What a lot of people don't realize is that doing some of the other energy saving measures in the wrong order can end up not helping like it should in efficiency, and can actually make your home a more dangerous place to live in. How can this be? If you have very leaky ducting (and a vast majority of them are!) you DO NOT want to replace your windows before sealing the ducting. Leaky ductwork creates a negative pressure in your home, when you increase the tightness of the home by installing dual pane windows, the air that was being pulled in through your previously leaky windows must be made up somewhere. This will happen through any source to the outside, such as a water heater flue, or fireplace flue, or range hood. Carbon monoxide can be pulled into the home and create a very dangerous environment for you to live in. Sealing the ducting should be one of the first things you do. If you have an old air-conditioner (over 15 years of age), you may want to consider changing that out at the same time. In the state of California, if you change the AC unit the ducting must be sealed at the same time by the contractor.
>Jason: That makes sense Ken. Of course, once the HVAC is complete, you will want to blow in more insulation into your attic, but only after your HVAC is done. You see, insulation, HVAC and even windows are all climate control measures, designed to give you comfortable air. So you want your house to keep the air once it has been conditioned to your comfort. See the insulation post for more details about good insulation.
>Ken: Lastly, windows should be the final measure taken. You get the least amount of energy savings for the highest cost. OK, I think we are getting a little long winded here, so let's wrap this up by just saying, if you have any doubt about how to go about upgrading your home always look for a contractor that treats your home as a unit. He or she will do a whole house diagnostic which will tell them what is going on in your home and what measures and in what order they should be accomplished.. remember, always be energy smart!
>Jason: You cant just buy any "energy efficient" product and expect it to save you money. That only works in the world of smooth-talking salespeople who want your money. For example, installing windows out of order can acutally make your home unsafe, and not save you a penny. Fortunately, there is one measure that can be done all by itself, and that is high-efficiency lighting. As a lighting expert, I know that most homes older than 10 years are using primarily incandescent, or regular, light bulbs. These bulbs might produce a nice-looking light in your living room, and admittedly, I use several in my home. The drawback is that they consume four times the electricity of a compact fluorescent light (CFL). Today, CFLs are cheaper than incandescent lights, last longer, look brighter, turn on instantly and save the average home $9-12 per year per bulb. The best news is that you can change your lights at any time and it will still save you $9-12 per year. CFLs are the cheapest, quickest way to save money on your electric bill, and if you have more than 25 light bulbs in your home right now, changing them out will cost you no more than $20, but you will likely more than $200 in your first year, if you turn lights off. If your lights are on a lot, that savings is significantly higher. Sounds good? Get to work.
>Ken: What a lot of people don't realize is that doing some of the other energy saving measures in the wrong order can end up not helping like it should in efficiency, and can actually make your home a more dangerous place to live in. How can this be? If you have very leaky ducting (and a vast majority of them are!) you DO NOT want to replace your windows before sealing the ducting. Leaky ductwork creates a negative pressure in your home, when you increase the tightness of the home by installing dual pane windows, the air that was being pulled in through your previously leaky windows must be made up somewhere. This will happen through any source to the outside, such as a water heater flue, or fireplace flue, or range hood. Carbon monoxide can be pulled into the home and create a very dangerous environment for you to live in. Sealing the ducting should be one of the first things you do. If you have an old air-conditioner (over 15 years of age), you may want to consider changing that out at the same time. In the state of California, if you change the AC unit the ducting must be sealed at the same time by the contractor.
>Jason: That makes sense Ken. Of course, once the HVAC is complete, you will want to blow in more insulation into your attic, but only after your HVAC is done. You see, insulation, HVAC and even windows are all climate control measures, designed to give you comfortable air. So you want your house to keep the air once it has been conditioned to your comfort. See the insulation post for more details about good insulation.
>Ken: Lastly, windows should be the final measure taken. You get the least amount of energy savings for the highest cost. OK, I think we are getting a little long winded here, so let's wrap this up by just saying, if you have any doubt about how to go about upgrading your home always look for a contractor that treats your home as a unit. He or she will do a whole house diagnostic which will tell them what is going on in your home and what measures and in what order they should be accomplished.. remember, always be energy smart!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Are your windows a pain in the glass?
Have you ever wondered how much heat/cold your windows transmit? If you have single pane windows now, according to PG&E figures, you are losing about 25% of your heating or cooling energy to the outdoors right through them! Changing them to high efficiency windows can vastly reduce this loss, but is that all they will do for you?
>Jason: Besides energy savings, dual-pane windows drastically reduce noise pollution from the outside because of the extra thickness. This is especially useful in street-facing windows. Dual-pane windows also provide added security. Generally, a high efficiency window will have 2 or even 3 panes of glass, each about 50% thicker than conventional windows. This thickness will make it harder for thieves to break.
Okay, extra benefits aside, lets get down to business on why high-efficiency windows may be a good buy for your home. Ultraviolet (UV) light radiates from the sun all day long. That light comes through glass and creates heat in your home. There are several ways to slow down this UV light, but nothing can stop it completely. Ken will tell you about gas-filled windows, Low E coating and vinyl vs. aluminum frames. Ultimately though a window is rated with something called the U factor, and that is what yoiu will want to look at when considering what window to buy. The following link will provide you with information on what the U factor is exactly: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
>Ken: Thanks, Jason. What material should you get for the frame of the window? Aluminum, although used in the cheapest dual pane windows, is also the least efficient. There is a reason that aluminum is occasionally used in cookware... it transmits heat! The better material to use is vinyl. It is highly efficient, and extremely durable. It is easy to find vinyl windows with lifetime warranties included. The most efficient material is wood. Unfortunately, wood requires maintenance. You must keep them painted, or they will weather and crack. You will rarely find wood framed widows with more than a 25 year warranty.
U factors are used to describe the efficiency of your windows in keeping the heat in or out of your home. The lower the number, the less heat is transmitted, so compare and get the lowest you can afford. Low E coatings are used for decreasing the amount of UV light transmission occurs. The less UV is transmitted, the more comfortable the home and your furniture will not fade with sunlight beating down on it. The downside to Low E is that it will also decrease the amount of light entering the home, its like you put tinting on the windows. Balance the importance of light transmission and decreasing the heat transferred by sunlight carefully in making your decision about which windows to purchase. Be sure the spacer between the panes of glass are butyl, using aluminum spacers can defeat some of the purpose of the dual panes (cook-ware, remember?). The gas between the panes is important as well. It needs to be a heavy, noble gas like Argon or Krypton (sorry superman!). A heavy gas will slow transmission of heat, while just using air is not as efficient. The amount of space between the panes should be around 1/2 to 5/8 inch. Less than that and the heat will transfer too easily, more than that and currents can form and also begin transferring heat.
Finally, be careful to get a reputable contractor to install them. I had the unfortunate experience of a homeowner telling me about the contractor they chose. They started the day at 8am, and removed all the windows and sliding glass doors in the home. Then they began installing the new dual pane windows. At 5pm, being quitting time, they packed up and left- intending to return the next day . Unfortunately, they left half of the window openings with no glass in them overnight! They should replace the windows as the remove them. Always hire licensed reputable contractors when doing any major work on your home, and remember to be energy smart!
>Jason: Besides energy savings, dual-pane windows drastically reduce noise pollution from the outside because of the extra thickness. This is especially useful in street-facing windows. Dual-pane windows also provide added security. Generally, a high efficiency window will have 2 or even 3 panes of glass, each about 50% thicker than conventional windows. This thickness will make it harder for thieves to break.
Okay, extra benefits aside, lets get down to business on why high-efficiency windows may be a good buy for your home. Ultraviolet (UV) light radiates from the sun all day long. That light comes through glass and creates heat in your home. There are several ways to slow down this UV light, but nothing can stop it completely. Ken will tell you about gas-filled windows, Low E coating and vinyl vs. aluminum frames. Ultimately though a window is rated with something called the U factor, and that is what yoiu will want to look at when considering what window to buy. The following link will provide you with information on what the U factor is exactly: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
>Ken: Thanks, Jason. What material should you get for the frame of the window? Aluminum, although used in the cheapest dual pane windows, is also the least efficient. There is a reason that aluminum is occasionally used in cookware... it transmits heat! The better material to use is vinyl. It is highly efficient, and extremely durable. It is easy to find vinyl windows with lifetime warranties included. The most efficient material is wood. Unfortunately, wood requires maintenance. You must keep them painted, or they will weather and crack. You will rarely find wood framed widows with more than a 25 year warranty.
U factors are used to describe the efficiency of your windows in keeping the heat in or out of your home. The lower the number, the less heat is transmitted, so compare and get the lowest you can afford. Low E coatings are used for decreasing the amount of UV light transmission occurs. The less UV is transmitted, the more comfortable the home and your furniture will not fade with sunlight beating down on it. The downside to Low E is that it will also decrease the amount of light entering the home, its like you put tinting on the windows. Balance the importance of light transmission and decreasing the heat transferred by sunlight carefully in making your decision about which windows to purchase. Be sure the spacer between the panes of glass are butyl, using aluminum spacers can defeat some of the purpose of the dual panes (cook-ware, remember?). The gas between the panes is important as well. It needs to be a heavy, noble gas like Argon or Krypton (sorry superman!). A heavy gas will slow transmission of heat, while just using air is not as efficient. The amount of space between the panes should be around 1/2 to 5/8 inch. Less than that and the heat will transfer too easily, more than that and currents can form and also begin transferring heat.
Finally, be careful to get a reputable contractor to install them. I had the unfortunate experience of a homeowner telling me about the contractor they chose. They started the day at 8am, and removed all the windows and sliding glass doors in the home. Then they began installing the new dual pane windows. At 5pm, being quitting time, they packed up and left- intending to return the next day . Unfortunately, they left half of the window openings with no glass in them overnight! They should replace the windows as the remove them. Always hire licensed reputable contractors when doing any major work on your home, and remember to be energy smart!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Shedding some light on your bulbs
After talking about the best way to save energy in your home or business, its time to talk about the most practical, and probably cheapest, way to lower your bills.
>Jason: Although it isn't the highest user in your home, lighting comprises on average 15% of the total energy usage in your home. Newer homes are usually more efficient, because they are often built with fluorescent lighting in kitchens and garages, compact fluorescent lamps in porch lights and can lights, and the newest homes are often being built with automatic light switches. Older homes, however, are almost always lit with standard incandescent lights. (the light that Thomas Edison invented) Strangely enough, we don't stop to realize that we use a 100+ year old invention every day that hasn't been improved at all. Of course there is a more efficient way to light your home.
If you are like most people, your impression of fluorescent lights is that they are greenish, and give people headaches. This has changed tremendously in the last ten years. Fluorescent lights now compete with incandescent lights in all aspects, except that they are four times more efficient. Lighting is measured in two basic figures, color temperature and color rendition. Temperature is measured in Kelvin, which means the color of an object if it was burning at that degree Kelvin. Rendition is the accuracy of the colors. Incandescent lights reproduce almost every color perfectly, giving it a color rendition index (CRI) of 100. compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, are anywhere from 75 - 92 CRI. 75 is a little bit unrealistic, and will make objects appear cold, but 90+CRI is very good. Ken, tell me a little bit about CFLs.
>Ken: CFL's, or compact fluorescent lights, are a great way to improve your lighting, lower your bills and actually lower the heat generation in your house all at the same time. If you like to use 100 watt light bulbs in your home, you can get the same amount of light and even the same yellow appearance of that 100 watt light bulb with a 23 watt CFL. What is nice is that you have options with the color of the bulbs with CFLs. If you want a whiter light for reading, or detail work, there is a CFL for that, or you can get a warmer light for "atmosphere". The color of the light is measured in degrees of Kelvin. A 2700K light will be similar to your average incandescent light bulb, a 5100K light will look more like a very white or almost blue light.
>Jason: CFLs are very popular right now because they are so efficient, and the prices have dropped a lot. Check your local utility company for incentives on replacing your incandescent lights with CFLs, they may even put them in for free! If you do this change, you can reasonably expect your electric bill to decrease by 11%. Thats figuring 75% reduction of your lighting costs, which are 15%of your total bill. Thats a good number. In the future we may talk about even more efficient options, like LED, but for now, get your lights replaced and be Energy Smart!
>Jason: Although it isn't the highest user in your home, lighting comprises on average 15% of the total energy usage in your home. Newer homes are usually more efficient, because they are often built with fluorescent lighting in kitchens and garages, compact fluorescent lamps in porch lights and can lights, and the newest homes are often being built with automatic light switches. Older homes, however, are almost always lit with standard incandescent lights. (the light that Thomas Edison invented) Strangely enough, we don't stop to realize that we use a 100+ year old invention every day that hasn't been improved at all. Of course there is a more efficient way to light your home.
If you are like most people, your impression of fluorescent lights is that they are greenish, and give people headaches. This has changed tremendously in the last ten years. Fluorescent lights now compete with incandescent lights in all aspects, except that they are four times more efficient. Lighting is measured in two basic figures, color temperature and color rendition. Temperature is measured in Kelvin, which means the color of an object if it was burning at that degree Kelvin. Rendition is the accuracy of the colors. Incandescent lights reproduce almost every color perfectly, giving it a color rendition index (CRI) of 100. compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, are anywhere from 75 - 92 CRI. 75 is a little bit unrealistic, and will make objects appear cold, but 90+CRI is very good. Ken, tell me a little bit about CFLs.
>Ken: CFL's, or compact fluorescent lights, are a great way to improve your lighting, lower your bills and actually lower the heat generation in your house all at the same time. If you like to use 100 watt light bulbs in your home, you can get the same amount of light and even the same yellow appearance of that 100 watt light bulb with a 23 watt CFL. What is nice is that you have options with the color of the bulbs with CFLs. If you want a whiter light for reading, or detail work, there is a CFL for that, or you can get a warmer light for "atmosphere". The color of the light is measured in degrees of Kelvin. A 2700K light will be similar to your average incandescent light bulb, a 5100K light will look more like a very white or almost blue light.
>Jason: CFLs are very popular right now because they are so efficient, and the prices have dropped a lot. Check your local utility company for incentives on replacing your incandescent lights with CFLs, they may even put them in for free! If you do this change, you can reasonably expect your electric bill to decrease by 11%. Thats figuring 75% reduction of your lighting costs, which are 15%of your total bill. Thats a good number. In the future we may talk about even more efficient options, like LED, but for now, get your lights replaced and be Energy Smart!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Does Your House "Suck"? Ducting for your AC
>Ken: Ducting, what a truly boring subject. This could be wasting you lots of money and energy by cooling or heating your attic or crawlspace (wherever your ducting is located). Ducts are not the birds we like to eat at holiday time, rather they are those metal or plastic tubes that move the air to and from your air conditioner and the rooms in your home. I spent the better part of 2 years testing ducts for tightness in the Fresno, Ca. area, and found that the average home's ducts leaked about 30%-50% of your conditioned air into the attic or crawlspace. While this obviously costs you money, it can also be dangerous to your health.
Return air leakage is the worst culprit for costing you money. It is sucking in attic air (assuming the ducts are up there) at possibly 130 or 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When the AC conditions your air, it takes partially conditioned air from your home and cools it by about 20 degrees. You can see that if it is pulling in 140 degree air from your attic and mixing it with what you have inside your home that what it delivers back into your home won't be anywhere near as cool as you want.
>Jason: An air conditioner is designed to deliver exactly the same amount of air as it pulls out. When you send air into your attic, you are preventing the air from returning to your home. Since the air came out of your living space, you create a vacuum, sucking air in from wither the outside or from your attic. This air will not be nicely filtered and usually has lots of contaminants. The air in your house can be up to 100 times worse than the outside. So if your ducts leak, you are conditioning your attic and you are poisoning your air! So how do you know if your ducts leak? Its a simple procedure that most HVAC contractors can do called a duct test.
>Ken: Your ducting should not be leaking any more than about 15%, and should be much less (about 5%) if the home is less than 5 years old. Many HVAC contractors will do a duct test for a very low cost. Duct seals may receive a rebate from your local utility. Let us know who your utility is, and we can research for you what is available.
>Jason: To wrap this up, one easy way to determine if your ducts are leaking is to look for dark lines along the edges of carpet or around your supply vents. This is an indicator that you are sucking dirty air in from the outside. You can also turn your system on and unlatch an outside door. If the door pulls inward, you have negative pressure on the inside of your home, which means you have leaky ducts. So until next time, dont let your house "suck" and be energy smart!
Return air leakage is the worst culprit for costing you money. It is sucking in attic air (assuming the ducts are up there) at possibly 130 or 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When the AC conditions your air, it takes partially conditioned air from your home and cools it by about 20 degrees. You can see that if it is pulling in 140 degree air from your attic and mixing it with what you have inside your home that what it delivers back into your home won't be anywhere near as cool as you want.
>Jason: An air conditioner is designed to deliver exactly the same amount of air as it pulls out. When you send air into your attic, you are preventing the air from returning to your home. Since the air came out of your living space, you create a vacuum, sucking air in from wither the outside or from your attic. This air will not be nicely filtered and usually has lots of contaminants. The air in your house can be up to 100 times worse than the outside. So if your ducts leak, you are conditioning your attic and you are poisoning your air! So how do you know if your ducts leak? Its a simple procedure that most HVAC contractors can do called a duct test.
>Ken: Your ducting should not be leaking any more than about 15%, and should be much less (about 5%) if the home is less than 5 years old. Many HVAC contractors will do a duct test for a very low cost. Duct seals may receive a rebate from your local utility. Let us know who your utility is, and we can research for you what is available.
>Jason: To wrap this up, one easy way to determine if your ducts are leaking is to look for dark lines along the edges of carpet or around your supply vents. This is an indicator that you are sucking dirty air in from the outside. You can also turn your system on and unlatch an outside door. If the door pulls inward, you have negative pressure on the inside of your home, which means you have leaky ducts. So until next time, dont let your house "suck" and be energy smart!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Split Systems and Package Units
In our last post, we discussed some of the basics regarding Air conditioners. Hopefully it didn't put you all to sleep, because this time, we are going to talk about the two most common types of air conditioning and heating systems, split systems and package units.
>Jason: Both of these have the exact same components, and perform the exact same tasks - heating and cooling your home. The only difference between the two is layout. I'm going to start with the package unit. Being the least efficient of the two, package units combine the heat exchanger (your furnace) and the condensing unit (your AC) into one box, usually found on your roof. These tend to be less efficient because there has been less research and development due to lack of demand. This is because most package units are only found in the southwest (Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico). So if you are not in one of these states, skip ahead to split systems. If you have a package unit already, it is probably best to buy a new package unit when replacing your heating and AC rather than to redesign your entire AC system.
>Ken: OK, let's not get into the relative benefits of either one except to say that split systems are the most common, usually with the furnace in the attic and the condenser outside your bedroom window keeping you awake at night. If you're wanting to replace the units, try to purchase the most efficient units that you can afford. The absolute best units will have multiple stages of heating and cooling and variable-speed control of the fan. This gives the system the ability to operate at its highest speed of cooling or heating when you get home (after a hard day of work) to bring the house to a comfortable temperature the fastest. Then when the home is comfortable, the unit drops down to a very low level to maintain the temperature, which is a MUCH cheaper way to keep your home comfortable than if the unit is turning on and off every 10 minutes all night.
>Jason: So to wrap up, if you want to replace your existing system, first check to see if you have a package unit or split system. Then, depending on what you already have, ask contractors for their most efficient units, and prices. If you are replacing a split system, ask the contractor about variable speed fans and two-stage heating and cooling. This will scare them into thinking that you really know what you are talking about. Good luck, and until next time - stay Energy Smart!
>Jason: Both of these have the exact same components, and perform the exact same tasks - heating and cooling your home. The only difference between the two is layout. I'm going to start with the package unit. Being the least efficient of the two, package units combine the heat exchanger (your furnace) and the condensing unit (your AC) into one box, usually found on your roof. These tend to be less efficient because there has been less research and development due to lack of demand. This is because most package units are only found in the southwest (Nevada, California, Arizona and New Mexico). So if you are not in one of these states, skip ahead to split systems. If you have a package unit already, it is probably best to buy a new package unit when replacing your heating and AC rather than to redesign your entire AC system.
>Ken: OK, let's not get into the relative benefits of either one except to say that split systems are the most common, usually with the furnace in the attic and the condenser outside your bedroom window keeping you awake at night. If you're wanting to replace the units, try to purchase the most efficient units that you can afford. The absolute best units will have multiple stages of heating and cooling and variable-speed control of the fan. This gives the system the ability to operate at its highest speed of cooling or heating when you get home (after a hard day of work) to bring the house to a comfortable temperature the fastest. Then when the home is comfortable, the unit drops down to a very low level to maintain the temperature, which is a MUCH cheaper way to keep your home comfortable than if the unit is turning on and off every 10 minutes all night.
>Jason: So to wrap up, if you want to replace your existing system, first check to see if you have a package unit or split system. Then, depending on what you already have, ask contractors for their most efficient units, and prices. If you are replacing a split system, ask the contractor about variable speed fans and two-stage heating and cooling. This will scare them into thinking that you really know what you are talking about. Good luck, and until next time - stay Energy Smart!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Air Conditioning Efficiency
>Ken: This week we will be talking about air conditioning, and how it affects your utility bill. First, the older your unit, the more it will cost you to run it. Think of it as you would your car, the higher the gas mileage the cheaper it is to operate. The same with your AC, the higher your SEER rating of the unit, the cheaper it is to operate. the SEER of your unit could be anywhere from 1-20, depending on the original SEER rating, age and condition of the unit. The condition of the ducting can also affect it, but we will discuss that in a later blog. So if your unit runs at 6 SEER, and you purchase a 12 SEER unit, you just cut the cost of operating your AC in half.
>Jason: Secondly, what is SEER? SEER stands for the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. This rating is an average of the yearly usage of a unit, assuming that the AC is run all the time. Of course this figure is based on laboratory tests where the AC is cooling 82 degree air to 80 degrees. Since this isn't hard to accomplish, the SEER is generally higher than an Air Conditioner can actually perform. What's worse is that this lab test can vary depending on the company performing it. That is why there is another rating available, which is simply the EER, or the Energy Efficiency Rating. This is a standardized test in which an Air conditioner is cooling 95 degree air to 80 degrees constant. The EER is thus always a lower, but more accurate number. When purchasing a new air conditioner however, the EER is not posted except in the specifications of the unit. So when shopping for an AC, you can usually count on a 2-3 point loss between SEER and EER. How high of an EER should you purchase? Well, that can only be answered by your budget. Federal Government regulates that no unit can be manufactured below 13 SEER, which is more like 11 EER. However, if your pocketbook can afford it, you may want to look at getting a higher efficiency unit. Remember that this rating is like the gas mileage on your car.
>Ken: There are other factors to consider with how efficiently your AC will run, but we will discuss those later. An interesting calculator showing how the different efficiencies may affect your utility bill can be found at The following AC calculator The type of AC unit you have will also have a bearing on how efficient a new unit can be when purchasing, but again, we will discuss that at another time.
>Jason: In closing, if you decide that its time to purchase a new air conditioner, be sure to question your contractor about the EER of the unit, and make sure that the contractor sizes the unit properly using a heat load calculation.
>Jason: Secondly, what is SEER? SEER stands for the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. This rating is an average of the yearly usage of a unit, assuming that the AC is run all the time. Of course this figure is based on laboratory tests where the AC is cooling 82 degree air to 80 degrees. Since this isn't hard to accomplish, the SEER is generally higher than an Air Conditioner can actually perform. What's worse is that this lab test can vary depending on the company performing it. That is why there is another rating available, which is simply the EER, or the Energy Efficiency Rating. This is a standardized test in which an Air conditioner is cooling 95 degree air to 80 degrees constant. The EER is thus always a lower, but more accurate number. When purchasing a new air conditioner however, the EER is not posted except in the specifications of the unit. So when shopping for an AC, you can usually count on a 2-3 point loss between SEER and EER. How high of an EER should you purchase? Well, that can only be answered by your budget. Federal Government regulates that no unit can be manufactured below 13 SEER, which is more like 11 EER. However, if your pocketbook can afford it, you may want to look at getting a higher efficiency unit. Remember that this rating is like the gas mileage on your car.
>Ken: There are other factors to consider with how efficiently your AC will run, but we will discuss those later. An interesting calculator showing how the different efficiencies may affect your utility bill can be found at The following AC calculator The type of AC unit you have will also have a bearing on how efficient a new unit can be when purchasing, but again, we will discuss that at another time.
>Jason: In closing, if you decide that its time to purchase a new air conditioner, be sure to question your contractor about the EER of the unit, and make sure that the contractor sizes the unit properly using a heat load calculation.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Welcome to The Energy Conservation Site!
Whether you are interested in saving the environment or just saving a few dollars, we endeavor to give you the best, most informative advice for conserving that precious commodity, energy. This is Ken and Jason, and we are The Energy Conservation Site.
For our first post, let's talk about something that everyone needs... insulation.
>Jason) I want to talk for a bit about homes. In your home, the one thing that will cause you the most trouble on your Gas or Electric bill is your insulation. Depending on where you are in the world, many older homes have insulation in the attic, which is good. Unfortunately, it's not enough. Many newer homes, especially in states where there are laws governing the efficiency in buildings, also have insulation in the walls. The question is: how much do you need? Ken?
>Ken) First, how much insulation do you have? Send someone young and agile into your attic to take a look! Typical home construction in the good old USA will have ceiling joists (those 2x4 or 2x6 wood boards that hold up the ceiling), if you can't see them , that's good. Get a yard stick and measure the depth of the insulation. Too thin to measure? NOT GOOD! Depending on the type of insulation present, there should be between 6" and 24" of depth.
>Jason) Right. Now the reason that we recommend between 6 and 24 inches is because every kind of insulation is different. You see, insulation is rated by its ability to...well...insulate. The rating they use is something called "R" value. We'll get into the ratings for different kinds of insulation in a minute, but first lets find out how much "R" you need. Here in California, we recommend an R value of 38 for your attic. In your walls, you need no less than R-13. Now, if you have blown fiberglass (loose pink or yellow fiberglass) your R value is 2.2 per inch. This is one of the most common forms of fiberglass. Next is rockwool. This will look like dark gray wool, and you'll get a R-value of 2.8 per inch. The other most common insulation is cellulose, which is actually processed and fire-proofed paper. (it appears ground up and also grayish) This will give you an R-value of 3.8. To keep from boring you, you can view other available types of insulation and R-values here:
>Ken) The amount and type of insulation is important. Blown in cellulose, foam, any type that covers everything like a blanket is always best. Fiberglass batts are designed to fit between the ceiling joists, and leave cracks between the batt and the joist, they will also often curl up on the ends, this will let attic heat into your home. If you have batts now, blowing in cellulose, or some other loose fill material over the top of them is the way to go. Never remove insulation that may be there now, anything is a help. Insulation is the cheapest, most effective way to save energy; make sure you have enough!
For our first post, let's talk about something that everyone needs... insulation.
>Jason) I want to talk for a bit about homes. In your home, the one thing that will cause you the most trouble on your Gas or Electric bill is your insulation. Depending on where you are in the world, many older homes have insulation in the attic, which is good. Unfortunately, it's not enough. Many newer homes, especially in states where there are laws governing the efficiency in buildings, also have insulation in the walls. The question is: how much do you need? Ken?
>Ken) First, how much insulation do you have? Send someone young and agile into your attic to take a look! Typical home construction in the good old USA will have ceiling joists (those 2x4 or 2x6 wood boards that hold up the ceiling), if you can't see them , that's good. Get a yard stick and measure the depth of the insulation. Too thin to measure? NOT GOOD! Depending on the type of insulation present, there should be between 6" and 24" of depth.
>Jason) Right. Now the reason that we recommend between 6 and 24 inches is because every kind of insulation is different. You see, insulation is rated by its ability to...well...insulate. The rating they use is something called "R" value. We'll get into the ratings for different kinds of insulation in a minute, but first lets find out how much "R" you need. Here in California, we recommend an R value of 38 for your attic. In your walls, you need no less than R-13. Now, if you have blown fiberglass (loose pink or yellow fiberglass) your R value is 2.2 per inch. This is one of the most common forms of fiberglass. Next is rockwool. This will look like dark gray wool, and you'll get a R-value of 2.8 per inch. The other most common insulation is cellulose, which is actually processed and fire-proofed paper. (it appears ground up and also grayish) This will give you an R-value of 3.8. To keep from boring you, you can view other available types of insulation and R-values here:
>Ken) The amount and type of insulation is important. Blown in cellulose, foam, any type that covers everything like a blanket is always best. Fiberglass batts are designed to fit between the ceiling joists, and leave cracks between the batt and the joist, they will also often curl up on the ends, this will let attic heat into your home. If you have batts now, blowing in cellulose, or some other loose fill material over the top of them is the way to go. Never remove insulation that may be there now, anything is a help. Insulation is the cheapest, most effective way to save energy; make sure you have enough!
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