When I started this blog, my intention was to provide information about various ways and products to improve the sustainability, energy efficiency and or healthiness of your home. As an ASHI home inspector for the past 10 years, I have seen countless “improvements” or “upgrades…some with the best of intentions, and some, well let’s just say misdirected! Sometimes the results are good but sometimes things go horribly bad.
As part of the economic stimulus plan, the federal government is offering tax credits for a wide range of energy-efficient products, from windows and doors to solar water heaters. This can be a great program helping people to improve their homes. However, these increases in efficiency if not planned with the “whole house” in mind, could lead to some serious “unintended consequences”. As we start to increase the efficiency of homes, building science comes more and more into play as we must take into consideration what negative effects may be brought on.
One of the most common improvements is to upgrade or replace the heating and air conditioning system. This used to be a relatively straight forward job. You just replaced the existing system with an equivalent system. These days, with the very high efficiency systems and different options available like variable speed fans, there really needs to be new calculations done to determine exactly what size is needed. If other energy improvements have been made to the house such as additional insulation or high efficiency windows and doors, it’s even more important.
For example: Say that the existing system in a home was installed in the mid “90’s and is perhaps a 3 ton system and the SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) rating might be 10. Now with a little encouragement from the government and a desire to decrease energy bills, the home is upgraded to a new 14 or 15 SEER system with perhaps a variable speed fan. If it is replaced with a similar sized 3 ton system, the home could develop humidity and mold related issues as it may be oversized. When all these factors are not taken into consideration, you end up with at best a poorly performing system but at worst what a colleage calls “a science project” in your home. Excessive humidity, mold, poor indoor air quality and increased rather than decreased energy consumption could result.
This is just one example dealing with heating and air conditioning, but there are often “unintended consequences” from any high efficiency upgrade. Just remember that changing one system in the home often affects another. Does this mean that you should shy away from improvements for fear of related problems? Of course not, but keep in mind these things:
- Do your homework on the improvement you are planning. Is it the best for your money? Are there known downsides?
- Hire a reputable contractor who is knowledgeable about and willing to discuss the interactions of the systems in the home.
- Never accept the explanation “that’s the way we always do it”. The times they are a changin!
The St Petersburg times just ran a quite comprehensive breakdown on what energy efficiency projects around the home may qualify for some of the tax credits provided by the Economic Stimulus package. I expect that since we are in the early days of this program, there may be limited products to qualify, however, as time goes on expect the qualifying products to multiply. Here is a link to the article. Extra Credit Projects
From Eco Green Fire
Many people feel that having a fireplace in the home is a necessity. Even here in Florida, there are many existing homes that have them and in new construction homes it is a popular option. Certainly not needed in some parts of the country, a fireplace speaks to some inner need or childhood memory. I have to admit that there are often times when we say how nice it would be to have a fire going there in the corner of the room. If we put our emotions aside and think practically, it’s easy to see a number of downsides to the traditional fireplace. For one, it’s an energy hole. Most of the air that it heats gets sucked out of the chimney. Another downside is that whatever you burn in that fireplace contributes to air pollution and it destroys trees. If the tree harvesting is done in a sustainable responsible way, there’s not much problem but generally it is unmanaged. The faint smell of a single fireplace on a cold morning may be quite pleasant, but think about what it would be like if all the homes were burning wood or coal!
If you have an existing fireplace in your home, think about what you really want to do with it. If you never use it, consider hiring a qualified contractor or Chimney Sweep to properly seal it off to reduce energy loss.
If you must keep the fireplace for the ambiance and plan to use it only occasionally, then burning some wood or fossil fuel, while not being very green probably is probably the best choice. Keep in mind thought that some states have restrictions on fireplace usage, so check to see what is allowed in your area. If you’re going to burn wood, here are some tips from the www.GreenLivingIdeas.com site:
- Buy local wood harvested by the owner of a woodlot who has an investment in the sustainable management of his acreage.
- Only burn dry hardwoods. Wood energy is a function of the dry (cured) weight of the wood. Dense, heavy species such as oak, hickory, or eucalyptus give more heat for a given piece of wood, and burning these is thus a more efficient use of a tree than burning lightweight woods like pine and fir. Burning green, uncured wood produces a lot of polluting smoke and is also inefficient, since much of the heat is used to drive off the water (if you can even get the stuff to light).
- Replace your old wood stove. Use a properly sized, installed, and maintained appliance with an EPA rating. In the 1980’s, the EPA began limiting the sale of new stoves to clean-burning designs. They produce 90% less air pollution and are at least 30% more efficient than the old stoves, but there are still many old smoke-spouters around. Don’t get an old, illegal stove—it may be cheap, but it’s not a bargain for the environment or for your safety.
- Never burn garbage, chemically treated wood, or plywood, as it sends poisons into the air.
- Insulate and weather-seal your house. Don’t waste those BTUs!
If you’re building a new fireplace or plan to use your existing one quite a bit, there are many options out there. Consider Biofuel options such as:
If you’re planning to use artificial logs, make sure that they are made from recycled wood waste from lumber milling. Look for manufactured logs that contain no paraffin, a petroleum product that emits toxins into the air when burned.
As with all things, it’s important to do your homework whether keeping an existing fireplace or adding one. Consider the climate you’re in, the location, whether you want heat or ambiance, and how often you use it when making your decision.
Most people never really think much about their home thermostat. In the past it was a very simple device which when set, we tended to leave it alone. Times and technology continue to march along and thermostats have not been left out. Whether you have on of those old round “wheel” type devices or and brand new cheap electronic one, there are likely some notable money and energy savings to be had by upgrading to a Programmable type.
Programmable devices save money by automatically changing the thermostat setting for those times when occupancy of the home changes. The Heat or A/C doesn’t need to be running all the time when no one is home or when everyone is sleeping. For instance in the heating season, the system will automatically reduce the heat setting at the time when everyone leaves for work or school. At a pre-set time prior to the normal arrival time in the afternoon or evening, the system will begin to heat up again so that it is comfortable when the occupants return. For those homes that are normally unoccupied most of the day, this can lead to significant energy savings and thus lower utility bills.
Although these devices are generally quite simple to install, sometimes requiring only 3 color coded connections, the proper set up of the program can require a bit of patience and trial and error. Energy Star devices are recommended and as such they come pre-programmed with a schedule to save the most energy. These setting may not however work for your situation. In my case, where I work from home, the programmed settings don’t come close, as they are generally based on the house being empty during normal working hours. It took a bit of experimentation, but overall, it was not difficult to get a combination of settings that we were comfortable.
Keep in mind that since there are many types of heating and cooling systems out there, you have to pay attention to some of the fine print on the packaging when shopping for the correct device. In the past, programmable devices did not work well with Heat Pump systems. This has been largely overcome by the latest devices but you have to get the correct device for your system. There are single stage and dual stage Heat Pump systems out there, and a programmable thermostat has to match the system you have. Make sure that you are clear about what type of system you have before purchasing. Here in Florida, most heat pumps are dual stage, and a proper device for this system can be hard to find off the shelf at your big box supplier. Sometimes it’s just easier to go straight to the professionals and have an HVAC technician install it and make sure it works.
Other systems which may special attention would be radiant floor heating, steam heat, and electric resistance heating. Check with a professional if you have one of these systems.
Here is a site dedicated to this device: Programmable Thermostats
Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy site
Halloween may be over, but if you’re like most everyone else, there’s probably “vampires” still in your home and they may not be sucking blood from anything, but they are sucking money out of your wallet. Vampires, phantom loads, or standby power are what all those black boxes that most electronic components plug into are called, because in many cases they will continue to draw power regardless of whether the device is on or not. As I sit in my office and look around I am a bit reluctant to say that I can count 19 of them in this room alone! let me caveat this by saying that there are two people working here, not just me. Here’s a list: Read More
I’ve just run across this site which as stated on the site is a:
comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The site is prepared by the North Carolina Solar Center and is a great place to start for locating incentive and rebate programs in your area. Although it should not be considered the only source for this information, it is quite comprehensive.
DSIRE - Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
