I constantly preach the importance of air sealing (watch some videos here), and on a home assessment during my visit, we were pleasantly surprised that the home was not as leaky as many we see.  This home originally had a flat roof and at some point a new one was built over it.  This old roof created a fairly good air barrier but there were still leaks as well as a lack of good insulation, creating rooms that can get very hot and uncomfortable in the summer, and too cold and uncomfortable in the winter. And blindly tightening a home without paying attention to important details and considerations like moisture and combustion safety isn’t smart either.  Despite its relative tightness there were still some issues with this home.

Like many homes out West, this house had a crawlspace.  And with crawlspaces, we often see a lot of indoor air quality issues (homes with basements or slabs are NOT immune!).  For this home, air from the crawlspace was constantly being drawn into the home and filtered through the carpet at the hatch! This doesn’t just dirty the carpet—it means the homeowners were breathing in crawlspace air all day, but since the hatch was right in the bedroom, more concentrated air where they spend 8 hours a day.   

Something else we noted was that the home also had a lot of condensation on the windows.  Too much moisture was sticking around in the home in the form of high humidity.  This is a problem because, the condensation pools at the sill, starts to rot the trim, and even the underlying framing.  High humidity can also promote mold and mildew growth elsewhere.

Some of that moisture could be dealt with by installing good spot ventilation, especially in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Even when you are opening the windows during large parts of the year it is good to control indoor air and moisture.

All of these things are problems we look to address with home performance, no matter where the home is located.   Maybe some suffer through some discomfort and high energy bills in the short term in California since they have the luxury of plucking lemons from the back yard.   But why settle for lemons when with a little bit of work you can have lemonade?

[Watch California utilities PG&E, and San Diego Gas & Electric in the video of the Green Button launch.]

That is certainly good news.  We’ve long used a good look an utility bill history and energy usage to help figure out what going on in a home.  Something that makes it easier for a homeowner to track down that history is a good thing.  And we look forward to a host of third-party aps that can help consumers save energy and money.

But from the hoopla, you’d think our energy woes are over.

Not so fast.  Access to household energy use data is really important.  And Facebook aps might be fun.  But when it’s 105 degrees out and you have a poorly insulated house, with south- and west-facing glass, and an old air-conditioner, are you going to be able to stay comfortable without paying a lot of money to the utilities?  No.  Good information helps, but it doesn’t change physics.  To make your home more comfortable and not break the bank with utility bills, you’ve got to make actual improvements!

And the fundamentals still apply.  You need good insulation and air-sealing, tight duct work, efficient heating and cooling equipment, efficient lighting.  And you also need to know if your water heater, furnace, or any other combustion appliance in your home is operating safely and efficiently.  The green button won’t don’t that for you.

Fortunately, for California residents, the statewide Energy Upgrade California (EUC) program can provide up to $4,000 in rebates to help make smart improvements (some cities and counties are offering even more in matching rebates).  And certified contractors can give you access to these incentives. GreenHomes America partners have BPI-certified staff, and can provide access to the EUC incentives.

The best way to find out what you might qualify for is to have a real home energy audit conducted by a participating contractor—and then get the rebate by having the contractor make the improvements.  You can contact participating experts in the following areas to learn more:

• Hayward & the East Bay, ABC Cooling
• Campbell & the South Bay, Residential Energy Pros
• Los Banos, Young’s Air-Conditioning
• Greater Fresno, ABC Cooling
• San Diego, ASI Hastings

So bring the green button on.  Check it out.  Easier access to utility information is great (after all, we’re paying the bills, aren’t we—shouldn’t we be able to get the information?)  Kudos to PG&E and SDGE for stepping up to lead the nation with this.  The rest of the country?  Well, a handful of additional uttilies have said they’re interested, so stay tuned.  And if GreenHomes has a location near you, we’ll help you find applicable rebates, incentives, and loans.

But if you want a more comfortable, healthier, and more energy-efficiency home, data alone won’t do it.  A good home assessment followed by the right, professionally installed, measures, will.

Cheers,
Mike

As expected, the Pansonic LED Nostalgic Clear, promises a long life at 40,000 hours and significant energy savings at 4.4w over 20W (for a CFL) with an A-Energy rating.  At 2700k Panasonic claims the bulb produces a soft warm light, and overall it is fairly compact.

I’ve mentioned the Switch bulb which I think looks pretty neat  even when off, but with this one, your interior decorating scheme might be a bit more industrial. 

 Let’s face it, sometimes you can see the light bulb and who wants to look at some clunky piece of technology from the 1980’s Battlestar Galactica days?  I do like the look of the Panasonic Nostalgic Clear.   

The frontier is still multi-directional, bright lighting; something as yet not done well by LED lighting overall, and I am sure is lacking in this Panasonic bulb as well.  Gerry Negley, Cree’s CTO has said, “I don’t know what lighting will look like in the 21st century. I can tell you it will not be constrained with shapes and technology of the past.  It will not look like a traditional light bulb.”  Can’t wait to see, but for now give me something familiar to light the way.

Watch out for build up: One of the easiest things to do is remove build-up in your clothes dryer’s lint trap before every load. Removing built up lint not only reduces the risk of fire but also will increase drying efficiency and could save you up to $34 per year.

Keep your bills out of hot water: Identify-and fix-any water leaks in your home. Leaky faucets and showerheads, for example, can be a big source of waste. Repairing these fixtures can save you up to $100 per year. And, don’t forget to inspect your hot water heater for leakage. At a rate of one drip per second, your home can waste gallons of water in a short time, costing you money.

Seal the gaps: Air leaks can occur in some unusual and out-of-the-way places-crawl spaces, attics, overhangs, garages, porches and other architectural features, to name a few. Be sure to have a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR^® contractor investigate these problem areas and make recommendations on how to make your home’s openings air-tight. By sealing and insulating your home, you could increase your home’s energy efficiency by up to 20 percent.

Turn it off: Make a conscious effort to turn off electronics or appliances when they are not in use. If no one is watching TV—turn it off. Try using a power strip as a central “turn off” point for easy access in powering down multiple pieces of equipment—such as a DVD player, a Blu-Ray^TM player and a television—all at once. Once you develop this simple habit, you’ll achieve savings the rest of the year.

Look for the star: If you are thinking about replacing electronics or appliances, look for the ENERGY STAR label. These units have advanced features that improve energy efficiency. For more information on ENERGY STAR appliances, visit http://www.energystar.gov 

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR^®: For more ways to save energy, ask an accredited Home Performance contractor to conduct a comprehensive home energy assessment, which is free for most New York homeowners. The contractor will discuss the energy improvements you can do in 2012 to save more on your utility bills, along with the incentives and financing available to make these improvements more affordable.

An energy assesment from GreenHomes America can help you sort out some New Year’s resolutions of your own and help you stick to them! And, un-like the going to the gym for some parts of January, it won’t hurt I promise.

Thanks and Happy New Year,

Jason

unvented fireplaces are a bad idea.

We’ve had a few responses regarding Carbon Monoxide lately, and for good reasons: it’s a concern we should pay close attention to.  As we button up our homes and keep warm for the holidays, some of us look to inexpensive solutions and quick fixes such as unvented gas fireplaces.

My personal experience so far suggests burning a fire inside just doesn’t seem like a good idea (don’t ask, just trust me on this one).

Up north in igloos, the Inuit used small oil lamps called Kudliks and vented them with smoke holes in those igloos.  Further south in a region many of us call home now, the Lakota used Tipis, and also showing great intelligence, had a smoke hole at the top.   Overseas, centuries ago, Romans built tubes in walls to draw smoke out of bakeries and what we now know of as a chimney may have started in northern Europe in the 12th century. So what happened?  Are we smarter now than all of our ancestors or have we failed to learn something, and as they say History is repeating itself?

Some manufacturers of vent-free appliances claim they burn so cleanly that they don’t need to be vented.  I have a hard time believing this since there will always be combustion by-products namely Carbon Monoxide and water.  I’ll discuss the CO side in a minute—CO kills.  But water is an issue for every one of these units, burning correctly or incorrectly.

Vent-free appliances can produce about a gallon of water in the house for every 100,000 BTU’s.  Leave one on for 4 hours, and you’re well beyond the moisture you’ll put in the air from a couple of showers and cooking a pot of spaghetti.  That’s why you’ll often see condensation on your windows or sense a clammy feeling in the air.  This humidity, if left unchecked can lead to other issues such as mold or rot.  Sure you can address the moisture by providing whole-house ventilation something we regularly recommend, but you will be paying a penalty over ventilating your home because you didn’t want to ventilate your fireplace.  You shouldn’t use your house as a chimney—that’s what flues are for!

Water is a serious problem—but it’s not the worst of it. Without regular service the stove produces more CO, and my science books suggest incomplete combustion creates more by-products.

The effects of CO can be overt or subtle but either way long lasting.   We pay attention to dangerous high level exposure, but even low level exposure over time can be debilitating.  From the American Lung Association:

Breathing CO at low levels regularly may cause permanent mental or physical problems. At very high levels, it causes loss of consciousness and death.¹

Approximately 450 people die each year from CO exposure related to fuel-burning, residential appliances. Thousands more became ill or sought medical attention.² CO poisoning is estimated to cause more than 50,000 emergency room visits in the United States each year.¹

The EPA suggests never heating your home with a gas oven.  Short term exposure might be ok but long term exposure is not, like when you are heating your home all day long.   For those without kitchen range hoods, or those who fail to turn them on, a stove is essentially an unvented gas heater, so why do we use unvented fireplaces?

Apparently there are safety features.  Some manufacturers’ fine print indicates you should open a window every time you use the appliance!  Who does that?  And if you’re supposed to open a window, it can’t be an unvented appliance.  I’m guessing the lawyers have paid attention to the potential liability from combustion gases and perhaps related moisture problems.  Other fine print from a vent free manufacturers retail site suggests that the Oxygen Depletion Safety Pilot device shuts off the gas before dangerous levels of CO can be formed, but says nothing about using a CO detector as a back-up. It also does not address long term low level exposure.

Since you can’t see or smell carbon monoxide, but high levels can kill you in minutes, it makes sense to have a CO detector.

Here is what an average off the shelf CO meter will do:

In accordance with UL 2034, the CO sensor will not alarm to levels of CO below 30 ppm and will alarm in the following time range when exposed to the corresponding levels of CO. 70 ppm CO concentration 60 – 240 minutes 150 ppm CO concentration 10 – 50 minutes 400 ppm CO concentration 4 – 15 minutes.

It won’t sound below 30ppm.

This link has a long list of letters from folks that have been harmed from high and low levels of exposure. Some when finding CO levels in their home, complained to the fireplace manufacturers who suggested the meters they had bought were too sensitive!  The last thing I want is a device that does its job too well.

It is wrong that our national code allows unvented gas fireplaces when we know they can be harmful. They should never be installed.  The consumer advocacy group, Consumer Reports justifiably suggests caution with these appliances and they also say that there is “No national standard that compels contractors to consider air quality when they install an unvented fireplace; the National Fuel Gas Code and many local codes call only for the fireplace to be sized so that sufficient air is available for combustion.” But this is not entirely true, as accredited contractors with the Building Performance Institute we can’t perform improvements on a home until an existing unvented heater is removed.  Why?  It’s not considered safe and the risks aren’t worth it.

Unvented gas fireplaces are a potentially deadly example of penny wise and pound foolish.  Let’s pay respect to those who figured this out a long time ago and keep ourselves and our families safe through the heating season.  If you have one, get rid of it.  If you’re thinking of adding an unvented appliance, please don’t.

Thanks and stay safe,

Jason.

 photo used under creative commons liscense from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeandkasia/3260232561/

1. Weaver LK. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. 2009. New England Journal of Medicine 360: 1217-1225.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nonfatal, Unintentional, Non-Fire-Related Carbon Monoxide Exposures—United States, 2004-2006.

2. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review 57:33 (August 2, 2008). Accessed October 20, 2009 

“Conservation is just another word for a Ponzi scheme in many respects. What I mean by that, is it is not that conservation is bad, conservation is very, very good if you do it properly.”  This is a quote from Maine Governor Paul LePage from the Bangor daily News last week.  

The Governor, in the article, is critical of the home energy audits process required by Efficiency Maine since, as he suggests, “If they are recommending $15,000 in improvements and a person can’t make that much of an investment, it is all a waste,” he said. “That’s where the policy is not working and we are going to work on that.”

I think it is throwing out the baby with the bath water to say that a homeowner can’t afford to fix everything in a home all at once then the audit was a waste.   In Maine as everywhere else, a good audit maps out short and long term solutions to save homeowners money, increase their comfort at home, and reduce our dependence on heating oil with increased efficiency.  The audit should be your roadmap to a safer, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient home.   

Of course, the right audit needs to be accurate and actionable.  The audit needs to look at the whole house to determine the specific energy upgrades that make the most sense for your particular house.  And it needs to be specific enough so that you can get the work done, but it is the work that improves your house, not the assessment.  We can agree with the governor on that point.

Certified, established contractors, performing energy audits and even more important, performing the work needed to fix the problems, are what we need in every state.  We ask doctors to be certified, drivers to be licensed; it is for the public good and our safety.   Homes are often the most significant investment people have, and issues left unchecked affect the occupant’s health and safety, heating systems and indoor air quality issues, all part of an energy audit…and we haven’t talked about air sealing and insulation yet!  

Shortcuts don’t work well, and can create their own problems.  Wrapping the “state in pink” suggesting insulation for everyone is in the right spirit, but the wrong approach in most homes, unless we find and seal air-leaks first, for example.   Air sealing without insulation is not only a waste of insulation, all that good “pink” will only act as a filter as all the heating dollars pass through it.  The slogan for fixing homes should not be get r’ done, but do it right the first time.  The right audit points the way.

Homes are complex and often times so are the solutions.  Ponzi scheme?  I think not.  Investing in energy efficiency is no simple task and any good investor begins with informing themselves of the risks and benefits or else looses their shirt rather quickly.  The right audit makes sense.

Thanks,

Jason.

Murkier than Fiction!

I will point out some of my “favorite” portions of the ad that might be worth a careful read so you can make sure you understand what they’re saying, and what they’re not.

• Amazing technology! Or, I think, not so amazing after all. “Hybrid-Thermic heat technology is an engineering genius so advanced it actually uses a micro-furnace from the Coast of China and a thermal heat exchanger to perform its miracles.” Hmmm…I’m not saying that there aren’t fine products coming out of China, but I would hardly call this genius. And “a micro-furnace from the Coast of China”? Sounds rather pedestrian. Although I do suspect they’re able to have it manufactured less cheaply in China than in the U.S. Ah, maybe THAT is the genius part—they can make it for less, sell it for more, and make more money??
• The unit “produces up to an amazing 4,606 British Thermal Units (BTU’s) on the high setting”. OK, let me see, 1 watt-hour of electricity produces 3.413 BTUs. If the high setting is 1500 watts (or 1.5 kilowatts), over an hour it would optimally produce…wait for it…5,120 BTUs!!!  This amazing technology is able to convert electricity to heat at a lower rate than some of the $30 heaters from the big box store! (Some of the electricity is used to create than nifty flameless fire glow, not heat.)  Thank goodness for the Coast of China engineering genius!
• An infographic tells us that if we have the home thermostat set at 59 degrees, the room temperature might be, get this, 59 degrees! Well, yeah, because that’s what you set the thermostat at! Could a 4,606 BTU/hour raise the temperature of the room to 74 degrees? Yes. Doesn’t take a miracle to do that, though. The $30 space heater will do it, too. And, as we’ve discussed before, while space heaters (including super-dooper, amazing, miracle, trademarked Hybrid-Thermic space heaters) can be used for raising the temps of trouble spots, lowering your house temperature can create it’s own problems—frozen pipes, anyone? Condensation in cold rooms? Be careful, even if simple infographics don’t warn you of this.
• The ad states the product is a “Consumer ‘Best Buy’ ” on the HeatReport.com website. Hmmmm…I can’t speak to the copywriter’s intent here, but this I did find it a bit confusing at first glance. On closer examination, this claim, citing reviews on a website that sure looks like its run by the Heat Surge folks, shouldn’t be confused with “Consumers Digest” or “Consumer Reports”. In fact, Consumer Reports had a nifty review of their previously named Heat Surge product—and the Heat Surge “Fireless Flame (registered mark)” aside, I wouldn’t call it a glowing report from Consumer Reports. Speaking of recommendations, this product actually makes my “Don’t Buy” list because I just don’t think it’s worth it?  It seems MSNBC’s Consumer Man came to a similar conclusion–and was worried about the potential for people to be misled by these ads.  Go figure!
• How about that map!? It doesn’t mirror the DOE climate zone map. Or the more detailed maps I’ve seen other experts use. But that Heat Surge map did teach me a couple of things. For example, Phoenix is in the “Cold Zone”, the same as Boone, North Carolina. Miami is in the “Frost Zone”. Burlington, VT is in the same zone as Norfolk, VA and Seattle, WA. Go figure. We prefer to look at actual local weather patterns and “heating degree days” when consider the heating needs of a house. But then, I guess this map is to stagger calling—never mind that no time zone considerations come into play. Seems awfully complicated! Maybe an astute reader can give a better explanation!

I’ll wrap it up with a quote from the ad “if it does not have the Heat Surge name on it, you are getting ripped off.” I would have to disagree. In my opinion, exactly the opposite is true—unless you really like the aesthetics of that Amish mantle. It’s your money, though. You get to decide! Caveat emptor!

If you want to be more comfortable and save energy in your home, you’re generally better off getting the right home energy audit, and doing things like air-sealing and insulating properly.

You’ve probably seen the ads. Do you have a favorite part? How about any doozies from the Bob Vila Eden Pure ads? Or the Heat Surge’s equally lame cousin, the Cool Surge?  It’s an election year—I wonder if these guys write campaign speeches, too? Let us know what you think (Or just share your favorite Talking Heads song!)

Cheers,
Mike

nbc chicago image

Maybe you’ve seen this already, its’ been floating around the web, but I Love this picture.  Some of us go for broke when it comes to holiday decoration.  I’m only lightly (sorry) using the metaphor “going for broke”.

We celebrate this time of year as the skies grow darker earlier and the season shortens for cultural and religious reasons and just plain fun.    I’m more in the Ditto camp, but we do have a Christmas tree.     

Out of curiosity I used a nifty device called a Kill-A-Watt, and I metered my own Christmas tree at home.  We like the old school lights, the big bulbs and the bubbling ones. One year we left a strip plugged in lying on the couch and burned a hole in it.       

Well, my little tree with a few strips of lights big and small draws about 320watts.  I have an electric tea kettle that boils water with less wattage.  I can make coffee with that.   A co-worker’s tree with LED lights draws about 20watts. 

I’m probably not going to change. I like the light from the tree.  It makes me happy.   I suppose although it’s not efficient, it helps heat my house. (Yes, heating my house in Maine with light bulbs is not necessarily the smartest economic move I’ve made!)

Question I have now is “how about all the other things with clocks and lights, plugged in but not doing anything.”  Mike has mentioned “smart” power strips in the past.  This might be a good stocking stuffer for some (well if you have a big stocking I suppose).  Our TV’s and their electronic entourage, sit around waiting to entertain drawing power with their clocks lights and standby modes.  Set top boxes and DVR’s  can have a huge draw and can be worse than a good refrigerator!       

We make choices with our home and what we do to run the things in them, and it’s good to make informed ones.   Using energy costs money.  Wasting energy costs even more. Maybe the “Ditto” family has some extra cash for the presents under the tree instead, or a week in the Bahamas.  What would you do with the money you’re wasting needlessly on phantom loads?  Oh, don’t forget:  air leaks, spotty insulation, old inefficient heating equipment, leaky ductwork….What does your holiday wish list look like?

Cheers!

Jason.

Thanks,

Jason

photo from wiki commons

If you still have a dollar to your name after a rough (at times too rough!) shopping weekend, you might want to take a look at this nifty info-graphic which helps explains an average household’s energy use, and naturally where the rest of the money goes!

High on the list of energy use in a home is, as it might be expected, heating and hot water.  Cooling is up there as well.  It does depend on where you live as to which is a bigger drain on your finances but this is precisely the reason we spend so much time talking about and fixing,  these areas.

Appliances are a much smaller part of the overall picture, but not to be ignored, of course.  If part of your Black Friday battle included fist-fighting (whew, there was some craziness out there—sort of reminds me of that zombie discussion last month!) for a brand new Energy Star dishwasher, more power to you.  It may even have been worth it if what you had was over ten years old.

Clearly as the picture suggests, heating and cooling equipment—that is your furnace, air-conditioner, or heat pump—should be in top notch shape performing their best if you are going to avoid burning money.   But what if the attic insulation doesn’t keep the heat in?  What if the duct work leaks and pumps conditioned air into the great outdoors?  What this picture tells me is that the important things in a home are being warm or cool, having hot water when we want it, the creature comforts.

You can buy the best coffee maker in the world to make a great cup of coffee, but a cracked cup with a hole in it won’t keep the coffee around or warm long enough for you to enjoy it.   Homes can just be like that.  Consider a gift for you and your family this season, one without the bruises or pepper spray dangers of holiday shopping, a comprehensive home assessment so you know where it all goes and can do something about it!

Thanks,

Jason