Windows:  We have several types of windows in our house.  The original house still has wooden single pane, double hung windows with storm windows.  All of these windows have received need some much needed attention this fall: the cracked and missing glazing putty has been replaced, and the sashes that rattle as they open and close have had weatherstripping added to help seal the gaps and smoothen out their operation.  Next the cracked, peeling and alligatored paint will need to be scraped off and the windows repainted. Finally, when the wind blows the sashes in the storm windows bend a little and let it right in.  The 1970’s addition was built with wooden double hung windows with insulated glass, one of which has cracked glass and the others readily leak air.  Some of the windows in the addition and one in the original house were replaced with vinyl double hung and slider windows with insulated glass.  The vinyl windows are the best in the house, but last year we covered them with insulating window film too and it made a big difference.  The windows in the basement are the worst of all: single pane glass, some cracked and others loose in their frames.

Doors:  There are only two doors into the house.  The front door is a six panel solid wood door with a storm door.  We installed new weatherstripping and a new sweep to the wood door two years ago.  The back door is a steel door with glass on the upper half and a storm door.  Both back door and storm door have new weatherstripping and the glass in the storm door has been sealed with weatherstripping and rope caulk.  We made these improvements at the same time as the ones we made to the front doors. 

Change in Materials:  The joint between the brick of the existing house and the aluminum siding of the addition needs to be re-caulked.  Likewise, the joint between the concrete foundation and concrete driveway may be the source of small water leaks into the basement and should be sealed too.  The joints between the eave trim and the brick is tight and in great shape and so is the joint between the aluminum siding and the block foundation. 

Switches and Outlets:  There are very few switches or outlets on the exterior walls, the outlets and switches in the exterior walls of the original house are surface mounted to the wall and do not need to be sealed.  Those in the addition need to be sealed.

Pipes, Vents, Fixtures and Wires:  There are a number of penetrations through the exterior wall: range hood vent, phone line, electrical, cable TV, condensing unit line set, dryer vent, furnace flue, and three hose bibs.  Most of these penetrations seem to be sealed properly, however there are a few, like the outlet and light fixture by the back door that need some attention.

Attic Ceilings:  Every room on the second floor has a ceiling mounted light fixture with a junction box that penetrates the ceiling.  One bathroom has an exhaust fan that pokes up into the attic too.  The original house has an attic access panel in one of the closets the is in dire need of being sealed and insulated properly.  The access panel in the addition has two inches of rigid insulation secured to it’s back and is weatherstripped adequately on all four sides.  It could also benefit from an attic stair cover some day.

Fireplaces:  The fireplace is decorative, so there is no flue to seal.

After completing this survey it’s apparent that there are a number of weatherizing projects that I need to complete: fixing the glazing putty in the original windows, and adding weatherstripping to the original windows this fall was a good start.  Next on the list are to seal the joint between the foundation and the driveway, seal the joints between the brick and the aluminum siding, install switch and outlet sealers, seal the penetrations through the second floor ceiling, seal and insulate the original attic access panel, add insulation to the newer attic access panel, and seal around some of the penetrations through the building envelope.

Dan Bossenbroek

Ever since Thomas Edison fired up his Pearl Street Power Station in 1882 more and more households every year are connected to the “Grid”, and your house is probably not an exception to this. The question is, how much energy does your house pull from the power transmission network? It’s time to get out your electricity bills for the past year and determine how much you have used and how much it has cost you. If you have complete records, this will be easy. If not, you may have to dig through your bank statements to determine how much you have paid each month. Many power companies include a summary of your energy use for the past twelve months. Using this information, total up how much you have spent on electricity and the kilowatt hours (KWH) that you have for the past year. Then divide the former by the latter to determine your effective electricity rate. If you want to be even more accurate, you can sort through all of your electric bills and subtract all of the charges that are not related to how much electricity that you use from your annual electrical cost. These are charges that will you will pay just for being a customer, and unfortunately won’t shrink as your electricity use goes down.

Next, repeat the last step with your fuel (natural gas, propane, fuel oil) bills. Find your bills, total up your costs and total energy used. In the US natural gas is typically measured in CCFs (100 cubic feet), while propane and fuel oil are measured in gallons. Here to, you may have “customer” charges on your bill that you might want to subtract. Divide your fuel costs by the amount used in order to determine your rate.

Third, you should find your water bills, record your water usage for a year, and calculate your rate. Just like natural gas, in the US water is usually billed by the CCF. However, unlike other utilities they don’t just charge you for what you use (water charges), but they also charge you to take it away (sewer charges). Furthermore, they charge you to manage the rain that falls on your property (stormwater charges).

You may also use an alternative fuel type for some or all of your heating needs. Whether it is solar, wood, pellets, corn, coal or another fuel, you should determine your annual consumption, costs and rate.

The other aspect of setting a baseline is to itemize the water and energy saving strategies and products that you already employ that are not readily evident when doing a home energy audit. Do you have ceiling fans in any of your rooms, a clothes dryer heat diverter, dual flush toilet conversion kits, or LED night lights? How about a moisture meter for your garden and lawn, motion/occupancy sensors, electric space heaters or a solar attic fan? Do you line dry your clothes, use a sun oven or have a wind turbine? List all of the water and energy saving products and strategies that you already use. This will help you when you prioritize which products and strategies to use next.

Dan Bossenbroek

Heating System:

• Type:  Furnace, Boiler, Baseboard, Stove, Heat Pump (Ground or Air Source), Solar: ___________________, Other ____________
• Efficiency:  _______%
• Size: ____________
• Fuel Type:  Natural Gas, Propane, Fuel Oil, Electricity, Wood, Pellet, Coal, Solar, Other _____________

Cooling System:

• Type:  Condenser, Window Unit, Heat Pump (Ground or Air Source), Whole House Fan, Window Fans, Passive Thermal, Other ____________
• Efficiency:  _______%
• Size: ____________
• Fuel Type:  Natural Gas, Propane, Electricity, Other _____________

Distribution System:

• Type: Ducts, Pipes, Radiators, Steam, Hot Water, In Floor Radiant, Other ________________
• Insulation Type:  None, Sealed, Radiant, Fiberglass, Other ______________

Hot Water Heater:

• Type:  Tank, Tank-less, Solar, Other ________________
• Efficiency:  _______%
• Size: ____________
• Fuel Type:  Natural Gas, Propane, Fuel Oil, Electricity, Heat Pump, Sun, Other _____________
• Pipe Insulation Type:  None, Sealed, Foam, Radiant, Fiberglass, Other ______________

Thermostat:

• Type:  Standard, Programmable (5 day/2 day, 5/1/1 day, or 7 day), Other ________________
• Settings:

Now you have completed the first five steps for your Home Energy Audit and you are well on your way to understanding where all of that energy that you pay for is used.  The goal of the audit is to find the most cost effective ways to save energy and water.  The end goal is to implement energy and water saving strategies and install energy conservation products and save hundreds if not thousands of dollars, every year.

Dan Bossenbroek

Here in step 2 we will investigate the exterior of our house and property.

We don’t have a survey of our property, so we have developed one ourselves.  We went to our county auditor’s website and found a site map and a building sketch.

Next, we used the site map as a base to sketch the rest of the site improvements on.  Several items of interest are: the perennial gardens, the trees and house to the east that shade our property in the morning, the trees to the south that shade the south portion of the back lawn, the redbud that shades the perennial garden between the house and the patio, and the garage to the west that shades the patio from the harsh evening sun.         

We then transferred this information to graph paper.

Finally, we photographed the exterior of the house.

Some of the exterior water and energy saving products and strategies that we are considering are: weatherizing, rain barrels, solar air heaters, sun shades, and a green roof on the porch.  We will need to complete this Home Energy Audit to verify which make the most sense.

Dan Bossenbroek

Site Plan & Photos:             Check.

Building Envelope:              Check.

Where to Weatherize:         Let’s find out.

If you could move all of the little gaps, cracks and holes in the exterior walls and attic of your house all together you might end up with a hole that you could poke your head thru.  Putting your head there literally is not recommended, but putting your head there figuratively will save you energy and hundreds of dollars a year.  The fourth step in gathering the information needed to develop a comprehensive Home Energy Audit is to examine those cracks, gaps and holes in your house that need to be plugged or weatherized.

Windows:  Unfortunately, light is not the only thing that passed through windows, many leak air like a sieve.  They can leak where the trim abuts the siding, through the sill, where two sashes meet, between the frame and the sash, and even at the edges of the glass.  Take close-up photos of each type of window and window condition.  Note the condition of existing weather stripping and any obvious locations where air might be likely to enter the house.

Doors:  Just like windows, doors have multiple locations where air can fine its way in to your house.  Take photographs of all doors and screen doors and note the condition of weather stripping that might need to be replaced. 

Change in Materials:  Every time that there is a joint between two different types of materials or systems, there is a possibility that air can enter into your walls.  Take close-up photographs of the various conditions around the outside of your house, including horizontal and vertical conditions. 

Switches and Outlets:  This is an often overlooked location that air can get into your house.  These boxes puncture the vapor barrier and are not usually sealed properly.  Simply count the number of outlets and switches there are on the exterior walls of your house.  Record this information with your building envelope information.

Pipes, Vents, Fixtures and Wires:  When exterior building skin materials are pierced they don’t often fit tightly around the object that goes through them.  Here is another opportunity for air to seep into your house.  Take close-up photos of every location where pipes, vents, light fixtures, receptacles and wires come out of your walls.

Attic Ceilings:  Fiberglass batts and blown cellulose make great insulators, but they are terrible air and vapor barriers.  Your attic could have R-50 insulation, but if your ceilings are not properly sealed the conditioned air in your house can pass right through it.  Record the number of ceiling mounted, recessed light fixtures and ceiling fans there are in the ceiling under your attic.  Photograph all attic access panels and the attic side of light fixtures, fans and electrical boxes.

Fireplaces:  Are there any working fireplaces in your house?  Take a photograph of the dampers, if there are any.

You have set your personal goals to save energy and water, surveyed your property, and the building envelope in detail.  You are well on your way to collecting the information that you will need to develop a comprehensive Home Energy Audit.  The next article in this series will focus on the mechanical systems in your house.

Dan Bossenbroek

The first step is to take a peek up into you attic.  Most houses are insulated similarly throughout an entire system like the attic, but you will need to verify this.  While you are up there, you will also want to note what type of insulation there is, and measure its thickness.  The most common types of attic insulation are fiberglass batt, usually pink; blown fiberglass, small bits; and blown cellulose, chemically treated recycled newspaper.  However, spray foam insulation and radiant insulation are gaining popularity.  You will also want to notice if there are areas where there is a continuous layer of insulation, an area which is not broken up by wood ceiling joists (cavity insulation).  Next you need to calculate the area of each different insulation condition.  These areas will probably align with major areas of your house, for instance the attic of the one story addition may have different insulation than that of the two story original house.  Refer to your site plan for dimensions.  You should also start a chart with these headings: Building Element, Cavity Insulation, Thickness, Continuous Insulation, Thickness, and Area.  Under Building Element you will list Ceiling/Attic Type 1, Ceiling/Attic Type 2 and so on.  Before you move on to the next step, you must first subtract the area of any skylights from the ceiling/attic areas.

After you have filled in the attic information in your chart, it is time to examine your floors.  Are there any floor areas in your house that are above unheated spaces?  You may have an addition over an unheated crawl space, a bedroom over a porch, or a bonus room over a garage.  Add these spaces, Floor Type 1, Floor Type 2, to your chart and fill in the types of insulation and their thicknesses.  For those areas that are above unheated, but enclosed spaces such as garages and crawl spaces, add 50% to the thickness of the insulation.  These spaces act a buffer to the outside.

The next Building Element type to examine is slab on grade floors.  A slab on grade is a concrete floor that is built directly on the ground.  There are several ways that the edge of a slab on grade can be insulated, and most of them are difficult if not impossible to verify without demolishing part of the floor, but are equally effective, so assume that there is 2” of rigid insulation.  Here, the area of the floor is not important, but the perimeter is.  Enter the perimeter of the slab on grade in your chart feet (ft) instead of in square feet (s.f.).

Basement and conditioned (heated and cooled) crawlspace walls are the next item to measure.  Here, you will want to separate the areas into those above grade, or above ground, and those below.  You may want to mark the basement dimensions on the photographs of the outside of your house.  This will be especially helpful if the grade slopes along the sides of your house.  Fill in your chart and add 50% to the insulation thickness for the basement areas that are below grade, and for those walls that adjoin unheated crawlspaces.  In addition, subtract the area of the windows.

Now you can now turn your attention to the exterior walls of your house.  Measure the floor to ceiling distances and add the second floor height and another foot for the floor structure to the height of the first floor.  Calculate the areas for the different types of walls, subtract the area for all doors and windows, and add this information to your chart.  Here too, you may want to write the areas of widows and doors on your photographs.  In order to determine the type of cavity insulation in wood framed walls, your best bet will be to remove the cover plate from an outlet or switch.  You may need to remove several before you see evidence of insulation around the edge or poking through a hole in the back of the box.  Determining the type and thickness of continuous insulation on the outside of walls is more difficult.  The most likely place to find this out is at one of the gaps around a pipe, vent or wire that pokes through the outside of your house, this may require you to remove some caulk.  If you have un-insulated masonry walls, enter the thickness of the masonry in the continuous insulation column, if they are insulated, enter the thickness of the insulation.  Again, remember to subtract the area of all doors and windows before you enter the various wall areas into your chart.

You have now examined the building envelope of your house and thus completed the third step in the process of collecting information for your home energy audit.  Click here to request a Home Energy Audit Excel file to enter your information in.  The next article will help you examine your windows, doors and other areas that you may need to weatherize.

I’ve decided to turn the clock back to 2007 for the official start of our Net 50 Energy Challenge since that is when we began to

implement energy saving strategies on our house.  So here is the scoop: our family of four moved to a 2200 square foot, two story brick and aluminum sided house with a partial basement and no garage in the winter of 2005.  In 2007 we used 14,227 KW of electricity, 1,145 CCF of natural gas and 106 CCF of water.  Through the end of July this year we have used 65.6% as much electricity, 77.3% as much natural gas, and 89.1% as much water as we did through July of 2007.  So already we are averaging about a 26% reduction in utility costs.

To date, these are the water and energy saving products we have used:

• Installed radiant barrier/insulation in the attic:  $400.
• Added R-19 insulation to a portion of the attic:  $100.
• Replaced almost all light bulbs with CFL’s (the rest we don’t use much and we’ll replace when they burn out):  $56.
• Weather stripping and door sweeps installed on all exterior doors and screen/storm doors:  $25.
• The entire front yard (except for the tree lawn) has been changed into a garden of drought tolerant plants:  $400. (I’m only counting 50% of this since it is one of our hobbies as well.)
• Use clear plastic film window insulation on all windows throughout the winter, and on east and wet windows throughout the year:  $24.
• Insulated some ductwork and sealed all ducts in basement:  $35.
• Employ most of the Green Free Fifteen, I haven’t been able to break my night owl tendencies:  $0 – The operative word is FREE.
• Installed a low flow showerhead:  $20.
• Upgraded our computer, Windows Vista, with a flat screen monitor:  $0 – Needed to upgrade anyway.
• Built a trellis for a wisteria vine that acts as a sun shade through the summer:  $0 – Used branches from a tree that fell in our back yard.
• And numerous water saving activities: $0 – again changes in habits that don’t cost anything.

This results in a grand total investment of $1,060. 

The Goal:  To reduce our annual consumption to 7,113 KW of grid fed electricity, 577 CCF of natural gas and 53 CCF of potable water.

The Cost:  Our total utility cost for 2007 was $3,278.  So, once we cut our utility bills in half, we will save $1,640 a year, at 2007 utility rates.  Therefore if we invest $8,200 in energy and water saving products and strategies, we will recover our investment in five years, and if we invest $11,480 it will take seven years.  However, since our utility rates have gone up about 15% over the past two years our savings will continue to grow and grow.

Next Step:  To walk you through an energy audit of my house, hoping that you will follow along and do a similar energy audit on your house.

Dan Bossenbroek

Before you pick up your tape measure and camera and head outside, you may want to search a little for some “official” information that may already be available.  Many times mortgage documents will contain a legal survey of your property.  This legal survey will indicate the specific size and orientation of your property and any improvements, also know as houses, porches, garages, drives, walks, patios, decks, pools, etc that are on the property.  If you can’t find a legal survey of your property, you may have luck at your county auditor’s website or map room. Many auditor websites have maps which show your property lines and have a rough dimensioned sketch of your house.  If you strike out with your auditor, then it’s time to start from scratch, take out a pad of paper and pencil and draw a rough sketch of your property.

Auditor's Site Plan

Auditor's House Sketch

This rough sketch should show the property lines and the outline of any improvements.  Next you should add a number of other items such as: play structures, fences, walls, trees, gardens, site lighting, utilities, water features, slopes and any other significant features.  Finally, you may also want to sketch the location of these types of items that are on your neighbor’s property, especially if they might impact your property.  For instance there might be a 100’ tall oak tree 10’ from your property line that casts a shadow on your front yard for most of the day.

Now it is time to grab a friend or two and a tape measure and measure everything.  That being said, you don’t need to be that accurate: take your measurements to the nearest foot.  Make sure that you measure the distance from you house to the property lines and the location of any large trees.

Once you have measured everything it is time to transform this into a site plan.  First get out a sheet of graph paper and then figure out what scale drawing of your site will fit on the page.  One square may equal three feet or maybe even four or five.  Take your time and sketch your new site plan according to the measurements that you took.  Finally, if you started your site plan from scratch you should verify how your house is oriented to the compass, in other words figure out which way your front door faces.  You might think that it faces directly north, but if you are off by 20 or 30 degrees it could have a significant impact on some of the energy saving and alternative energy strategies that you might employ.  The one easy way to verify this is to enter your address on Google Earth, or you could just get out your handy Boy Scout compass.

Once you have finished sketching your site plan it is time to photograph the outside of your house so that you have a better idea of how it relates to the site.  The goal here is to get a straight on shot of each side of your house.  Stand far enough away in order to get the entire house in the photograph if possible.  If this is not possible stand as far back as possible and take several photos that can be spliced together to form one larger image.  Along with this you will also want to photograph the various windows, doors and other openings or penetrations in the walls. 

This site plan in combination with the photographs of your house will help you understand the resources and limitations that you have on your property.  They will help to illustrate where you might want to plant a shade tree, wind screen or vegetable garden, and where you might place solar panels, rain barrels or sun shades.

The third article in this series, coming soon, will help you collect information on the building envelope that you will need for your personal home energy audit.

Dan Bossenbroek

One of the best ways to get started on making your home more energy efficient is to determine where your house uses the energy that you pay for every month.  A great tool to accomplish this is a Home Energy Audit, it will help you determine which energy saving products and strategies you should invest in first.  By determining how much energy is used by each system in your house you will create a baseline to compare future results to, estimate how much each product and strategy should save you and help measure the effectiveness of the ones that you employ.  This article is the first in a series of articles that will help walk you through a step by step process of gathering the information that you will need to develop an Energy Audit for your own home.

The first step is to list some personal information.  List the number of people that live in the house.  This information will help to determine the potential water savings with low flow shower heads, and dual flush toilets.  It will also give insight on some heating and cooling strategies that could be employed.  List the number of days that someone is at home during the day during a typical week.  This will help determine which type of programmable thermostat would be most beneficial and how it can be programmed to best meet your circumstances.

The next step is to set some goals.  First list what percentage of energy use reduction that you would like to achieve.  We suggest that 10% to 20% is a good first goal to set for yourself, but do not fear a more ambitious goal of 30% to 40%.  For this too can be achieved.  Linked to this savings goal is an investment budget.  List a budget amount that you would like to invest in energy saving products.  Remember, that even though your goal may be to reduce your overall energy bills by 20% or 30%, many of these strategies will produce a 50%, 75% or even a 100% return on your investment.  Another factor in determining your budget is your Do-It-Yourself ability.  If you are willing and able to install the recommended products, and make the alterations to your house yourself then your money will typically go about twice as far than if you need to pay someone to do it for you.  Consider setting your budget equal to or greater than one years utility costs: electric, gas (fuel), and water.

People living in the house:            _________

Days at Home / Week:         _________

Energy Savings Goal:         _____ __%

Investment Budget:             $________

Take the first step to turning your house into a more energy efficient and eco-friendly home, fill in the information above and look for our next article coming soon.

Dan Bossenbroek