001 - Three Practical Home Improvements for Energy Efficiency & Comfort
There are a lot of improvements that can make your home more comfortable and efficient, from replacing windows, to insulating the attic. However, not all home improvements are equally accessible or affordable. The goal of this article is to highlight three practical improvements that will give you the most bang for your buck.
Before we begin, I want to take a moment to caution you - if your home has any integrity issues such as leaks or structural damage, these items should be addressed first. Durability is the number one home priority. In the wise words of Steve Baczek, “if it doesn’t last it doesn't matter,” so before you make efficiency or comfort improvements make sure your home is structurally sound.
Air Sealing
Reducing the amount of air leaks in and out of your home is a great way to improve comfort, energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Leaks occur when conditioned indoor air exits or unconditioned outside air enters your home through gaps and cracks. Air sealing is the process of closing these uncontrolled paths through your home's envelope. The ultimate goal is to control all air flow in and out of your house with mechanical equipment so that we don't inadvertently pull dust and other pollutants into your air through walls and attics.
In addition to providing a great foundation for a high performance home, air sealing is also one of the most DIY friendly improvements. Weatherization solutions at doors and windows can be installed with simple power tools and a caulk gun. At attic ceilings or basement rim joists, improvements can be made with a can of spray foam and some rigid insulation. If only one location in your home gets air sealing attention, the attic should be the focus. Most air escapes through the top of home. Generally, air sealing should be the first step no matter what other improvements you might make in your home. Similar to Steve's earlier sentiment, if your house is leaky, no matter how efficient your mechanical systems are, all your hard-earned conditioned air will escape your home if air sealing isn’t addressed.
Attic insulation
After air sealing, insulating your attic is one of the next best home improvements. Hot air rises, creating pressure at the top of your envelope, this is called the stack effect. That's why air sealing in the attic is the most efficient use of your time. Adding insulation after tightening the envelope helps keep the conditioned environment in place by slowing the heat exchange from inside to outside and vice versa. The sun beaming down on your roof for example is a significant source of heat gain for your home. It also contributes to the stack effect, so mitigating this with insulation reduces the amount of air leakage.
Attic insulation can be a little more involved depending on what method you use. Blowing in cellulose is very DIY accessible, while applying closed cell spray foam is often best left to professional installers. All methods come with pros and cons and it depends on your home's design and budget for which route you should take.
Energy Star
Of the three improvements mentioned in this article, upgrading to Energy Star appliances can definitely be the most costly change and may need to be timed with equipment failure and replacements. However, Energy Star is a great program that highlights energy efficient appliances and mechanical systems that will demand less from your home and provide greater comfort.
Upgrading can range from simple things like swapping your entire home to LED light bulbs, to replacing your refrigerator with an Energy Star model. Ideally, whenever old equipment is replaced, an Energy Star certified product goes in its place. There are also many rebates and incentive programs throughout the US that help cover some or all of the cost for swapping to Energy Star equipment.
Honorable mention
Window replacements often come up as a high priority item for energy improvements. If your home has single pane windows it may make sense to upgrade to a modern double pane. However, oftentimes the cost and involvement of replacing windows is not worth the effort. Some part of your building envelope has to be the worst, and even the best European triple pane windows only reach around R-7, a good double pane might be R-4. When your basic code built wall in Cincinnati is R-20 your window, regardless of quality, will only ever be slightly better than an open hole. What matters much more is air tightness, and even a single pane window can see significant air sealing improvements with simple weatherization methods, which are much cheaper.
Conclusion
Overall, there are a multitude of ways to improve the comfort of your home and, these three may not be the right fit for you if they’ve already been done or your home has some other more pressing constraints. That said, these three items apply to the vast majority of homes and can make a big difference. If you have a unique condition or want to dive deeper into any one of these items, don’t hesitate to reach out. We are always here to be a resource in helping you make the best decisions for your home!