When it comes to keeping a home comfortable and draft free, it’s all about sealing and insulating. Think “resistance to heat loss,” or R-value. If you consider your home as a six-sided cube, four walls plus a floor and ceiling, then sealing and insulating all six sides of the exterior shell can minimize heat loss and increase your family’s comfort.
That’s no small task, and you need to pick the best places to start. Caulking around windows and doors helps, but it may not make a big dent in your utility bill or increase your comfort much. Air leaks waste about 25 to 40 percent of the energy used for heating and cooling, according to the EPA.
Built before more energy efficient building techniques were common (1990), older homes often have leaky walls, floors and ceilings, leaving their owners paying higher heating bills and living with draftier rooms, drier air during the winter, hotter ceilings and colder floors. If this sounds familiar, consider sealing and insulating all six sides of the exterior shell of your home to tighten hidden air leaks.
When energy was cheaper, walls that let conditioned air escape and generally drafty rooms just meant cranking up the heat or AC. Now builders follow stricter codes for tightening the home envelope, and there’s little air exchange. Tighter walls, coupled with well-managed ventilation, result in more energy efficient and comfortable homes.
The areas that give you big gains aren’t cheap–the attic, the basement or crawl space, the outside walls and ductwork. These are the places to stop air leaks, drafts and trap escaping heat to live more comfortably.
Energy Star advises starting with your attic. Heated air rises and escapes through the attic. By bringing your attic insulation between R-38 and R-49, you help keep a constant temperature in your home and limit the heat that escapes through the roof. Attics can be a good DIY project, but be on the lookout for telltale signs of problems that will need professional help. Moist insulation may signal a leaky roof. Moldy or rotting rafters or floor joints mean serious problems. Check the venting and wiring too. Are there vents to the outside? Do kitchen, bath or dryer vents exhaust into the attic rather than outdoors? Do you see damaged or bare wires? All these suggest an immediate need for professional help.
Make your second biggest gain with basements or crawl spaces. By sealing and insulating your basement or crawlspace from R-19, R-25 or R-30, you can warm-up cold floors, decrease drafts from below and even out the temperature between rooms. In both, you need to seal the edges of the house and foundation, and place insulation between the floorboard joists. Before starting, check for signs of pest infestation, water damage at the seams of the house and in high moisture areas, and moisture damage to the floor, joists or the foundation. Although you can handle basements or crawlspaces, these signs may signal the need for a professional fix.
Adding insulation to the exterior walls calls for a professional. The contractor must determine the proper R-value and insulation type before adding any between the studs of the home’s frame, often by blowing insulation into the wall cavity.
Between 20 to 30 percent of your home’s heat can escape through leaky duct-work. Sealing duct joints with mastic and approved metal tape closes leaks and recaptures your heat.
Before starting any of these projects, consider calling a Clark Public Utilities energy counselor to discuss your home’s needs. Counselors may be able to offer the advice you need over the phone or schedule a free in-home energy review. By contacting an energy counselor you can discover ways to get the most from your investment, learn about current utility incentives, and learn how best to connect with local contractors participating in the utility’s Contractor Network who can help.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
