My Latest Home Energy Makeover

I wanted to take you inside my most recent home energy makeover.  It is a 2,454 sf, one story home built in the 70's. 
The Volume is 19,930 cf

 The duct work was metal and leaky.  The insulation was compacted and dirty.  There were several open chases, open walls, penetrations, wall returns and thermal by-passes 

 The furnace was old, open combustion and 78% efficient

There were two inefficient, atmospherically vented, 50 gallon hot water heaters

   

A lot of planning goes into one of these.  Here are my field sketches,

3-D drawings, load calculations, zoning schematic and duct layout. 





The homeowner decided on a non-vented attic with spray-foam and

sealed combustion furnace.  we hauled away the two inefficient

hot water heaters and gave her back two "new" closets.  We installed

one tankless hot water heater with a comfort recirculating system.

The new tankless is extrememly efficient, has unlimited hot water, is instant and can be shut off with one small button.  It is laso very safe because it is sealed combustion.  It uses a concentic kit just like the furnace.  Fresh air in through the roof through a pvc pipe, and flue gases out through another

The Air conditioning system used was a Carrier performance 17 Series

that utilizes Puron Refrigerant, is Variable Speed, 2 Stage and qualifies

For a $1,500 Federal Tax Credit

Here are close-ups of the Eternal Hot Water System and Comfort Module

The homeowner also wanted to be able

to control her AC from her cell phone and

laptop because she travels

We utilized state of the art zoning and damper controls



Here are the "after" photos





We built an attic wall to separate the envelope attic from the garage attic.

We do this because it reduces the cost of the foam and there is no need to insulate the garage attic



New Ductwork was installed with the correct size ducts serving each room,

the correct amount of returns, returns in the bedrooms, new grills, boots,

electronic dampers, smart sensor, Infinity Controller, Remote Access

Board, Electronic Damper Board and A fresh Air Duct and damper system 



All bath vents and kitchen exhaust was extended outside.  All soffets 

and roof ventillation was blocked 

Electronic Dampers

One-way, curved-blade supplies.  Adequate return and returns in every room

with a door 



Remote Access and Damper Control Module

Infinity Controls

 

Concentric Intake and Exhaust

 

New Plumbing for Hot Water

System

 

 

Eternal Hot Water System with Comfort Module

 

 

Comfort System

 

 

Yeah!  New Closets!!!!



Dont Forget the Ducts!!

This week I would like to talk about a very specific aspect of your homes ventilation system (the V in HVAC), Ductwork. So often we overlook this very simple but very integral piece of a home’s HVAC system. Frequently the issues with duct system are neglected in favor of getting a bigger system in to solve cooling or heating problems. This has several consequences.

The Dept. of Energy estimates that the AVERAGE home loses 25% - 40% (Energy Star puts it at 20%) of its heating/cooling capacity through the ducts. The AVERAGE home… I have seen houses where the ducts aren’t properly connected (and have even found a case where they weren’t connected at all) and can get 90%-100% loss!! On average about 50% of your bill is on cooling and heating, if you can cut back that leakage by 10% - 25% you could be saving around 5% on your energy bills (just keep in mind that getting under 10% leakage on a basic retrofit is pretty good).

With tighter and tighter homes being built (sealing up leaks from building envelope), many homes can have “right-sized systems” which can bring the leaky duct issue right to the forefront. With fewer holes to the outside less capacity is needed from the heating and cooling units. That means we can install a smaller system and a smaller system will run longer than an oversized a/c or heating unit (though counter intuitive, a smaller system that runs longer is more efficient and more comfortable, but that’s a whole ‘nother article). But if the smaller system is running longer, it will blow more overall air which means even more heating/cooling capacity lost. 

If you are thinking about upgrading your a/c or heating system make sure your contractor takes a look at your duct system. This should at the very minimum include a visual inspection. However, a visual inspection will NOT show you all of the leaky areas, just the obvious ones. A better solution is to have them do a Duct Blaster test. This will give you a quantifiable number in cfm (cubic feet per minute) as to how much you are leaking. Add to that a little work with a smoke pencil, and you are going to have a great ideal of what needs to be done.

This link is to Energy Star’s guide to hiring a duct contractor.

Energy Star - Duct Contractor

This one is link to an Energy Star duct sealing brochure. It has more info and a couple of good illustrations of where leaks can happen and what can be done to fix them.

 Energy Star - Duct Sealing

If you have any questions about Energy Retrofits feel free to post them in the comments section or contact me with the information below:

  

Kerry Hutchison

Project Manger

TexEnergy Solutions

817.538.1202

kerry @ texenergy.org

TexEnergyAudits.org

PS. Dont forget to sign up as a follower. The more people that like this blog the easier it is going to be get the support to keep bringing you great information!!

NEW VIDEO!!

Hello all,

The first of the new stuff is up and running. We have created a Youtube channel and have posted our first video! You should see it to the right, all you have to do is click on the image and it will start playing.

This film features a couple of my co-workers, Jerold Davis and Jason Helm. It was a video shot for TXU's Power Savers Challenge. I may have another video to post (the follow up on the changes they made) here with in the next couple of days. Things are really starting to pick up, if all goes well I should be able to get a hold of few videos featuring your truly at the end of the week. If I do get them by Friday they will probably  be up by the middle of next week.

I am finishing up the first major "article" type post (see previous post for a sneek peek at the rough draft) today and should be posting it tomorrow. In case you don't want to go to the previous post its going to be about duct leakage and contain a couple links to the EPA's website. Their articles will show you a little more on duct leakage and some things to look for when you are out shopping for a duct contractor.

Dont forget to sign up as a follower for the blog. The more support I can get for this, the more I will be able to bring you.

Also, if you have a questions or suggestions for topics you would like to know more about feel free to post them in the comments or email them to me.

Kerry Hutchison

Project Manger

TexEnergy Solutions

817.538.1202

kerry @ texenergy.org

TexEnergyAudits.org

Great things are in the works!!!

Hello again,

I have recently gotten some help in maintaining this blog which means new stuff is on the way!!!

First and foremost, the expanded content. In the new posts I will have a small to medium sized article from me and links to other great websites/articles. I have already started compiling a list of great articles from Energy Star, EPA, Department of Energy and more. If it deals with saving money on energy, tips on what to look for in a contractor or being more comfortable in your home I am going to find it and get it out to you.

Second, Videos!! We already have a few videos produced for a recent TXU promotion. They feature Jerold Davis (TexEnergy) walking people through our Comprehensive Energy Audit. Over the next couple of weeks I hope to have those up on YouTube with a player running right here on my blog. Plus (when I get a hold of them), there are also some videos out there with yours truly.

If I can (and there is enough support for it) there might even be a pod/videocast dedicated to energy savings in the future.

Here is a sneak-peak of a post I am currently working on.

Ventilation. The “V” in “HVAC.” So often it is over-looked by Heating and A/C contractors. Being concerned with getting a newer/bigger system installed they will frequently not do a thorough testing of the duct system. The Dept. of Energy estimates that the AVERAGE home loses 25%-40% of its heating/cooling capacity through the ducts.

If you are thinking about upgrading your a/c or heating system make sure your contractor takes a look at your duct system. This should at the very minimum include a visual inspection. However a visual inspection will NOT show you all of the leaky areas, just the obvious ones. A better solution is to have them do a Duct Blaster test. This will give you a quantifiable number ((cfm) cubic feet per minute) as to how much you are leaking. Add to that a bit of smo…

…click the link below to go to Energy Star’s Duct Contractor guide. They have some good tips on what to look for. 

Energy Star - Duct Contractor

If you have any questions about Energy Retrofits feel free to post them in the comments section or contact me with the information below:

Kerry Hutchison

Project Manger

TexEnergy Solutions

817.538.1202

kerry @ texenergy.org

TexEnergyAudits.org

PS. Dont forget to sign up as a follower. The more people that like this blog the easier it is going to be get the support to keep bringing you great information!!

Latest Energy/Comfort Retrofit

Here is a job I completed 8-16-2010

By, The way..................This is my Mom's House!


Kerry