Did you know, there are a few areas in the country where a homeowner no longer has the option to hook to a gas line when building a new home? These communities have banned all gas installations in new construction. A growing trend or community overreach? Time will tell. That said, I’ve been hearing a lot of noise lately about electrification in new construction. Homeowners and builders are giving some consideration on how to condition, that is heat a home using only electricity as the fuel source.
Can this be an effective option in a cold or very cold climate? Continue reading “Mechanicals-Electrification of Heating Systems”
Shorts-Climate Matters
As most of you probably know, I live in a very cold climate, climate zone 7 in Northern Minnesota (almost Canada). How we build homes up here is different Continue reading “Shorts-Climate Matters”
Shorts-Vapor
One question I get asked a lot is how to deal with vapor, what is the best vapor control product, etc… Continue reading “Shorts-Vapor”
Construction Design-Radon
Radon is a naturally occurring soil gas that is present in many locations throughout North America. The gas can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted but it is known to cause lung cancer. Continue reading “Construction Design-Radon”
Energy Audit-Calculating the Cost of a Home’s Air Leaks
Air leaking into a home (infiltration) or out of a home (exfiltration) happens naturally in every home, new or old. No matter how much air sealing is performed, we just can’t make them completely airtight. I’ve tested some new homes that were very tight, .33 ACH50, (anything under 1 ACH50 is very good) and I’ve also tested many older ones that aren’t so tight, we can use my 1952 Cape as an example, 9.71 ACH50. In this post, I’m going to discuss how to manually calculate the cost of the air leakage and examine what we can do with that number. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Calculating the Cost of a Home’s Air Leaks”
Shorts-Resource
I just completed training to become a HERS rater, I’ll talk a little more about HERS and RESNET in a future post, what I want to talk about in this short post is the study guide that was used to complement my training. Continue reading “Shorts-Resource”
Diagnostic Tools-Smoke
The blower door is my number one tool when diagnosing air leakage problems in a building. This tool gives me an idea of how leaky the building is, but often we also need to identify the location of the air leaks. Continue reading “Diagnostic Tools-Smoke”
Shorts-Garage Door Air Sealing
I have several blog postings dealing with attached, conditioned garages on the Northern Built website. It’s been my experience when testing new homes, the attached garages are not separated well enough from the home and often could use improved air sealing when conditioned, especially in my very cold climate.
I recently ran into this garage door seal which I have not seen before. It has the traditional outer seal that is attached to the side jamb of the door opening, common on all garage doors in my market, but this one has a second seal that is attached to the inner door framing along side the door track. I had a quick conversation with the installing company which they said the door is ordered two inches wider than the opening to accommodate the inner seal.
There is an additional seal attached to the top of the door to provide further air sealing.
I have yet to determine if this improved garage door seal is available through Clopay, the door manufacturer on this new home build, or if it is an aftermarket product, I will update this posting when I know. I have a final blower door test to conduct on this home in the near future. I plan on testing the garage separately to determine if the door seals do work, and how connected this garage is to the main home stay tuned.
Energy Audit-Calculating Electricity Costs
Over the past dozen years of performing energy audit and assessments, I have learned there are three root causes that warrant an audit; there is a problem with the home, a problem with the equipment or appliances in the home, or a problem with the people living in the home. Often these problems require testing of the homes electrical system and equipment to determine usage and the associated costs. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Calculating Electricity Costs”
Construction Design-Building Code Minimum
Not every new home built has the budget to be high performance. That doesn’t mean some energy efficiency measures and decisions based on sound building science can’t be added to a design to build a better house. Continue reading “Construction Design-Building Code Minimum”