A Cold Climate Construction and Energy Blog
This three-part series first appeared on the Green Building Advisor website and has been condensed into one post.
An unconditioned and uninsulated crawlspace, an unsealed and uninsulated forced air heating system, and an uncovered dirt floor, which by the way has a sewage leak. If this were your home and you wanted to make improvements, where would you start? Continue reading “Building Science-Existing Construction Improvements”
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”
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”
An energy audit is an inspection and analysis of how a building uses energy. To get an accurate analysis, tools are needed to perform testing. You would think that a blower door and thermal imaging camera would be my most commonly used tools during an audit, I do use them often, but there are a couple I used more. This posting is all about my energy auditing toolbox. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Tools of the Trade”
I’ve talked about blower door testing several times on Green Building Advisor and on this blog. This discussion will dive deeper into blower door testing, when it should be completed, the different tests done with the blower door, and interpreting the information. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Blower Door Testing-A Deep Dive”
This is the first time I’ve been to this home. The first time I’ve met the people living in this home. But I know a little about them. I have two years of electricity use data to form a basic impression. They use a lot of power. Even more in the winter. Continue reading “The Energy Assessment”
Thermal imaging is a tool I use for energy auditing, but it’s usefulness goes way beyond. I often use my camera during building projects and at my own home to help detect problems. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Thermal Imaging”
During an energy assessment or audit, I often test household equipment and appliances for energy usage. Over the years, many people have been surprised that some devices use the amount of energy they do. This weeks blog will be all about how much it costs to operate the electrical stuff in a home. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Common and Not So Common Appliance Energy usage”
Many of you know by now I have a part time gig conducting energy assessments and energy audits for a few local power companies. Basically I help their customers who have a high bill complaint or are looking for solutions to heating and cooling problems in their homes. Continue reading “The Energy Audit-Report”
An electric hot water heater can be one of the most expensive electricity-using appliances in a home. It’s not uncommon for a typical family of 4 to use 400 kWh per month heating water in my area Continue reading “Mechanicals-Electric Water Heaters”