It isn’t every day that homeowners let someone offering a free service poke around in their house with a ladder and a flashlight, but we did a few weeks ago. If you have had an energy assessment, aka an energy audit, you know the drill.
Like most people, we are aware of the importance and cost benefit of saving energy, and, like many, we are careful about lighting and other electrical use, often foregoing using the dryer in favor of drying racks, using programmable thermostats, reducing our air and water temperatures, and keeping doors and windows closed. Even though we (read, my husband, Bill) have implemented minor improvements like adding a storm door, removing two heat-robbing skylights, installing thermal window shades, and tightening window and door seals, we have deferred two of the most significant energy-saving improvements—air sealing and insulation upgrades—in favor of other maintenance projects.
 |
Jonathan Farrell of Next Step Living uses a “wizard stick” to check the potential heat loss from a switchplate. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
|
 |
| Farrell sets up to conduct a blower door test. |
When a recent Harvard Local campaign encouraging homeowners to get a home energy assessment included an opportunity for a free blower door test and air sealing, we jumped at the chance. We had heard of Next Step Living, the company that would do the assessment, and, at no charge, the price was just right.
We were hoping for a thorough inspection that would give us a prioritized list of energy efficiencies we could implement or contract for. The process and the information we did get was somewhat different from what we anticipated. This is how it went:
About a week after we submitted a signup form at www.homeenergycheck.com, a Next Step Living representative called and scheduled the assessment for three weeks later. (Home energy assessments are also available from www.masssave.com or by calling 866-527-7283.) We were asked to be sure there was clear access to attic spaces and heating equipment and to have recent utility bills on hand.
Right on time, Jonathan Farrell, a young man neatly dressed in tan pants and Next Step Living polo shirt, arrived and introduced himself. His obvious youth raised the question of experience, but our skepticism was allayed when he said he was a recent Wentworth Institute graduate in architecture and sustainable building.
Farrell asked what we were most concerned about. Our reply, “attic air infiltration and limited insulation,” set him off with flashlight in hand to inspect the accessible three attic spaces in our small, 1966 gambrel-roofed, Dutch colonial house. He started with the attic in a family room that the previous owner had converted from the original garage, which has been difficult to heat. After a quick visual inspection and taking measurements with a laser measuring tool, Farrell said we could add 5 inches of cellulose to what was already there. We wondered what R-value the total 12 inches would give us and would it be enough to make the room we close off in winter really useable? Should we assume that sealing leaks in the attic space will solve most of the problem? Surprisingly, I found that I would have welcomed a running commentary.
Farrell repeated his survey and recommendations for the small attic space above the second floor. The third space, a narrow knee-wall area under the gambrel slope, was a candidate for new fiberglass batting on the slope and cellulose for the floor. Farrell also recommended facing the attic hatches and door with 2-inch polyisocynurate rigid foam insulation.
When I mentioned our old combination storm and double-hung windows, Farrell said, “I get comments about old windows on almost every visit.” It is a common misconception that windows are one of the first places to invest in energy savings. Unless the windows are exceptional leaky, dollar for dollar, window upgrades are far down on the list of cost-effective energy improvements, Farrell said.
Next stop was the basement. Our hot water 120-degree setting was the recommended one for efficiency and utility. The 7-year-old oil boiler checked out for efficiency, emissions, and ventilation safety.
Having confirmed the boiler emissions were safe, that insulation was not asbestos, and that we didn’t have knob-and-tube wiring (wiring with porcelain insulators that was common before 1940), Farrell set up a large fan in a sealed frame in the front door to do a blower door test. The test attempts to depressurize the house by blowing air out of the closed house. The fewer air leaks in a building’s thermal barrier, the less fan power is needed to achieve a desired pressure differential between the inside and outside of the house. Results are measured in air changes per hour at a given interior air pressure. With the fan going, we could feel a steady rush of cool air, almost a wind, coming down the staircase from the second floor, and we watched as Farrell continued to adjust the fan’s power up.
With a “wizard stick,” a long tube that emits visible smoke, Farrell pointed out additional drafts coming through spaces around exterior doors and from unplugged electrical outlets. The blower door test was telling us what we suspected—there was plenty of room for improvement in tightening up the thermal barrier of our house.
But was it possible to access and seal all the places where air was coming in, the same places that let heat escape in the winter? The new Stretch Energy Code, which will take effect in July and will be part of the general Massachusetts Energy code in 2012, will require a blower door test in most new-home construction before the interior walls go up, while joints and holes are easy to seal. Our house had sent a lot of heat to the outside in the past 45 years. Now, we would have to make do with sealing what a person with a foam gun could get to.
A verbal assessment confirmed that the boiler is right-sized, adequately efficient, and appropriately ventilated. Our 22-year-old washer and dryer are in their sunset years, but not yet a priority for an upgrade. The 1966 oven should have retired long ago, and will one of these days make room for an Energy Star youngster.
With a picture sent by cell phone to his supervisor, Farrell clarified a question he had about one small area of insulation, then finalized his written report. MassSave implements its energy assessment program through Conservation Services Group (CSG), which in turn contracts with companies like Next Step Living for the actual assessment and weatherization services. Like the assessment, the report we received follows CSG’s guidelines, and it uses CSG reporting forms.
Our report was an itemized table of weatherization recommendations for air sealing and insulation, with costs, expected annual savings, and payback periods for each energy improvement. We were told that MassSave and federal and state incentives would cover much of the estimated costs. An application for a no-interest loan was included, along with a preprinted information packet on energy-efficient appliances, and a nifty electricity use calculator with energy-saving tips.
At first we were a little disappointed. Where was our fantasy roadmap? Our detailed list of DIY and larger energy improvements projects? Shouldn’t the consultant have checked all the rooms in the house and given us a more thorough assessment? Had we hoped for an energy wizard along with the wizard stick? We also had some unanswered questions about how to follow through on the recommendations.
In retrospect, it was mostly our expectations that led to the initial disappointment. MassSave is funded by a small charge on utility bills that has been in place since 1998, on average about 29 cents a month. If MassSave’s mission is to best leverage its funds to save energy, reduce the need for costly new energy-generating facilities, and help customers save energy dollars along the way, then it makes sense that help to homeowners should come in a number of ways and that the home energy assessment focus on the biggest culprits in home energy loss—air leaks in the thermal barrier and insufficient attic or roof insulation. Energy-saving tips and information about energy-saving appliances are more cost-effectively available through the energy packet handouts and in website information than from one-on-one energy consultant visits. The home energy assessment process appears to be a prioritized balance between energy-efficiency savings and service costs.
According to the Next Step Living website, air sealing ($680 in our report) is paid for by MassSave, when combined with insulation installations and upgrades. Up to 75 percent of the insulation costs are covered by tax credits and rebates. If we go ahead with the recommendations, our out-of-pocket expense is expected to be $708 and yield an estimated $596 savings in annual energy expenses. While we didn’t get our fantasy roadmap, energy-efficiency improvements whose costs will be paid back in less than a year and half through energy cost savings, not to mention the possibility of gaining use of the family room during the winter, certainly seem worth the four hours spent with the energy consultant. Why had we waited so long?