Weatherization

Jim Lee, Executive Director of Interior Weatherization in Fairbanks, Alaska

Summary: Mr. Lee’s presentation on energy retrofit strategies focused on how to inspect your home for typical problem areas - what to look for and what to do. He discussed several diagnostic tests employed on homes to determine what energy saving retrofit measures is needed. His presentation included three examples of home energy retrofits completed by Interior Weatherization; what measures they did and how they were prioritized. He presented tables on the costs of the repairs, the energy saving benefits involved and how the energy retrofit measures will pay for themselves over time.

Mr. Lee’s presentation, “What Works, What Doesn’t,” began with a firm declaration that if Mr. Lee went into every home in Fairbanks, he could improve each of them an average of 35% and there are easy things people can do to make this happen. Sustainable shelters must be energy efficient. Heating oil in Fairbanks has increased 100% over the last four years and natural gas 105%. “20% of Americans can’t afford their basic needs so how can they be expected to afford upgrades? If you can’t earn more, you can learn to save more by identifying saving opportunities,” declared Mr. Lee. The Interior Weatherization program specializes in home weatherization and rehabilitation and has helped approximately 2,000 Alaskans. In addition to 35% more efficient existing structures, Mr. Lee believes that an attainable goal is 15% more efficient new construction. Program technicians visit eligible (low income) housing occupants and conduct a visual inspection that looks at the whole house as a system as well as perform diagnostic tests. The following are the typical problem areas and solutions Mr. Lee recommended to make homes more efficient:

Roofs: Uneven snow melt on the roof, ice dams, and icicles means heat loss. Check metal roofs for snow stops. If snow is allowed to slide it can cause plumbing vent stacks and even chimneys to become disconnected and can break plumbing studs inside the house. Broken vents and chimneys lead to air pollution inside the home. If homes are made air tight without fixing these problems the occupants will get sick. Check gutters for leaks and plugs. Check the chimney connections in the ceiling. There should be no water leaks and if there are old chimney holes (where the wood stove has been removed) the stack should be removed and the holes in the ceiling and roof repaired.

Insulation: Attic insulation should be checked for voids and gaps from settling and for discolored insulation (follow the dirt to find the holes; a dirty appearance means air is passing through). Look for gaps around ducting, plumbing stacks, wiring penetrations, soffits, top plates, bypasses and chimneys. Chimneys are required to have a 2”clearance for fire code but often contractors install much larger chases which allow large heat losses. Chases can be fixed by installing metal flashing using high temperature caulking, installing an attic insulation shield and insulating around it. Check for drop-down ceilings which typically aren’t insulated deeply enough, allowing air to escape from the dropped interior wall into the attic. An easy fix is to put loose fill (not batting) to completely fill the space where the ceiling is dropped.
Sometimes the best approach is to remove all the old insulation, completely air seal everything, and replace with dry, clean insulation. People get caught up in “R-Value” which is only the insulation batting rating. It’s more important to think about what is going on in your house and how it is performing.

Check for exposed concrete on the foundations which are often not insulated. When Mr. Lee sees this he prefers to insulate the foundation on the outside with 4” blue foam which prevents the dew point from occurring in the concrete. Waterproof the concrete before applying the foam. Check crawl spaces. Make sure there is a vapor barrier on the ground in the crawl space that is taped and sealed on the edges. Check rim joists for blocking, air sealing and insulation. Spraying foam insulation on the inside of foundations will not allow a crawlspace to dry out so make sure it’s sealed and dry before spraying foam. Make sure the rim joists are water sealed before insulating them. Check cantilevered floors which often are not sealed, blocked or insulated adequately and what insulation there is has typically settled allowing air to flow between floors. Look at addition seams as they often have gaps that allow heat to escape.

Heating Systems: Furnaces and boilers should be checked for efficiency. In other words, how well they are operating and distributing warm air, how efficiently they are burning fuel, whether the thermostat is calibrated correctly and the furnace filters are clean and not plugged. Radiant floor heat slabs should also be insulated.

Doors and Windows: “People tend to think that their home problems would be fixed by replacing doors and windows because that is where they see the ice and moisture. But replacing them will not always save homeowners money unless you’re swapping single pane for triple pane or replacing them will give you the added benefit of better air sealing around the windows,” stated Mr. Lee. It can take many years of energy savings to recoup the cost. Windows to avoid are aluminum framed windows as aluminum is a big conductor of heat, and bay windows as their tops and bottoms are typically not insulated. Check for glazing, overall condition, and air seal.

Vapor Barrier: Check for frost on the outside of houses. Vapor barriers must be installed on the inside between the moist warm inside air and the insulation. In the south, vapor barriers are installed on the outside the insulation but that doesn’t’ work in northern climates. Without a vapor barrier, the airspace between the inside and outside will reach a dew point and ice will built up causing moisture, mold and rot problems. Check for holes in the vapor barrier which must be sealed.

Ventilation and Interior Air Quality (IAQ): Homes must be vented properly. Check for rot and mold in joists, beams, siding and steps. Mold is an indicator that the house needs better ventilation. Improper air ventilation can lead to interior air quality (IAQ) issues. “It is more important to take care of IAQ issues than energy efficiency issues,” Mr. Lee emphasized. Dryers, range hoods and bathroom fans should never be ducted directly into the house. Mr. Lee said he often sees homes where the contractor vented the bathroom fans directly into the attic, causing mold. “It amazes me that we have such great technology but no one can seem to design a bath fan that really works,” joked Mr. Lee. Another problem when bath fans are ducted through the attic to the outside is often the duct hood dampers will freeze up and cause frost problems. Many have turned to heat recovery ventilators (HRV’s) but they often don’t work right because people don’t clean the filters, they shut them off or they aren’t sized properly for the house. If the air ventilation of the home isn’t balanced correctly it causes back drafting, or negative air pressure that can cause combustion gases that normally vent to the outside to come inside the home. This is because as an appliance or fan vents air to the outside, the home will replace that air by pulling it from the easiest source. This source is often the nearest chimney, causing a back draft to occur. This leads to unhealthy and hazardous situations. Other undesirable areas of the house such as sewer vents or an attached garage can bring odors or vehicle fumes into the house.

Electricity and Water Usage: Replace old appliances with “Energy Star” rated appliances and replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescents. Insulate electric water heaters and use timers for plugging in cars. “Electricity costs about 100% more than oil,” stated Mr. Lee. Save on water bills with low flow toilets, faucets and shower heads.

After doing a visual inspection, the Interior Weatherization program performs diagnostic tests such as blower door testing (to determine quantity and location of air leaks), carbon monoxide tests (in the air as well as around combustion appliances) and combustion tests (to measure efficiency and smoke emissions). They then come up with a list of measures – things to fix on the house to make it more efficient. They use a software program called AKWarm to measure energy use and heat load, and then compute energy savings and costs to determine the “payback” or return on investment. Some of the common retrofit items listed are: air-sealing and insulating the attic, foundation, and walls, repairing or replacing the heating system, improving cantilevered floors, insulating or replacing the hot water heater, windows, and/or doors, upgrading or properly sizing ventilation systems, making energy efficient electrical upgrades and water saving upgrades. The Interior Weatherization prioritizes these possibilities based on what yields the best energy savings for the dollar spent as well as those that are necessary to make the home safe and healthy.

Mr. Lee gave three examples of homes that were inspected and improved to demonstrate that the goal of 35% energy savings can be reached. Each home had a table of information showing what improvement measures were made, the savings, cost, payback period (in years), the Return on Investment (ROI) and what priority each measure was given.

House One
House Two
House Three

The data from the three houses was compiled into the following table showing the average cost was $6,668 and the average savings was 38%.

House Summary Table

Mr. Lee concluded the discussion by emphasizing that it is a doable goal to increase our homes overall efficiency by 35%. All we need is a plan. He concluded by posing these three questions

How do we get homeowners interested in energy retrofits rather than kitchen upgrades?
How do we pay for these retrofits?
How can homeowners be guaranteed a return on their investments?