October 2015 Energy Usage - Still Good

I know I haven't been posting here much lately. I am still in crafty mode. That will change substantially after Christmas. I've got to get a new kitchen done in Kathy's house, then it's time to work on new kitchen at my house as well. Both kitchens will be gutted to the studs because I want to insulate and air seal the outside walls better. One rate limiting step is that my brother will be making the cabinets. The good news about that is that I will get really nice custom cabinets for a very low price (in my house the only cost will be materials and the cost of John's co-worker, Mike). The bad news is that he has to make them on his weekends off which takes a LONG time. It's ok though, because I'm not speedy about the stuff I do either. Several of my little cardboard Halloween houses took a month to do.

Ok, so here is the excellent report on my October energy use from Duke Energy.

Ok, remember my sister and brother-in-law moved out at the very end of September last year so this graph shows my energy usage with only me (and my animals - 6 cats, 1 dog) in the house. I put a continuous layer of insulation in my attic that adds up to about R-20. I also air sealed fairly well up there. That's the only change from last October. 

The insulation at this time only goes between the attic joists so I do have thermal bridging from wood joists. The plan is to add a substantial amount of cellulose on top of the current batt insulation when I beef up some of the roof framing. I don't know when that will happen, but I plan to have it done well before next summer. 

I am often amused at the suggestions Duke Energy lists to make your house more efficient. Usually I've done these suggestions long ago as in choosing an Energy Star washing machine.

I don't consider this month's recommendation for spray foam insulation amusing, however. I also don't understand the current fascination with spray foam as insulation as noted in this month's report. It has so many significant drawbacks that I would never consider it as an insulation material. 

The serious disadvantages are:

1. Cost - very expensive insulation

2. Flammable - it's highly flammable (http://www.tasconindustries.com/CelluloseVsFoam.html)

reaching flashover conditions in 44 SECONDS as opposed to cellulose which did not reach flashover conditions after 15 minutes.

3. Oil product - it's made from oil rather than some much more environmentally friendly material such as cellulose

4. High Global Warming Potential - known as GWP. That means that the gases it gives off as it cures contribute to global warming far more than regular carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels

5. If not installed properly at the right concentration and temperature, it can give off aggravating fumes that can make a home if not unlivable, certainly very unpleasant. 

Here are some articles about spray foam insulation and why to avoid it.

1. Dubai Tower Fire Demonstrates Dubiousness of Using Flammable Insulation http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/dubai-tower-fire-demonstrates-dubiousness-using-flammable-insulation.html

2. National Fire Protection Association Testing of Various Types of Insulation in Wall Assemblies - NFPA286 2006 testing You tube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snlhECzj1E8

3. 475 High Performance Building Supply has several articles on avoid foam insulation and why it is important to do so. 

https://foursevenfive.com/a-declaration-of-independence-from-foam-plastic-insulation/

https://foursevenfive.com/reason-foam-fails-3-degrading-thermal-insulation-values/

https://foursevenfive.com/why-foam-fails-reason-1-dangerous-toxic-ingredients/

https://foursevenfive.com/reason-foam-fails-2-unacceptable-fire-hazard/

4. Green Building Advisor article on lawsuits against spray foam manufacturers

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/lawsuits-name-makers-spray-foam-insulation. 

There are multiple questions on the Green Building Advisor website from consumers who ask what to do about the problems they have had with spray foam insulation. http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/spray-foam-jobs-lingering-odor-problems

Well, that's it for today. I will continue to post on this blog, just not so much during craft season (where I post mostly on my other blog - withglueandglitter.blogspot.com).

August 2015 Energy Reports

I haven't been doing much stuff on my house because I am still building my little cardboard houses for the Head Start Fundraiser.

I do have my most recent energy report from Duke Power for August 2015. And John brought me his report as well. It's kind of interesting the comparison because we use almost exactly the same amount of energy. I'll talk about that in a minute.

This is my report for August. Still doing very well. We are still very much in hot summer mode, still requiring air conditioning frequently. I am very interested to see what will happen in the winter with my improved insulation though I have probably 2 months before I will use any heat.

The chart shows things better than the graphic above. You can see that I am WAY down from last August but there were 3 people living here at that time.

Ok, so here is John's report from his new highly insulated house. My house is about 2000 sq ft and I think his is about 1300 sq ft.

So why did he use almost exactly the same amount of electricity as me? Well, he keeps 3 TVs plugged in while I have none. My computer and router are on power strips that are turned off when I am not using them. But most importantly, he keeps his house at about 65 degrees all summer where I pretty much only use the AC at night to sleep and I turn it down to 74. When I am cooking I may turn on the AC for a little while, mostly to combat humidity.

Ok, so here is John's energy chart for the past year.

John did not move into his house until the middle of September 2014. We were over there a lot in August and September painting, doing the floors, but no one was actually living there so that explains why his energy usage is higher for this August and September. John asked me why his electricity usage was higher than the energy efficient homes in January through March. It took me a second to figure it out - his all electric house is being compared to NON-ELECTRIC homes for heating. We'll have to call Duke Energy and get him in the right category.

That's it for now. I finish my fundraising project in early October, then it is back to air sealing and insulating more on my house.

Thank you for reading.

July Energy Usage

I am still seeing incredible benefits to the insulation and air sealing that I did in March through May of this year.

Remember, though, that I had 3 other people here last July with 3 TVs and the computers and routers were not completely switched off.

I don't think I set the temperature lower last year because my sister and her husband got cold in the house and my brother lived in the basement where it is 10 degrees cooler. This summer has been substantially hotter than last summer. The chart  below shows some July temperature averages from the past 15 years. The lowest temperature for July 2015 was 67 degrees, the highest 98. The lowest MAXIMUM temperature was 82 while there was a day last July where the high was only 69. This year's average high temperature was 91.9 and the mean temperature was 82. Last year's mean was 77.9. It has been much hotter this year which makes the drop in energy use even more impressive.

I will continue to monitor the energy use. My brother moved into his new home in September 2014 and my sister and her husband moved away in October so I should have better comparisons for one person living in the home after that time.

Also, remember that I insulated only to about a level of R-20 just over 1/2 of the current code requirements of R-38. When the weather cools off, I will be up in the attic again making some structural changes and increasing the insulation to around R-50.

Home Construction in the Wild West - so you want to buy a home in the Southwest

I decided to write an article about recent posts on Green Building Advisor (my favorite website) which covered examples of construction practices on homes in Arizona. The initial author of the posts took pictures of several homes during construction and they are absolutely horrifying in terms of quality. I suggested to this author that there needs to be a website (Facebook, blog, whatever social media that will reach people) showing these practices as one method of educating future home buyers. When homebuyers start looking at homes in these areas, this website will come up during their computer searches and become a source of information on buying a safe, secure home. So in an effort to back up my suggestion with action I decided to write one or more blog posts about this situation. That is what follows.

If you want to buy a home in the Southwest, you will be looking for an attractive home that will be comfortable and safe for your family. This article covers some of the construction details that you need to look for or ask about when you buy a home. It shows what is hidden details that you wouldn't be able to see.

One of the most important issues in making a comfortable home in this area of the country is energy efficiency. You want to be protected from the elements which can be brutal. For example in Phoenix, Arizona July 2014, the high temperatures reached above 100 degrees every day. The lowest temperature during the entire month was 80 degrees. Your home has to protect you or you will spend an exorbitant amount of money air conditioning the home.

How does a home do this? By the building enclosure also called the building envelope - the parts of the building the separate the inside conditioned part of a building from the outside elements.

The photo below shows what is called "open framing" where the the wood structural panels are only on the corners to prevent the home from moving. The walls in the center will be covered with a weather resistant barrier and covered with a one inch foam sheet, then stucco on the outside. The inside consists of fiberglass and drywall. In other words, there is not much separation from the elements. Also you see the flashing around the windows? Flashing is supposed to be taped to something solid so that any water that gets behind the siding will drain away from the wall. If the tape just hangs in the wind, it is unable to direct water away from the components in the wall. We call this "air flashing" or a waste of tape.

Photo courtesy of Green Building Advisor 

A better view of "Air Flashing" a Window

Air flashing as seen from the inside of the home

You can tell that the air flashing will not stop any water from getting into the wall of the home.

And what about things like bugs? Does this construction method keep bugs out?

Interior wall detail showing air gaps and the green pest tube

You can see light at the base of the wall. The paper is not remotely secured to the wall. Bugs have an easy time getting into the walls. So how do you fix that? "Pest tubes" are hollow tubes where high pressure insecticide is sprayed into the walls. I would prefer a more robust wall to keep bugs out in the first place.

Addendum 7-26-15: My cardboard halloween houses are more secure than this. Do you see daylight leaking through the seams? Even the windows are sealed all around with glue and tape.

How can you tell if you are purchasing a home built so poorly? It may not be easy. You might get distracted by the pretty finishing features like granite countertops, but you need to try because these construction details significantly impact how comfortable you will be in the home. You can push on the exterior wall and see how easily the wall gives. When you tour the home, see what the temperature is set on and what the inside temperature is. If the air conditioners can't even reach the set temperature, that's one clue that the home isn't built to energy code standards. If there are completed homes in the neighborhood, you may be able to ask the power company what the average home's electricity bill is in that area. Ask the builder how is the home insulated and is it insulated to at least building code levels. He (or she) will be shocked that you even asked, but that will be a good thing.

This is a just a brief introduction to poor construction in the Wild West. Other examples to follow, but also we will cover some excellent building practices in the west as well.

Energy Benefits from Attic Insulation - June numbers

I got my Duke energy bill yesterday. My electric usage continues to be much, much lower than last year. I did have 3 more people here last year though. The one point I would like to make about that though is that none of them really ran the air conditioner more than I would have. My sister and her husband got cold in my house and my brother lived in the basement which is substantially cooler than upstairs. There were 3 TVs in the house at that time that was probably a significant energy drain. I don't have a TV. Also my computer and my router are on switches that are turned off when I am not using them.

Anyway, here are the numbers from June which was a very hot month. Days were often right at or above 100. I was very comfortable in my home.

Usage less than half compared to last year. I am very pleased with that and the improved comfort level.

Attic Insulation - May Energy Report - Proof that it WORKS

I could't get my scanner to scan so I had to make do with an iPhone photo. 

In March and April I spent many hours in my attic air sealing and insulating hoping that getting the insulation to an R-20 level would make a difference. I have plans for putting in 10-12 inches of blown-in cellulose in the fall after I do some more work up there such as beef up the rafter supports for one thing as my roof is only held onto the house by a few nails toenailed to the rafters.

I elected to use denim because I was SO tired of itching from all the mineral wool insulation which I love, but I do not love the itch that comes with it. Denim is a dream in terms of installation compared to mineral wool. Still mineral wool, specifically Roxul (Carlton, my carpenter, calls it Roxie), is my all time favorite insulation. Just remember that even when I talk fondly about denim as an insulation material.

Anyway, I got my May energy report from Duke Energy and I used about 15 KWH per day for a total of 428. Though on my energy report it shows only 368 for the month. They must have used a different interval for their report.

I have saved all my energy bills for more than 10 years, but I can't find the complete collection for a better analysis. I do have some from this year and last though for comparison. My sister and her husband lived with me from December 2013 to October 2014. Also my younger brother lived in my basement while we were building his house from sometime in 2013 to September 2014. You can see the drop in consumption in November with only one occupant, but I was above the green energy efficient home during the winter, probably from heat loss through my attic until I started insulating the attic in March.

So I have graphic proof that just getting my attic to R-20 has made a big difference in energy use. I will tell you that the house is so much more comfortable.

One of these days I hope to show a chart of energy use correlated with the work I've done on the house - metal roof, 2 inches of polyiso under the HardieBoard siding, new windows, attic insulation, etc, but that will take some research.

Excitement on my Street

I live about a quarter mile off a busy highway. Sirens go by often and it sets Burbank, my dog, to barking. I think she learned to howl from old Buddy, the bassett-lab hybrid who was a real pro at howling. She's not quite as effective at howling as Buddy was, but she can let you know that there is something going on.

Most days I hear the howling, then the sirens behind my house where the major highway is, but this day I realized the sirens were on my street. In fact, there were 2 large fire trucks right in front of my house.

Here is the sequence of events:

You can see that the lawn guys are looking kind of sheepish. The ironic thing is that this field is in front of the local fire chief's house, my neighbor. It's not his field though.

Ok, now back to my usual topics. Here is the last bit of insulating that I will do because the temperature is getting too hot to work in the attic consistently. Today the temperature was up to 84 degrees. I'll blow in about 10-12 inches of cellulose in the fall when things cool down again after I do some flashing around the chimney and put in baffles at the end of each joist bay. This last area is a bit of a pain to crawl around in, but I think I can get there without it being too claustrophobic.

Improving the Thermal Envelope

I can tell that the hours I've spent in my attic have made a difference in the temperature of my house. For example, 2 nights ago the temperature dropped to 28 F. Normally on a night like that with the heat set low (set on 58F - I like to sleep cool under my blankets and comforter) the temperature will drop 10 degrees overnight. This time it only dropped 4 degrees and I haven't finished with my first layer of insulation yet. I've got about 15 joist bays to go.

The photos from my infrared camera also show the difference. This way you can actually SEE the difference.

Infrared photo of my stairway ceiling before air sealing around the sun tunnel. 

Now look at the difference afterwards. I have not put down a layer of insulation in front of the Sun Tunnel yet because I just foamed it. The camera in both photos is not calibrated to the same temperature, but you can still see where the warmth escapes. And you can see that the area around the Sun Tunnel no longer transmits heat.

The center circle is the Sun Tunnel itself which is not insulated at all. It is basically a transparent dome surrounded by a tube of very shiny aluminum to transmit light to dark areas.

This photo shows a soffit in my kitchen before and after insulation.  Again, the camera is not calibrated the same because I don't know how to do that. But you can still see that there is much less heat transfer in this area.

Giant Holes in the Attic - Air Sealing again

Sun Tunnel in attic

Kitchen fan vent in the attic

Fiberglass around the kitchen fan vent - the black discoloration is years of dust going through the fiberglass where it functions as a filter.

Almost every day I work in the attic trying to get a basic level of insulation in place before it gets too hot to work up there - probably within the next 3 weeks.

I am installing 5.5 inches of UltraTouch denim insulation on top of seriously compressed fiberglass batts squashed down to one inch. The UltraTouch is supposed to be R-21, but that may be overestimating a little. I figure what I'm doing will get me to at least R-20 in the 5.5 inch ceiling joists. I think that just this small amount will make a tremendous difference for the summer. But for my area the code requirement is R-38. I'll get way beyond code when I install 10+ inches of cellulose later in the year.

Anyway, to ensure that the insulation can do it's job and not just function as a filter (see fiberglass photo above), you've got to do the hard work and air seal what you can get to. My Sun Tunnel is way out at the edge of joists between rafters, I cannot physically get there. I am going to put an extension tube on a can of spray foam and squirt the hell out of what I can reach.

I was able to air seal around the kitchen vent fairly easily. I used foam board and Prosoco Joint and Seam Sealer. I was a little over exuberant in using the seam sealer as usual, but it is sealed.

The weather is finally like springtime here. We might get frost this weekend, but things are blooming and it is really lovely. I hope you are enjoying some springlike weather.

Damn! Carpenter Ants in the Attic

Big ass carpenter ants in the attic. See those giant black ants on the left side where I have not insulated yet.

 Here let's blow it up for you. Now you see them?

Carpenter ants (probably these are black carpenter ants - Camponotus pennsylvanicus) don't eat wood like termites do, but that can be equally destructive because they nest in wood, particularly wet wood. There shouldn't be any way the wood is wet in the attic. I don't see any evidence of that, but I am wondering what the hell are those guys doing in my attic. They may not have a nest within the home, but where there is damp rotting wood. They apparently eat insects. They even farm aphids and eat the sugary material that aphids give off. I think that is why the ant are located at this eave because it's below the a louvered area where insects entered my home. 

Now I have to figure out how I want to get rid of them. Here are the options that seem reasonable to me:

1. Follow the trail of the ants to their nest to kill them there. 

2. Use a bait with a slow-acting poison so they take the poison back to the nest and kill off the rest of the colony.

3. Dust boric acid or diatomaceous earth along the edges of my home to kill them with more "natural" insecticides.

4. Treat the area around my house with an insecticide. 

5. Call a pest control company.

After crawling around an attic for days and days, I'm not going to "follow ants to their nest". I know the most likely places for nests around my house. There is some wood at the base of my house that needs to be disposed of. They often nest in areas like that. And I have a doghouse that is not raised off the ground, I suspect they are nesting under that doghouse. I'll work on those areas first by eliminating the wet wood and treating with boric acid.

If that doesn't work, then I will go with a bait I can buy online that sounds promising and not too environmentally destructive - the Complete Ant Bait Kit from Do Your Own Pest Control.

If that doesn't eliminate my ants in the attic, then I'll treat the area around my house with an insecticide and possibly call a pest control company. I don't like that idea though. I want to try the more benign forms of control first.

For a funny, interesting story on battling carpenter ants in a renovated barn, read Joe Lstiburek's article on the Building Science web page called Leiningen versus the Ant Redux.  He's a major engineering guru in building science who is controversial, funny, and very knowledgeable. You'll enjoy it. 

Tangled Up in Blue - Blue Jean Insulation, that is

Stacks of UltraTouch Denim Insulation from Bonded Logic

I've been working a little bit each day on the insulating my attic before it gets too hot to work up there. If you have been reading my blog, you would know that my absolute favorite insulation is mineral wool insulation, the two main brands are Roxul and Thermafiber. It's made from either melted volcanic rock - basalt, specifically, or from slag, a by-product of making steel so you could imagine it is fire-resistant. It is also relatively dense insulation and reduces transmission of sound. BUT if you are going to spend hours and hours crawling around in the attic with this type insulation, you have to be prepared to ITCH. I just could not face that. I had enough of it last year on John's house.

So I picked denim insulation. The best deal I could find was from Home Depot online. I ordered 2 pallets for 24 bales of UltraTouch insulation. Each bale covers 48 sq ft. It's 5.5 inches thick for an R-value of 21. It took about 2-3 weeks to arrive and was delivered to my home for a charge of $55 which I thought was a bargain. It has been a delight to work with. It's easy to tear and install, doesn't itch at all, but it is very dusty. Despite wearing a mask when I am up there, I still sneeze some blue fibers out afterwards.

Here's the current state of insulation.

You can see that insulating at the far end of the rafters will be a serious pain. I need to install some baffles so the insulation won't get into the soffits. That I dread as well.

To show you the effectiveness of this layer of insulation look at the before and after infrared photos of the ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms.

Before air-sealing and insulation above the ceiling fan

After air-sealing and insulation above the ceiling fan

I think the purple area (the cooler temperature) on the ceiling after the insulation was installed is where a beam crosses the ceiling joists. I thought I stuffed the insulation underneath there, but apparently not. I will go back and get it. That's a significant advantage of having my Flir One infrared camera. It is nice to be able to check of your work.

Adventures in Air Sealing and Insulation

So I finished a tiny part of the insulation in the gable over my entrance porch. It is hard to convey how difficult it is to crawl into that area.

Here is a photo showing the path to that gable end.

I haven't used a measuring tape to see what the distance is from the plywood covering the joists to the ridge beam, but I've measured it with my body. It is shorter than my torso. That's my foot to give you perspective. I actually think I have splinter in my scalp from this adventure.

This is the porch area caulked for air sealing. I used some fire-rated caulk because that is what I had on hand. That's why it's red.

My favorite caulking gun is show below. It's the Siga Primur Applicator Gun for tubular bags.
It's what I used most of the time at John's house. I use it with Prosoco Joint and Seam sealer, another product I also love for air sealing.

My tools for sealing the rainscreen gap. You really aren't supposed to seal the rainscreen gap. The idea is that with this gap behind the siding, it can dry out easily, be less prone to causing rot, and paint will adhere better. But this area was not detailed correctly (I really don't think any of it was detailed correctly) because it goes directly into an area that should be insulated. It should either have a gap at the top of the siding or go above the insulation. So I decided to close off this area. There are gaps between the siding anyway so I think it can dry effectively anyway. 

Same area after small pieces of foam were caulked in place.

Whew! The insulated porch ceiling is shown below. About 11 inches of UltraTouch Denim Insulation for an R-value of ~38. Hey, I met code there. 

This was a painful task. The other side of the gable is a little easier because it doesn't step down like the ceiling on the porch does, but it is almost as challenging. I don't think there are any gaps I have to air seal though. I'll have to explore and make sure. 

That was quite enough of an adventure for one day. My neck, elbows (from the army crawl), abs are recovering. I hope to finish the other side of the gable tomorrow.

Why Insulating is hard - if you do a good job, that is.

Today I am not loving my insulation project so much. Today the job is very difficult. Today I don't like my insulation very much at all, but what I did today, had to be done.

First here are some photos of the current state of insulation in my attic. Not very effective insulation. The paper "vapor barrier" has seriously deteriorated. The second photo shows the insulation near my chimney. I dread insulating around that because you have to install a fire barrier before you can put insulation outside of the fire barrier and that's despite the face that I don't use my fireplaces. What you cannot tell from these photos is that the tallest point is about 4 ft. It is extremely difficult crawling around in there.

Older fiberglass insulation from the 50s

Ok, so here is the worst place to insulate. It is over my outdoor front porch and there are obvious air leaks and no insulation. In addition, the attic ceiling height might be 2 feet at best. You will be bonking your head on the rafters.

This view is looking straight down at those gaps. I'm going to put a small piece of foam board there to seal that area.

Remember the most important principle in applying effective insulation is air sealing before insulation. Otherwise your insulation just functions as an air filter.

So I caulked all around in this area of my front porch ceiling today. No after photos because I was so covered in caulk that I could not pull out my iPhone to take a picture.

Also, here's helpful hint. Caulk the area that is away from you first so you don't have to crawl through the just applied caulk to get to the distant area. You will be much happier if you do that.