Is My Home Too Tight?

Do you want to make your house more energy efficient? Most people do, but with one justifiable concern: can a house get TOO tight? In a word, YES. Not only yes, Yes with potentially dire consequences for the building and the occupants.


We all know that homes typically do not get renovated or repaired top to bottom, all at once. The normal family renovates their home one room or one project at a time, over the course of many years. Or the house is renovated by multiple owners a little at a time. New windows, new doors, new siding with insulation board installed first, new insulation when the kitchen or bath is redone – all of these potentially and hopefully will reduce energy costs by reducing air infiltration or increasing R values.

So you bought a house that featured new windows or a new kitchen – probably put in not long before the house was put on the market in order to increase the appeal. Or maybe the house was chilly so the uninformed contractor sold you a narrow solution based on what he does best – windows, insulation, a furnace upgrade – but maybe not the correct solution or even a wise solution. And did the windows actually get installed to get the most energy efficiency?

The real problem is that there actually is a tipping point where upgrades actually can make the house too tight, and it is not easy to know that by conjecture or noticing a slight decrease in a heating oil or PECO bill.

There is an inexpensive way of measuring a home’s tightness using Building Science principles. The tools used include a Blower Door with a monometer and a combustion analyzer (for measuring flue gases at your furnace). The Blower Door test provides data so that an Energy Auditor can calculate a home’s Air Changes per Hour and locate where the tiny holes are in the home’s building envelope. The combustion analyzer is used to perform a combustion safety test of heating appliances (hot water heater and furnace) and especially to see if there are any back-drafting of combustion gases in to the house.

In former articles I have discussed that a house is really a system of interrelated parts, which are effected by the changes or upgrades in any and all of the other parts. Replacing the windows can affect the functioning of the heating system. The size of a new furnace is partly determined by the windows and insulation you have and when you plan to upgrade them. The way moisture and stale air is expelled from a house is dependent on all of the systems and can change dramatically when something is upgraded (or not maintained.)

In the coming months it is likely that the Federal government is going to propose incentives for homeowners to make our homes more energy efficient through a program called Home Star. I think this make sense because really, all those billions given to the “Too Big To Fail” companies and their million dollar bonus executives have not helped us one bit with our energy bills. I mean if the economy needs stimulating then give the money to the people who actually are going to spend it in their own community. But be wise about the energy efficiency choices that you intend to make. Have an Energy Audit which includes a complete evaluation of your house, including a Blower Door and combustion safety. Your home can and should be energy efficient and just the right tightness, not too tight.

Tom Wells can be found at tom@tgw-construction.com or on the web at http://www.tgw-construction.com/


This article was contributed by Thomas G. Wells

THOMAS G. WELLS CONSTRUCTION L.L.C.
105 Pennsylvania Avenue
Yardley, Pa. 19067
Tel: 215-321-4818
Fax: 215-321-2179
Cell: 215-378-4048
PA CONTRACTOR # #PA003219 • NJ CONTRACTOR #13VH03383400

Source:
Superior Woodcraft, Inc. Custom Cabinetry Blog
Superior Woodcraft, Inc. Website