BEFORE THE AUDIT:
The owners of this 1,200 square foot ranch home in a small beach town were dissatisfied with the consistently high costs of their energy bills and constant need to adjust the thermostat to comfortable in their living space. The home never seemed to be warm enough in the winter nor cool enough during the hot summers and it seemed as if the cooling equipment never stopped running.
AFTER THE AUDIT:
Upon inspection we found that this home was leaking like a sieve. Gaping holes in the building envelope were causing conditioned air to be flushed from the home almost as fast as the equipment was pumping it in. The constant pressure put on the aged heating and cooling equipment coupled with damages incurred from Super Storm Sandy, made the units completely inefficient and in need of serious overhaul or replacement.
WHAT WAS SUGGESTED:
The best solutions for this particular home would be to tighten the home by using expanding polystyrene foam to seal holes as well as wall openings that meet attic place; install a new high efficiency water heater; install a new AC; install a new furnace; and increase the insulation levels in the attic to at least R-38 to provide the optimum resistance to heat gain/loss to the attic space. By installing these measures, the customers were able to increase their overall comfort level and reduce their energy usage and financial burden by a projected 22.4%.
