BEFORE THE AUDIT:
The owners of this home were tired of high energy bills and wanted a way to upgrade their old equipment and make their home more comfortable and cost-effective. They complained of some rooms being very drafty, especially in the winter time, and were interested in identifying what the problem was and how they could go about making their home more comfortable.
AFTER THE AUDIT:
A blower-door test conducted during the audit revealed that the home was in fact, very leaky. The audit also helped to discover a main problem with the home's air leakage-- 20 recessed lights that were unsealed and uncapped. Without proper air sealing, the lights are basically holes in the ceiling through which air can drift up and out the attic. No wonder this homeowner had such high energy bills-- their roof was like swiss cheese! We also found HVAC equipment that was old and outdated. The AC was over 20 years old and the furnace had been installed while Reagan was President (the first time!). The home additionally only had 6 inches of insulation in most of the attic-- half of what ENERGY STAR reccomends for NJ homes.
WHAT WAS SUGGESTED:
Building Sciences reccomended air sealing in the attic and around the attic entrance, as well as capping and sealing all 20 recessed lights. We reccomended adding 6" of cellulose insulation in the attic, and proposed installing a new high-efficiency furnace and air conditioner. We finally proposed replacing the old, inefficient, atmospherically vented hot water heater with a new, higher efficieny, power-vented unit. We calculated that these improvements would save the homeowners 26.54% on their energy bills year in and year out.
THE RESULTS:
Air sealing done on the home was able to cut the air leakage by almost half! That's a lot of energy savings! Due to the improvements in air sealing and insulation, we were able to reduce the size of the client's new AC and Furnace compared to their old units. The customer is saving over $1,000 a year on their energy bills due to the work, and now enjoys a much less draftier home in the winter. Check out some pictures of the work!
