There’s a lot of talk these days about how to make your home “smarter,” with everything from motorized draperies to voice-activated light switches to automatic plant watering systems.
Lost in a lot of this excitement is the fact that many homeowners live in “dumb” houses and would be better off focusing on making improvements that pack a little less flash, but are a lot more cost-effective. For both newer and older homes, there can be a surprising number of significant, if low-tech, ways to save money, improve safety and perhaps raise your home’s IQ.
“After the energy crisis of the ’70s, homes got smaller as people became more aware of the costs,” said John Katrakis, a Barrington-based energy consultant. “Now people seem to expect more space, and houses are being built larger than ever.”
As a result of the larger spaces, a home’s best opportunities for improvements usually start at the top with the attic. Most older homes, in particular, will have just 10 to 12 inches of cellulose (specially treated paper pulp) or fiberglass insulation in the attic, with an R, or insulation value, of about R-10.
“An attic should have at least R-30 insulation or more,” Katrakis said.
While the fiberglass rolls or stiff “bats” are popular among do-it-yourselfers, experts say a far better method is blowing in loose fiberglass or, better still, cellulose. The blowers are usually available to rent at the hardware or home supply stores that sell the insulation.
“People need to understand the need to seal air as being as important as insulating a space. When you blow in damp cellulose, you seal a lot of the gaps that leak the most air,” said John Marley, director of the Illinois EnergyWise Homes program. The program encourages builders and contractors to utilize energy-efficient techniques in construction.
Marley adds that the value of fiberglass in general can be dubious at best if air pathways are not sealed.
“Fiberglass can lose 30 to 50 percent of its R value when it’s cold. Voids are a big issue because often an installer will not take the time to seal the bats around every leak. That’s part of why we have so many of these new nice new homes that still freeze. Blown in cellulose is easy to use and typically more effective.”
In addition to blown insulation, expanding foam can also be used to seal leaks. The goal is to stop air movement through leaks, also called “bypasses,” which can lessen the effectiveness of insulation and bring harmful moisture into the attic.
As Oak Park architect Paul Knight points out, some bypasses can be tougher to seal than others.
“People really like recessed cans for lighting, especially in bathrooms, but you can’t cover the cans with insulation. The result is warm, moist air coming into the cold attic, and condensation on the roof which could be mistaken for a leak,” he said. Knight says the best solution is to change the type of fixture to a special air-tight lighting unit or do away with the cans altogether.
Homeowners should also make sure bathroom and dryer vents do not vent into the attic to avoid the same types of heat loss and moisture problems.
Katrakis adds that homeowners who do take the initiative to add attic insulation should avoid overkill. “You don’t gain much by putting in more than R-30. You’re better off paying more attention to the bypass leaks. Don’t assume more insulation is better.”
That said, raising attic insulation can offer one of the faster paybacks in the world of home improvement. Costs to go from R-10 to R-30 range from under 50 cents to $1 per square foot.
Katrakis says annual energy savings would run 8 to 10 cents per square foot, paying for the project in less than five years.
The living area of a home also frequently offers room for improvement. According to Knight, there are many small but significant leaks in a living area that can usually be sealed up with latex caulk.
“Beneath the sinks where the water pipes and drain enter, and areas where electric panel boxes are set into a wall usually leak air,” he said. “Baseboards can also leak air when the drywall behind them isn’t sealed properly.”
Electrical outlets also are traditionally a source of air leakage. A number of low-cost gaskets are available for consumers to install themselves to stop the air flow. Knight suggests adding child-proof inserts to stop drafts and add a measure of safety. Some of the most serious sources of air leakage can come from some of the most unlikely sources.
“Fireplace flues are not so bad, but some fireplaces are built in front of a wall with a transition between the drywall and the brick that can leak a large amount of air,” Marley said.
“Laundry chutes are nice,” he added, “but I’ve seen some that ran up to the attic and acted like a chimney sucking warm air out of the house because the chute’s doors weren’t air-tight. You have to look carefully sometimes.”
While windows are oft-cited sources of energy loss, experts say taking steps to improve the situation rarely makes sense.
While new window technology like low-emissivity coatings and argon-gas chambers have improved efficiency, the cost of installation makes it a tough sell unless you’re going to make the change for aesthetic reasons as well.
“Installing new windows just for energy savings is not usually cost-efficient unless you put in a smaller window. You can pay for an awful lot of gas and electricity with what new windows cost,” Marley said.
The same can also usually be said for the cost of blowing additional insulation into walls. While an attic may be tackled on a weekend, adding wall insulation to living areas typically requires holes in your walls and the help of a qualified contractor. As a result, the cost may be prohibitive unless you’re going to be doing other renovation work that would involve recovering or refinishing walls.
Again, surprising results may be had by simply sealing off some of the more easily accessible air leaks for a given area.
“It’s very important to find the room that’s the coldest and focus on fixing that first,” Katrakis said. “That room will usually determine how high you set your thermostat, even if it means other parts of the house are too warm.”
Other types of potential fixes are found in the basement, though sealing off air remains a primary goal. “Sometimes the gasket between the foundation and the wood frame isn’t totally sealed, and that’s usually easy to fix with wrapped insulation or a special foam called icynene,” said Marley.
When it comes to replacing a basement’s furnace, the experts say every homeowner has to weigh the age of their current unit and the time they will be in the house against the energy savings of a new model.
Water heaters, however, have not evolved quite as far in terms of savings, at least not yet. While Dallas-based A.O. Smith recently introduced a hot-water heater claiming 94 percent efficiency, it runs about $4,000 and is available only in sizes roughly three times the need of the average home.
Smaller, more affordable future versions are promised.
Another basement fix is the sealing of ductwork, particularly in unheated areas such as a crawlspace.
“The worst thing you can use is duct tape because it will dry up. A metal tape is available that’s similar to the material of license plate tabs, and you should seal all the ductwork you can,” said Marley. He added that foam insulation wrap for ductwork and water pipes may also be helpful for runs in unheated areas.
For all the sealing and plugging, however, Knight reminds homeowners that making a house too air-tight can be a significant health hazard. If appliances such as furnaces, dryers and water heaters are not properly vented they can release combustion gases back into the house.
For this reason, Knight and others strongly recommend the use of furnaces, water heaters and other appliances that use sealed combustion systems or special vents to force the gases outside. “Making a house too tight is surprisingly easy to do, and the results are not always fatal. People can just suffer flu-like symptoms all the time,” Knight said.
Safety is also an important factor when reviewing your home’s electrical service. Older homes, in particular, should be checked to ensure adequate power is available through the existing fuse or breaker box. Current housing code requires 100-amp service, though experts say 200-amp service may be advisable for larger homes.
“A lot of homes 40 years or older have 60- or even as little as 30-amp service. With today’s usage levels it’s easy to overload the system,” said Paul Michaelsen of Meco Electric in Chicago.
Michaelsen also suggests homes old enough to have wiring with fabric insulation consider replacing it throughout. Upgrading an older home’s electric service to 100 amps will run about $600 to $850. Replacing the wiring in a midsize home can run anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000 or more.
“Cost-wise, these types of improvements aren’t made to save money on your electric bill. They’re done purely for safety,” Michaelsen said.
Before a homeowner undertakes any of the above, a smart step would be the scheduling of a blower door test with a qualified professional energy auditor. Among other things, such a test helps identify air leaks and air flow problems within a house. The cost of the test ranges from $125 to $350, or about 10 cents per square foot. A list of qualified testers may be obtained by calling the Illinois EnergyWise Homes program at 217-785-2007.
