How to Make Your Home Energy Efficient
(Page 4 of 7)
October/November 2008
By Dan Chiras
Insulate ceilings. Ceiling insulation must also be fortified in old and new homes. Even if your home was built in the 1990s, consider adding more ceiling insulation. Adding insulation is easy in homes with attics. You simply climb into the attic through an access hatch usually located in a hallway or a back room. When you’re in the attic, you can lay down fiberglass batts or blow fiberglass or cellulose over the existing insulation. Be sure to walk on the rafters so as not to fall through the ceiling.
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When retrofitting ceiling or attic insulation, I recommend bringing the R-value well above local building codes — to R 50 or R 60 — in most climates. (R-value is a measure of resistance to thermal flow; the higher the number, the better it blocks heat movement.) In cold climates, you may want to boost insulation even more.
If you don’t have an attic, your home was probably built with a closed ceiling design, and installing additional insulation can be difficult, if not impossible. But all is not lost. You could install additional insulation by framing in a second ceiling with 2-by-4s and adding insulation to the cavities. Or you could apply large sheets of foam insulation. After the insulation is in place, you’ll need to attach a vapor barrier and new drywall.
Upgrade windows. If your windows are old and leaky, were manufactured with aluminum or steel frames or are the single-pane variety, you should consider a complete upgrade. The cheapest and easiest upgrade for energy-wasteful windows is to install storm windows. Storm windows are installed on the outside of existing windows where they perform two vital functions. First, storm windows reduce air leakage. Second, they create a dead airspace that reduces heat loss. These simple, relatively inexpensive upgrades can decrease heat loss and increase interior comfort at about a quarter of the price of a complete window upgrade.
A more costly option is to tear out existing windows and replace them with high-quality, energy-efficient models. Window replacements cost quite a lot — potentially $8,000 to $10,000, or even more for larger homes. The payback period, the time in which this investment pays for itself in energy savings, is typically about 10 to 12 years assuming energy costs do not rise at all. Although this upgrade is expensive, remember that a 10-year payback represents a 10 percent financial return on your investment. Moreover, the gains in comfort are immediate, and rising energy costs will increase your return on investment.
Another simple solution is to install a second or third pane of glass in the existing window frame. While effective, this method is costly and time-consuming. I’ve devised another option — one that is more aesthetically appealing than sheet plastic and much cheaper than installing additional panes of glass. My solution is to install Plexiglas inserts along the inside surface of existing windows. Plexiglas is a clear, durable polycarbonate plastic. It can cost a tenth of the price of some window glass, and usually won’t yellow in sunlight. It also conducts heat more slowly than glass, which results in a warmer surface and thus less heat loss.
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