Home energy audit scheduled
 

Over the weekend I scheduled an energy audit to be done on the house. I've been meaning to all winter long to identify the 'bad things' in the house and to evalute the work I've done thus far. I'm quite excited about it and will post up info when it is done.

I had one done not long ago. It really showed the areas that they didn't insulate. We were told to move everything away from the exterior walls. We have a closet where the was missing insulation in the wall. I walked with the inspector and put blue tape on problem areas so I wouldn't forget after he left.

Yeah same. Mine really showed all the spots that the air was coming through. It was crazy. Aside from that, one of the things he told me to do that would be best for my house would be to add an HRV. Other then that just sealing up the house.

Higgy,
What is a HRV?

My answer to most newcomers to the forum is "DIY energy audit", but we don't really have a single guide to point them at. How much of an energy audit is within reach of the DIYer?

This is only part of it, but IMO its an excellent start. It helped me identify many leaky areas.

DIY Home Air Pressure Test | EcoRenovator.org

Hey Braebyrn,

An HRV is a heat recovery ventilation system. It refresh's your indoor air with outdoor air every 3 hours or so so that you're not breathing in stale indoor air all day long.

Here's a link that will explain it better:
How a Heat Recovery Ventilator Works

The auditor just left the house about an hour ago. The audit went very good I think. We found the areas that are problems, and will be able to start doing work this summer to fix it.

Of course, despite my work, sealing is still the biggest deal. With the blower door test and pressure set to 50 pascals, the flow rate was 2180 cfm. He thinks that with his suggestions I can easily knock that in half. Thankfully, my sealing upstairs did pretty good. There wasn't much leakage around the window frames/trim, just the windows themselves (cases) due to worn out gaskets. The attic access was also fairly well sealed.

The IR also did show that my 'double wall' wall (plaster on inner wall, intermedidate layer of lathe and plasters, then exterior sheathing) is horrible insulation. The joists are actually insulating better than the wall itself. So, insulation is a must up there. Also, the small angled portion of my ceilings upstairs are horribly insulated. I was pretty sure this was the case even when I did the attic insulation. However, I now have proof they're bad. The IR camera downstairs showed a fair amount of leakage around the window frames and door frames. That should be a relatively easy fix of taking the trim boards off and great stuffing around them. There is also some leakage between my 1st and 2nd floor which will probably be tricky to get to without having to cut into drywall. Then, there is the basement with a fair amount of leakage which was no surprise.

In any case, within a week I should have the full report and can post up IR images and other findings I've omitted. Overall, I'm very happy to have much better info on how to improve the house's efficiency and a good priority list as far as what will help the most.

The test cost me $325, and the guy was very knowledgable (30+ years of building/inspecting experience) and very helpful when I asked for suggestions on how to do this or do that. I would definitely recommend him to anyone else in the greater Milwaukee area. His website is Home Energy Auditors.

Good news. Looks like you'll have your hands full this summer, but then imagine the savings next winter:D
It would be nice if a second pressure test, say one year from now or at the end of summer, was in the price.

I should have mentioned that. As soon as I do do the improvements that I want, I call them up and they come out again and retest it to see if its made a good improvement. At that point they also qualify me for a few tax breaks or something like that too.