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Old 10-09-09, 07:23 AM   #31
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Here is one more of the hatch cover from the top.


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Old 10-09-09, 09:17 AM   #32
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There seems to be all kinds of little spheres floating around up there..
Hope you were wearing a dust mask!
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Old 10-12-09, 07:00 PM   #33
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Small update. I caulked around the opening, so it is now sealed. I was hoping to getting around to sealing the new hatch, but I want the caulk to dry before doing that so the rigid boards don't shift at all.

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Old 10-13-09, 10:01 PM   #34
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I think the best bang for your buck would be new double pane vinal windows. You loose more heat through the old windows than the walls. You can check with the big box stores to see if they have returns that will fit. Or you can check with the manufactures here in Wisconsin to see if they have factory seconds.
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Old 10-14-09, 05:08 AM   #35
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Well, the single pane windows do have storms on them, so that helps some. Also, my walls upstairs don't have insulation in them, so I wouldn't necessarily consider one a whole lot worse than the other. There are plans to address both of these issues at the same time. I just haven't gotten that far yet.
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Old 10-18-09, 06:56 PM   #36
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Daox,

Do you know how to calculate heat loss through walls & windows?

Regards,

-AC_Hacker

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Old 10-19-09, 07:10 PM   #37
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I know how to use U-values to calculate heat loss. How do you do it?
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Old 02-19-12, 09:44 AM   #38
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Well, its been a few years since I posted in this thread. Since then I've continued sealing things here and there, but again this weekend I focused on sealing the house up further. I got an email from my energy auditor that I needed to have a follow up audit since its been a year since he came. So, in a little under a month I have the energy auditor coming back and I'd like to seal it up as much as I can before that.

I know my basement is pretty leaky, so I decided to try and seal it from the upstairs (at least for now). So, I started with the basement door. I noticed that when the furnace is on large amounts of air are being pulled through the door into the basement. So, first I mounted a door sweep on the bottom of the door.





I also noticed dust around the door jam area no doubt from air passing through that area. The area was quite tight though (less than 1/8") so I needed something very thin to seal the area. While picking out the door sweep I found some plastic sealing strip. Its V shaped and the door compresses when the door closes. I put this around the rest of the door. I checked once the furnace turned back on and it is sealed up pretty well now.






Next up was the kitchen windows. The auditor's had said that I had air leakage around window frames, not through the windows themselves. So, I took the trim off, trimmed the drywall back to see what was there. They did foam the window cavity, but for some reason I am still having leakage.





So, I decided to fill the rest of the cavity with foam. My guess is that the air leakage is coming through the wall from behind the drywall. Filling the cavity full of foam will seal this gap and take care of the problem. A serrated knife works great for trimming off any excess foam.






After doing the windows in the kitchen I moved onto the front door. I had worked on it in fall (some hinge problems), but leak tested it and noticed a lot of air leakage around the trim just like the windows. This is what I found. A good air filter up top, but absolutely nothing on the sides of the door. So, ripped out the fiberglass and filled it up with foam too.

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Old 02-20-12, 04:32 PM   #39
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Quote:
I know my basement is pretty leaky, so I decided to try and seal it from the upstairs (at least for now). So, I started with the basement door. I noticed that when the furnace is on large amounts of air are being pulled through the door into the basement. So, first I mounted a door sweep on the bottom of the door.
How is your furnace getting the make-up air now that you've just cut it off? You might be adding hazard here considering your basement goes into negative pressure when the furnace is running. Do you have an air inlet into your basement?
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Old 02-21-12, 06:39 AM   #40
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No air inlet. When the auditor comes by he will check that the furnace isn't pulling too much pressure on the basement. I honestly would be shocked if it was.

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