This Old, Old House and Our Energy Audit

In advance of Maine’s winter winds blowing through our 200-year-old house, and blowing a hole through our budget, my wife and I decided to have an energy audit done on the house. We had already purchased our annual allotment of heating oil, but we bought less than usual, figuring that we would undertake some of the suggested retrofits from the audit.

We hired Curry Caputo of Sustainable Structures in Whitefield, who did a fantastic job.  Curry set up a fan in our front door to create a strong air flow throughout the house, which reveals where hot air leaks out in the winter.  (He had a cool infrared camera to see the hot and cold spots.) He visually inspected the house from attic to basement. He checked the efficiency of our furnace and checked for gas leaks from our stove and propane tank.  We followed him around for most of the morning, peppering him with questions.

(Photo above: An infrared shot of a cold spot in our kitchen floor, under the dishwasher.) 

The upshot? Our biggest issue is the air barrier between our house and the cold Maine winter.  You see, it’s all about the air flow.  The air seal in our basement is bad, due mostly to the condition of the foundation under the ell.  (We already guessed that was the culprit of our high oil bills.) In addition, the metal bulkhead needs to be insulated, and the basement under the main part of the house needs to be air-sealed where the foundation meets the sill. As air leaks into the basement from outside, it creates a chimney effect, which pushes warm air up through the house—and eventually out the attic and roof.  In our house, this effect was worsened by a large hole in the ceiling of a second-floor closet—a perfect avenue for warm air to zoom into the attic. That was something we never suspected was a big deal. But with a little drywall we’ll make a huge difference.

Does it help to have your furnace serviced every year? You bet.  I always wondered about this. Curry found that our furnace was running at 82% efficiency—not as good as the newer models, which can get into the high 90s, but good performance for this one, given its age.

Once the house is tighter, we’ll have to deal with moisture. The basement is wet—like many houses with a granite foundation in our town—but because the house is so well ventilated, mold and mildew don’t build up. That will change, and we’ll have to take some steps to reduce the moisture (sheathing the basement floor and walls in plastic sheeting, and excavating part of the back lawn to divert water away from the basement).

Years ago, we had most of the old windows replaced.  Although the house is much less drafty now, Curry said that he rarely if ever recommends replacing windows, because the return on investment is so low.  That was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day.  Apparently even the best window is still a huge source of heat loss. Better to live in a bunker.  So have an energy audit done before undertaking any major renovations. Otherwise it’s like going in for surgery before you’ve even seen the doctor.

Mathew Scease

(Photo above right is of my family and me, as seen through the infrared gun.)

Comments

[Suzanne]

My energy auditor was reasonable in price. I got his name from Efficiency Maine. We had a nice talk, and he made an appointment to come over and do the audit. He showed me some pictures of things that he thinks my house needs but he has to run a computer model to determine what is the best resource to spend my money on. He looked at my doors, my windows, my attic and roof, and did a blower test. He did an analysis on my furnace and was looking for the results from my last cleaning. The person who did it did not leave the results. I've paid for it to be cleaned and tested at least 6 times in last 8 years. Its a requirement that the results be posted near the furnace. He might do a thermal energy test, but he says there is enough "low hanging fruit" that I can get a 50% energy savings. I will hire a carpenter to do the work, when he gives me the results. It was very interesting to watch him but I need the results to do the work, since he will tell me the order in which the work should be done.

Great thing to do.
Suzanne

[John]

Great article. Those pictures you added were very interesting. I loved the one of the family! I just thought some of you visitors may be interested in finding an energy audit company where they live but weren't sure where to look.

The energy audit directory has listings of professionals throughout the US. You can Google "energy audit directory."

Good luck,

[Mathew Scease]

Yvonne,

The quotes we got from a handful of contractors ranged from $400 to $550. It is pricey, but so is doing nothing. We found Curry Caputo through Maine Home Performance. Vist this website and fill out the form with your contact information. http://www.mainehomeperformance.org/frmHomeowner.php
It will direct you to a page listing contractors who do energy audits. You can choose which ones you want to contact you. This service worked very well for us; we got three calls back immediately.

The Maine Housing Authority also has a loan program called HELP for energy efficiency improvements: http://www.mainehousing.org/PROGRAMSHelp.aspx?ProgramID=32

A professional look at your house is essential. There a lot of things you would never guess would be a big deal. The auditor will help you prioritize which items on your to-do list are most important. In our case, insulating the bulkhead to the basement is more important than reducing the draft from the front door, which I would never have guessed. And I would not have been able to prioritize which of the gaps in the house's "air barrier" are most important to fix.

Some specific advice we got:
--Seal up holes in the houses's air barrier, starting with the basement
--get your furnance serviced
--buy energy efficient major appliances
--use power strips for your electronic devices, and turn off the power strips when they are not in use. Keeping TVs, stereos and such in off/standby mode uses a lot of power.
--Insulate. And again, you would need to have an audit to know where the priority areas are.

Thanks to NRCM's advocacy, Maine now has energy efficiency standards that all new houses must meet. Too bad they weren't around in 1820 when my house was built!

[Yvonne]

A good story, though sounds expensive. Any other tips?