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How to Insulate and Air Seal Attic Pull Down Stairs
Pull down attic stairs are super-sized attic hatches that just beg homeowners to store more stuff in your attic. Besides the issues stemming from the particularly large hole in your ceiling, it...
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How Much Insulation Do You Need?
OK…We’re back after that brief incident of real life. Besides the obvious answer – MORE (but you knew that just based on your heating bills, didn’t you?), how much insulation do you need? There are...
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We’re Living In a Material World – Insulation Materials, That is
Insulation materials that is… We had cellulose blown into the walls of our house about three years ago. The contractors did a nice job and I checked over everything with an infrared scan afterward....
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Journal of Poor Homebuilding v.7
Dryer vents…you can’t point them just ANYWHERE. The surrounding loose fiberglass had been soaked and dried repeatedly over the years and had congealed into solid matts. The patch of moisture...
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Journal of Poor Homebuilding v.11 – Heat Loss Is Blowing In The Wind
I’ve talked a bunch about wind washing and how it affects insulation and comfort. This infrared shot is of a house with a vented attic during heavy, gusting winds. The cold air is blasting right...
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Journal of Poor Homebuilding v.16 – More Giant Chimney Holes
I posted an example before of the massive chimney hole that lives in many northern homes. This one is a little different. The previous post was of a gable end chimney that had been framed in when...
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The Worst House Ever Audited (Was Built in 2008) Part 3
To recap: Last post I started reviewing possibly the worst house I ever audited. The house had built in 2008, which hit one of my pet peeves: That new automatically means good. But to reiterate a...
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5 (Fairly) Simple DIY Projects to Save Energy
I like simple projects because, hey, simple. It’s like whipping up a nice tortellini and pesto dish versus tackling a full blown chicken mole (and for the non-culinarily inclined, check out this...
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Ban The Can: Why You Should Avoid Recessed Lights
That image above is of a recessed light in a house built in 1994. The blower door was 5750 CFM50, which unless one were testing the Astrodome, is quite high. The outside temperature was around 10F...
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A Song of Ice and Fire – The Street Side Energy Audit
When my wife and I bought our current house, one appeal was that it was largely uninsulated. Given the choice between somewhat insulated and uninsulated, give me the blank slate every time. We moved...
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