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Making the Maurice Knight Home More Efficient Part 1 of 3 – The History
February 26, 2013Apologies to customers out there, but sometimes a house is just a house. I’m quite familiar with ranch homes, split levels, Cape Cods, center hall colonials, and so forth. Every once in a while, though, you get to work on a truly spectacular house. If you’ve read the blog for long, you know I have […]
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Why Well Insulated Houses Get Ice Dams and Icicles
February 18, 2013In my last post, I dove into my house and the few icicles it gets. Now for a little advanced discussion. I have a detached garage: The garage has no ventilation at all, so the heat from the cars while they cool after driving is enough to melt some snow: It’s a little tough to see […]
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Icicles and Ice Dams On My Own Home – Newsflash! I’m Not Perfect Either
February 11, 2013I’m going to do something pretty dangerous with this post: open myself up to criticism. Why? Because I want to learn, and that requires openness. It shows I’m human as well. (Pros: please read carefully and see if you think I missed anything.) It’s also an example of the shoemakers’ kids going barefoot (or perhaps […]
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Insulation and Air Sealing: Extreme Coffee and Tea Edition
January 1, 2013I love analogies. Always have. Always will. So I was thinking about insulation and air sealing the other day as I drank coffee from my fancy-schmancy Contigo coffee mug (ok, they only cost $20, so don’t judge). I love this mug. It has a perfect air seal and you have to push a button to get […]
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Why do I get icicles and ice dams? How do I solve the problem?
December 28, 2012It’s that time of year again: 2 nice sized snowstorms have hit now, and icicles are growing. Contractor phones start ringing off the hook in Northern climates with homeowners trying to stop icicles before it rips their gutters off or ruins drywall and window trim. Worrying about these things keeps a fair number of people […]
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The Thermal Abomination That Is Commercial Construction
November 26, 2012The typical commercial building is broken from a building performance perspective, and this needs to be brought to light. Some fairly minor and possibly cost-neutral things could be done to make commercial buildings perform like a new home. My good friend Allison Bailes of Energy Vanguard* beat me to the punch last week saying this should […]
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Why Programmable Thermostats Rock, Which One to Buy, and How to Install It
November 21, 2012I often say that insulating and air sealing is the best return on investment of any major home improvement. Did you hear my qualifier in there? There are a few minor (and DIY) projects that save their upfront cost very quickly. The best one? Programmable thermostats. (FYI: This is NOT a programmable thermostat! And that was […]
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Why Power Companies Want to Control YOUR Programmable Thermostat
November 19, 2012Most electric suppliers have a program that lets them limit just how cold you can keep your house in the summer with air conditioning. Kinda creepy, isn’t it? To some degree, yes, but they have good reason, and here’s the story. Say you are the member of your family who always hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas. […]
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Fix Your House for Free – The Magic of Energy Efficiency Financing
October 22, 2012You can live in a comfortable, healthy, longer lasting, and substantially cheaper to operate home quite possibly for free* by using financing to pay for energy efficiency improvements. OK, now you question my sanity and sincerity because, well, I’m selling something. Which I most certainly am: Home Performance, which provides all the benefits above. Here’s […]
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Do I need more insulation? Maybe. Home Performance? Heck yeah. A mold story.
October 15, 2012Last week I was called into a home to see if their insulation was adequate. I came up with an answer he probably wasn’t expecting: much of his home’s insulation was very difficult to upgrade, and the parts I could upgrade were up to code in Ohio as late as 2009.* That said, he was […]
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How to Install Blown In Attic Insulation Yourself, Part 1 of 3
October 12, 2012Fall is in full swing, the furnace is on, football is back, and unfortunately for us here in Ohio, the election is in full swing too. What does this mean? Why, it’s time to insulate your attic, of course! (Yes, I’m a bit of a weirdo, but that’s OK, because I’m obsessed. That’s a joke, […]
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What the heck is Home Performance? And do I give a hoot?
October 7, 2012If you have a room or rooms in your house that get too hot or cold, or icicles in the winter, or allergy problems that are worse indoors, or out of whack utility bills, or rotting wood, or bug & critter issues – you give a hoot about Home Performance you just don’t know it […]
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