Affordable Home Upgrades (Energy Efficiency & Indoor Air Quality )
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- When you're thinking of what to spend your money on to upgrade your home there's an overwhelming amount of options out there. Matt breaks down his top list of things he would consider first by price.
Links to products mentioned:
Honeywell, White TP50WK Energy Star Dehumidifier
amzn.to/3hvhNLO
Aprilaire 2210 Whole House Air Purifier w/MERV 13 Filter
amzn.to/33040Jd
IQAir [GC MultiGas Air Purifier] Medical-Grade Air [HyperHEPA Filter]
amzn.to/2WNnGvV
Field Controls Air Purifier
www.fieldcontr...
Aprilaire Allergy + Pet True HEPA Air Purifier with 4-Stage Filtration
amzn.to/30Em5tt
Aeroseal
aeroseal.com/
Aerobarrier
aeroseal.com/a...
Trane CleanEffects
www.trane.com/...
Mitsubishi Cassettes
www.mitsubishi...
BPI:
locate.bpi.org/
Resnet:
www.resnet.us/...
Be sure to checkout www.buildshownetwork.com for more great content every day of the week!
Follow Matt on Instagram! / risingerbuild
or Twitter / mattrisinger
Huge thanks to our Show sponsors Polywall, Huber, Dorken Delta, Prosoco, Rockwool & Viewrail for helping to make these videos possible! These are all trusted companies that Matt has worked with for years and trusts their products in the homes he builds. We would highly encourage you to check out their websites for more info.
www.Poly-Wall.com
www.Dorken.com
www.Huberwood.com
www.Prosoco.com
www.Viewrail.com
www.Rockwool.com
more like this Matt.
Thanks Jacob!
First piece of advice, damn near free, caulk all the holes in your house, outlets boxes, in cabinets, around light/fab fixtures, around LED lights, etc.
Agreed. Great video full of solid advice.
Matt Risinger
I want to Diy a Smaller house not necessarily a small house maybe a little bigger but i have no training or experience i wish you had a step to step guide on how you do your builds
Finally a topic that addresses most of the audience watching the show.
Kicked the family out and am saving $$$ like crazy.
When
I was doing some home renovations and I was knocking down a wall, only to find a secret unfurnished room behind it...
...then I remembered we live in a duplex.
Lol
hahaha
Was there good treasures?
what about some skeletons?
Ha ha
Tinting widows, updating to a programmable thermostat, or adding weather stripping at doors are some cheap fixes for less than $1000.
This is on point. Also insulated blinds and potentially outdoor awnings. An audit is nice, but unless you're able/willing to spend more, you aren't going to do much with it. If you can only spend that much, you might still have a sense of what kind of investments will help. Are there drafts, is it colder (hotter) near your windows, etc.
@AN94KILLZ box fan with a 20x20x1 filter. You can use tape to secure it to the back of the fan, or if you have a 3d printer you can print supports that the filter slides into. I have 2 in my house with MERV 10 filters and since our allergies have cleared up and I've even noticed my house doesn't really get dusty anymore.
My original intention for this humidifier was to use it for plants that require high moisture levels. After using it in my room, th-cam.com/users/postUgkxtD9aJ2m6GU-X1IChQxjn9l31K1A7Kpwj however, I think that's where it is going to stay in the fall and winter season at least. The increased humidity in my room made the room warmer and more comfortable. I had first ran the humidifier for 4 hours with the timer setting for it. After the first hour, I checked my room and can feel the difference. When the full 4 hours was up, I checked again and noticed that the humidifier was shut off as it is suppose to. The moisture level never seem to get passed 56/57%. I then let it run until all the water is used up, which it wasn't all used up. There are still some left in the base that you are not suppose to add water to. I filled up the water tank all the way again, being careful when removing it from the base. Some left over water may spill out. After putting it back on and setting the unit to auto, I let it operate. It didn't stop running, rather I don't know if it did at any point since I didn't check it regularly, for 24 hours after which the water in the tank ran out. The moisture reading never passed 56/57%, which may be a good thing for me. Being situated right next to my bed, the noise was not very noticeable with the occasional water gurgle from time to time as the unit ran.
Finally a video for the normal broke people
Most vids are for the rich on your builds
We need more vids like this
Good job
I heard you!
@@buildshow I am guessing a lot of your viewers are average joes with big aspirations and small budgets - a bit like me. Great video.
I would agree. I love the tone of these new videos. They talk about best practices and advanced technologies while also admitting that it is ok for some things to not be the best and that mistakes are made and you just live with them.
Preach it
I bought a FLIR One pro thermal camera and found MANY air leaks in my house, sealed and caulked up and now there is virtually no airleak in this 50+ year old house 😃
Still going to add new external Insulation all over the house within a year, but the comfort has increased a lot
I should look into seeing if I could just rent one and take a week off and do my entire house. I wonder if summer heat or winter cold is the best time to image such things? What time of year did you do it?
Was there a before and after blower door test?
@@2nd-place It really doesmt matter as long as there is a difference in tempersture......the greater the better.
I did two things to retro-improve our southern house. Spray Foam attic making it conditioned space. Added a Mitsubishi SEER 23 mini-split to the master so we don't have to cool the whole house at night. My electric bill went down over $100/month.
Yeah baby! And I’ll bet your comfort level went way up too! That’s hard to calculate
May I ask how much did all that cost ?
@@augustreil Mini-Spil $3,500 installed
Spray Foam retro-fit including removal of blown in insulation was $7,000. I did this after paying a certified energy auditor $150.
Yes, comfort level greatly improved. My 5 Ton unit runs on Low Speed 100% even well into the 90's. My house is only 2,300 sq ft.
@@Lysander-Spooner, Thank you. So it's about a 10yr payback right ? I think that's pretty good considering it'll just keep saving you money for years after and your equipment doesn't have to work as hard. And like Matt said, hard to calculate comfort, although I would say it's priceless ! Thanks again.
When you say spray foam attic, you spray foamed the attic side roof sheathing? What about the attic flooring? What type of insulation for the attic floors?
There’s a topic I see a lot up North here which is that the first floor of our older two story homes are very comfortable where the thermostat resides. But the second floor is always stuffy and warm. I’d love to see a video addressing the science here and how to fix (hopefully for under $10k)... is it an attic insulation issue, an HVAC issue, etc. most of us have a single up flow system in the basement so it’s quite difficult to cool the second floor without overcooling the first. I think this is where the mini split systems show a lot of promise and I’d love to see a video from you digging into this.
Our last home built in 1900 had very little insulation in the attic. The measured temp difference from first floor to the 2nd was 7 degrees. I blew in cellulose at about 15" and the difference in temp dropped to 2 degrees. It was well worth the few hundred dollars and a few hours of my time.
Yes please!
Well, my dad's house, built in 1987 by the finest Virginia hillbillies around: All the dampers in the basement for controlling airflow were wide open. One of them was drywalled over when the original builder finished the basement. The cathederal ceiling in the master bedroom is missing insulation in the corners and edge, I measured 104F there 30 minutes after the sun went down. Both of these PROBABLY contribute to the heat problem upstairs. I've since closed off the damper to the middle floor to send more cold air upstairs. I might go into the attic and use some great stuff to insulate the edge and corners of the cathedral ceiling once it gets cooler out.
We had great success with zoning. While we did it with a single speed fan, I think it would have been better with a variable speed fan, so that it could ramp down the fan (and possibly heating/cooling) to avoid overpressure. It was cheaper than adding a second unit.
@@johnhaller5851 My house has zoning, it's a variable speed fan. The fan maintains a constant CFM so if only one zone is calling it blows harder to maintain the same CFM. You can see this as increased power consumption by the fan. The builder did seal the duct work as required by building codes these days (house was built in 2017)...and while it was being built, after the drywall was done and before the insulation went into the attic, I sealed every inch of the top plate with Great Stuff. Probably doesn't make much difference in the summer but it sure helped in the winter. My heat pump can maintain 68F when it's 20F out and not use aux heat.
*We liked it **Fastly.Cool** so much in the basement, we bought a second one for the main level. The amount of moisture it pulls out of the air is astonishing.*
2:50
Simply replacing the existing filter with a MERV 13 filter isn't a good idea. All HVAC units are designed for a certain level of filter. That is, the fan and motor are designed to push/pull a certain amount of air through the filter. The higher the MERV filter number, the more filtration and more air resistance.
So by adding a high MERV number filter to an existing system not designed for it, you usually end up with lower air flow, or premature fan motor burnout if you increase its speed to make up the air flow. It is recommended to replace the fan and motor with one designed for the MERV 13+ filters, if possible.
Otherwise, lots of good tips here. Looking forward to more content like this!
From what I know, by going with a 4 inch it allows it to have more airflow than going with a 1 inch?
@@purplej12
I'm not an expert on this subject. I am simply parroting something I heard from a presentation, which was about ventilation and air filtration during the pandemic.
I suppose it depends on the filter design. But if we are talking about the typical pleated replacement filters, then it's probably the other way around. A 1 inch filter provides less air resistance than a thicker 4 inch pleated filter.
@@Lewis.Alcindor have you seen blog.adafruit.com/2021/02/15/which-home-furnace-filter-is-the-best-lets-ask-science/. And pretty much every other resource I've read says the 4 inch filters have much less air resistance.
Not so. Resistance to flow is a function of surface area. A 4” filter is going to much more than an 1” filter. So for a given filtration media the 4” filter is going to have a lower pressure drop across it. Therefore you should be able to run a tighter, usually more efficient, filter upgrading to 4” filter.
I got rid of all my flex ducting for ridgid insulated with R8 and put in an attic stair sealer over the winter. Big difference comparing our Nest profiles from last summer. Unit would come on and run continuously until nightfall. Now its segmented very nicely.
Next I'm going to open walls to ridgid pipe the drops from 2nd floor to first, redo my return ducting and add a dehumidifier.
You are an influence, Matt.
Howdy from Magnolia Texas.
How did this update affect your energy bills?
@@ZimZam131 It had a good net effect but a life on the road in summer has been difficult to quantify.
Once the Aprilaire goes in, I should be able to look back and report stark changes.
@@user-rl9mn6cy9s I’m replacing all the flex duct in my attic myself with silver R8 flex duct. The old stuff is R6 and black. I’m also replacing the registers and sealing everything really well. Im hoping to see some improvement.
I have a lot of respect for a builder with Matt’s experience. With that being said, c’mon man... I’ve lived in Louisiana and TX for over 40 years. For $5,000, suck out the ceiling insulation and add open cell to the rafters. I guarantee it will be under $5,000 because I did it on a 3,000 sq ft house that had 2 12/12 pitch gables (ie. steep roofs with a lot of square roof footage). All of my HVAC equipment was now in conditioned space and I truly did not need to “caulk’ the leaky spots. Also, why I think Aerobarrier is a “neat’’ concept, it has not been around for even 5 years. How does anyone know if this technology’s has a ROI? What is the life expectancy on the “caulking material?” They don’t. Buzz words from builders... like vinyl window sales in the 80’s. There is no historical data to prove the initial investment. Please stop putting out videos for the YT algorithm numbers and sponsorship requirements. Some of your sponsorship links have NOTHING to do with any of the products in this video. To viewers, do your own homework. Put in 10 minutes a day to researching these claims and I guarantee you will save money. For those in the South, put in a dehumidifier and a smart thermostat (when I say smart, I mean programmable) and you will immediately start to see a ROI. All for now...
Sounds like you need to start a TH-cam channel.
I installed an Air Scubber whole house air purifier in our AC unit in the attic for 1k and it was the best investment we ever did. Within 2 weeks all my allergies were gone and best of all it prevents dust from forming witch the wife loves!
@4:58 "On high you get the best filtration and the most air flow", not quite. Those are inverse, best filtration is at lower fan speeds. Every HEPA air filter manual says that.
Something I would highly recommend doing is check with your utility company if you can get some of this stuff for free. I had a blower door test done, added attic insulation, duct sealing as well as window and door sealing all for free.
That’s amazing advice!
Exactly, this is commonly offered for low income and for elders 👏🏽
For the media filter, you’ll want the contractor to measure your airflow and Total External Static Pressure (TESP) before anything else. If you add a high MERV filter it will restrict airflow, which can bring additional unintended problems. But I agree, more filtration is better as long as you don’t create new problems.
Good tip
The thick filters, particularly the Aprilaire, don't add a huge amount until you get above MERV 13, as they have a very large surface area.
Great work Matt. You should do a video like this, DIRECTLY related to the northern states and climates. I love your stuff and I recommend your content all the time to my construction friends and associates. Thanks Again!!
Hi Matt and friends!
Im a huge believer in air sealing a home. As Matt said, homes need only breath on our terms. I question the wisdom of home owners blindly air sealing their homes without regard to water management, older or newer homes. You've mentioned in older videos that you'd torn into houses for remodels and found evidence of water ingress. In some of those cases the wood wasnt rotted because the air leakage provided enough flow over the spot to provide the two healing forces of water restoration, evaporation and ventilation. If you take the air flow away without ever knowing that it's taking place, wont that just accelerate rot? Even more so with modern building materials like OSB wall and roof sheathing and sub floor. In some instances it could lead to a degree of structural failure with i joists, composit studs, LVLs etc. Again, I am in the opposite camp of the "homes need to breathe" people, but to my understanding air sealing cannot take place without vapor and water management considerations.
Thoughts?
building material shouldnt stay moist or wet for long. except the outer most layer, which should withstand water.
either you avoid it getting wet /moist or you let it dry fast enough.
both have its pros and cons
if your house is one or the other you can not easily change it.
if it was designed to breath, let it breath. if it was designed to avoid water, let it avoid water.
this might sound easy, but matt can talk about this for multiple videos.
Yeah I'm in a 100 yo house. It's leaky, but I do know that that things are getting dry again. Id be very hesitant to do aerobarrier unless we did a complete gut and renovation.
@@lichansan1750 I agree and disagree. I think that air sealing can take place as long as moisture management is part of the plan
Appreciate all the advice! You and your channel has made a world of a difference to our family and especially my special needs daughter that has Cerebral palsy and cannot walk independently and stuck in a wheelchair so your recommendations have made a big difference! Thanks again for helping our family that is trying to survive at 110 degrees in Arizona and I am headed back into the attic now to try and finish up new attic insulation and fix some ductwork for the family! Wish me luck!!
Finally catching up, so I'm a week behind. But, a couple other "tasks" to think about at probably the 5 - 10k range are converting a "traditional" crawl space or attic into a conditioned space. Depends on the state of the space and what might need to be done related to sealing, etc. Current house we're in had a nasty crawl space with no insulation (ducts, under the floor, nothing). Rather than try to fix all that, I cleaned out the space and started sealing it up. Multiple layers of thick barrier, sealed to the foundation which I then insulated. Dehumidifier till I knew it was sealed and air flow controlled. Yea, I want my ducts to not leak air or heat. Having them now in a conditioned space help a lot. If your crawl space is the same temperature as your living space, assuming you are controlling air loss at the top of the building, the stack effect is lessened and isn't as big an issue.
perfect timing!
I was visiting my brother today and he mentioned his AC wasn't performing well, so I took a quick look, and noticed that his HVAC closet doesn't have an air barrier to the attic, and that his ducts were loose at the plenum, I must say I was surprised that actual metallic tape was used on the joints, but under the stresses they'd pulled loose from the duct flange.
I'm going to share this video with him because it's a great sum up with visuals where I was trying to explain things with only being able to point to obvious issue areas.
Matt I find your building science approach to be a informed , solid, intelligent approach. I love and look forward to your videos.The problem is finding intelligent, motivated, and skilled proficient people like you work with. I just finished doing a BPI search for Gold contractors and found only insulation companies and public help agencies. None of the leads mentioned mention any thing like the insulation 2.0 approach nor do they mention a blower door test or even BPI. They offer free energy audits that will most likely recommend their services but may not come with the level of expertise and results that your people have. I do not fault BPI. I am sure their training is very good but just attending a class will not raise a person up to the skill level of the people that you work with. You are lucky to have such a good team of experts. Tomorrow I will run down what Resnet has to offer. At least this is a good point to search from. Thanks ! The Mitsubishi Gold Contractors seem to be a good possibility. It would be nice to have a sound energy audit with recommendations like you recommend. The expert installers who know what they are doing all say that understanding HVAC systems is more critical to the system performance than the kind of equipment installed. Many people know how to play chess but few can play at the championship level and even fewer are grand masters.
Echo some of the comments below; a portion of your content focused around remodeling strategies would be wonderful. I would love more remodeling advice based on the $1K, $5K and $10K structure!
Thank you for this video! My husband and I are building a new home and we have been quoted $500k for just under 1800 square feet. No energy saving qualities build in except attic insulation. The info contained in this video will help us tremendously.
After following you for a while now im pretty much sold on exterior insulation and improving the air tightness on the home. I just bought an 1890s vicotorian. The siding and roof(mainly the roof) have to be replaced so since its coming off anyway might as well give Roxul some of my money!
Sounds like a beauty of an old mansion house! I have a 1914 mission revival single story rancher. Yes, you will be happy by investing in maxing out your insulation as you renovate: external, interior, walls, attic, floor. Makes it so much more warm and comfortable, quite and cleaner greatly reducing your energy load.
@@aaronvallejo8220 Not to mention the 800 dollar utility bills in the winter being reduced.
@@ferulloscoasting6432 For sure. That's true. I grew up with a large natural gas central heater in an old, uninsulated house. At night it was turned off. Waking in the morning we could see our clouds of breathe. It is now highly insulated. R100 attic, R35 floor, R25 walls with electric thermal tiled slabs gently and silently releasing heat...warm on the toes in the winter too!
Good topic for most people with limited budgets for annual house projects. I personally focused on maxing insulation. So I installed R29 batts of insulation in my attic over top of the exist R20 for $1,000 US. The effect was immediate and warmer. I honestly thought I left the heat on when I came home that night. I then starting digging out my whole basement crawlspace one bucket at a time for a 2 foot area to wiggle around and install R19 batts between the floor joists held in place with R5.5 tinfoil foam board, screws and big washers then using spray foam to seal all joints forming a single solid R 24.5 insulation barrier under the house for $3,000 US in materials. I then had R20 injection foam installed inside the perimeter brick walls of the house for $8,000 US. This definitely made the house warmer but also a lot quieter. I removed the natural gas heater and disconnected the line. I now heat with electric heated floor slabs in the master bedroom, living room and sometimes library during the winter. My solar house heater helps too. During the spring and summer I open the old traditional double hung windows, I refinished, all night and flush the thermal mass of the 106 year old house with fresh and cool night time air requiring no air conditioning during the day. I bought a $200 oscillilating air purifier and it works great for the middle afternoon. The attic insulation worked so well that I installed another layer of R29 staggered over top of the previous layer. I now have R80 attic, R20 walls and R25 floor.
A couple of things I did any handy DIY’er can do. I changed all my lights to LED. Mostly it was just swapping Lamps out. I started with the biggest users. On the Decorative I used the Filament type LED’s. I have Made in USA Fluorescent wrap fixtures. I used the Toggled Lamps from Home Depot, but I ordered them online, a lot of the ones in the store have been returned, damaged. You take the ballast out, and do a little re-wiring. I on a yearly average lost one month electric bill. I swapped the Toilets out, I’m on a well so my Water Bill, is my Electric bill. I bought several tubes of DAP Caulking that’s in the squeeze tube, “ toothpaste type.” Turned the breakers off as I worked around the perimeter, pulling electrical receptacles, and caulking the openings. Also m going to do the switches next. We had a lot of power strips running “i “ chargers. I put Receptacles in that have USB Ports and plug outlets in them, and eliminated the power strips.
Heat pump water heater is our free dehumidifier in finished basement. Can run on 1200W 12VDC inverter during power outage and is extremely energy efficient. AO Smith. Dry air feels good.
I put a 19 SEER 4 head Mitsubishi mini split system in my house and my electric bill went from $350 to $165 and the temperature went from 78 to 68. Best money I have ever spent, I'm in Tampa Bay it's HOT! Also it saves so much money it will pay for itself in 6 years with a 13 year warranty parts and Labor.
That's really good advice. Especially getting the independent survey.
Our old house was hot water with windows for ventilation, and a window A/C. We got the survey, got sealing and insulation, installed an attic whole house ERV (UltimateAir), and a mini-split. Also replaced the electric hot water heater with a hot water generator tank on its zone to the boiler. Heating, coolling and electric costs went way down, and air quality is great.
Upgrading to a 4 inch filter in an existing HVAC system is huge. Better filtration, less restrictive air flow, better system efficiency, and greater longevity of the filters.
You always mention the cold north and humid south, as someone who lives in Phoenix, I would appreciate if you included the desert region in your comparisons as well. Learning what I can and will be purchasing my first home soon! :)
I would imagine the same things as the humor south minus the dehumidifier
@@mrsmith6532 I would imagine the same. I meant in regards to content topics. There has to be differences in the desert climate. Maybe I am wrong. But if not, I would be interested in hearing about them.
@@Shystie2oo1 That makes sense. I would be interested to see that too. Let's get your comment a ton of like so he will make the video.
Go for an Energy Star home at a minimum 👏🏽
Hi Matt, I live in the northeast of Briton and it can get down to about -15 in the winter. The government did a grant that would get insulation blown into the cavity of the wall, (most of our houses are brick built) as with all grants the cowboys were there and many homes are now suffering. The problem was that no survey was carried out before the insulation was put into the walls, some houses have rubbish that had been put there by lazy builders or bricklayers that did not clean up after themselves and leave globs of cement at the bottom of the walls, this lead to the insulation getting wet and instead of bonus heat savings they ended up with houses that were wet and unsellable. The government are about to roll out another grant system and again these cowboys will sweep in and make a killing without any checks being made, I wish we had some body to oversee this and stop people being hoodwinked because they are not experts in the building area.
Our Hydro company has a $1500 rebate right now, if you top up your attic insulation to R50 they'll give it back. You can top up about 1500-1800sq ft for about $1000-1200 with the rebate. You'd probably make that money back in hydro costs over the next 2-3 years up here in the north.
They've also got a window and door rebate but I don't know the particulars on it right now.
Something to look out for local to you. Pretty good way to save on upgrading the home.
Plant palm trees along the south facing side of your home... works for me, here in Southern California.
What is your take on UV lights in the HVAC thinking about SARS, MERS and Virus .... I would like to know your take also for Commercial setups.
Also another thing I think which is MASSIVE on rebuild homes especially in the south is when you have a house with attached or integrated garage to get into the garage and really seal the Garage ceiling so the garage heat no longer can radiate to the floor above. So many times we find the garages don't have ANY insulation put in to the living areas above it.
Matt, thanks for the great video. I'm building a new house and we're on a somewhat tight budget. It is a typical cement block house down in the Space Coast of Florida. I really appreciate your videos because we were able to make extremely cost effective upgrades to our house based on some advice I learned from you. We upgraded to RMax R4.3 insulation inside the walls. Upgraded to R38 attic insulation and added a radiant barrier. Plus, I was able to upgrade to a two stage condenser with variable air handler, merv 13 filter, and thermostat which will control fan speed for humidity control. The foam insulation will really help air seal.
Matt. I’m about to build my house in a few months. I keep watching your videos and taking notes. Funny thing is, I’m also a builder but with a production builder. They don’t teach these tips.
In Canada a 2 story home such as mine has a main HVAC duct up the uninsulated attic space with insulated pipes to the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. With R60 there are some fiberglass batts over a portion of the insulated pipes. The HVAC engineer recommended this was the best way to have balanced systems with uniform temps especially for cooling. Been here 30 years and the temps are very balanced between the 1st and 2nd-floor heating or cooling.
That AeroSeal for sealing up your furnace duct work sounds like money well spent. Having proper air flow to the rooms with longer duct runs from the furnace will go a long way to improving comfort in the home.
This was a great video and watch all of your videos. We live in Pensacola FL and last year we remodel half of our house and greatly improved the over all performance of the home. It was a to the studs tear out and we took the time to seal the sheeting, re-seal the windows and bring all the exposed walls up to code. Also brought the electrical through the whole house up to current code. The house is much tighter now. Since then we have been discussing a stand alone dehumidifier for the home and this video just locked in our choice. You even listed/recommended the exact model we were considering. Unit is ordered and will be delivered soon. Looking forward to the lower humidity levels it will provide. Always love the building science. Hope in the future you will take a deep dive into the value or lack of value upgrading 1970's single pane windows to double pane or better windows would provide. Windows are a big commitment in Florida because of Hurricane requirements and it really can be expensive.
When I lived in Houston, I did seal ducts and it worked well. At the same time, I used strapping to better support some of the ducts and smooth the curves. The construction crews just dropped them in and left some bad kinks.
Definitely some good advice here. The only thing I’d point out is, depending on where you live costs can be significantly higher than what is mentioned here.
Video on what you would do if you were going to gut interior to the studs and remodel a 1970's home? I want to do everything I can at the same time while drywall is gone.
Maybe you'll see this or someone else who might know the answer. My mom has a house in South texas. My Dad recently passed away. Before he did he replaced all the windows, all the doors with double pane gas filled insulated products. Also a brand new AC system throughout the house. It blows at 69° even if it's a hundred and fifty outside. The problem is the attic is always hot. And there are two walls that have bricks, which get warm and radiate heat into the house, all day and night. So what happens is when the AC comes on, temperature drives down to a comfortable number, but as soon as the AC stops working, the heat goes right up. I took a temperature laser gauge and measured all of the walls and ceilings and the Attic is literally 100° at the ceiling while the vent right next to it is blowing out 67°. As soon as the AC stops, the he starts to climb. Plus the AC runs a lot. It can be 115° in that area for 2 months out of the year. In attempting to reduce the electrical bill, my mom wanted to put in solar panels to supplement for the electricity. Basically I think the AC is the main electricity drain and it runs a lot because of insulation is bad in particularly in the attic. So my question is, should money be invested into sealing the house and insulating the Attic or buying solar panels and using that supplement the power to reduce Electric bill?
For the under $1000 you can DIY draughtproof using a caulking gun and inexpensive tapes available from your local hardware store. If you've got an old cassette tape (you'll probably never listen to it again!) take out about 20cm (8") and go around doors, windows and architraves on a windy day - the tape will flutter like crazy where your air leaks are...
I like it. We are preparing to buy a home in Baltimore and there’s tons of very old building stock. I’ve been researching how to make a home more energy efficient - short of a massive remodel so this was really helpful. Thanks Matt!
In Massachusetts, you can get an energy audit free from the Mass Saves program. They will also give you lots of freebies like led light bulbs, and they will subsidize most of the cost of insulation or give you a no-interest loan for a new heating system.
Would really like to see some video coverage of ductless heating/cooling options.
I’m doing several different models at my personal build. Definitely will do a video on this topic!
Matt Risinger thanks! I’ve seen the vids you do have and they’re all older, so updated vids on in the remodel would be fantastic.
Finally a topic for me. I been thinking of doing a metal roof since my shingles are past dead, and also I have no central air so I was thinking of a mini split system. Also my breaker box is full so I need to replace/expand the electrical box. These would be great topics, especially good metal roofing options for tiny small low budget old houses
Great time to do solar and electric car plug when resizing your panel too 👏🏽
Added a daikin mini split in my master in Texas absolutely best thing I’ve ever done can cool just the master down to 65 when I sleep without trying to cool the entire house
Add a fan to save even more money
For low cost DIYers:
1. Air Seal, Air Seal, Air Seal. So much improvement can be made with caulk, spray foam, weatherstripping, duct sealing, etc.
2. Blow extra insulation in attic up to ~R60. Home Depot/Lowes will rent you blower for free with purchase of ~20 bags. Old homes have typical R10-R30
3. Cellular Shades on windows add R value and reflect the sun's heat cheap while still letting light in.
4. Thermal camera to find missing insulation/air leaks eg. FLIR One.
5. Insulate garage door and garage - Polyiso on the door and fiberglass in unfinished walls.
Currently I'm 70 tubes of caulk and 5 cans of spray foam, weatherstripping, and a few roles of duct sealing tape into air sealing my house. I'm also at R60-70 in the attic and have cellular shades on every window. My heating and cooling bills dropped in half!
As a first time home-owner with allergies and asthma, this video is gold. Cheers Matt!
For the energy audit, make sure to check with your utility company. They may have rebates or offer the service themselves for less.
RE: attic space. Sorry if this was already addressed.
I have three story student housing with large attic space. Some have HVAC units in the attic. Soffit vents with ridge vent construction.
Would you suggest:
Reflective insulated board, rolled reflective material with and/or without air pockets.
I do t like the idea of spray foam between joist but what if sprayed over baffles to maintain the soffit to ridge air flow.
Thank you!
So I have been watching your videos for a while, looking for ideas on how to improve energy efficiency in my Texas home. I really liked your insulation 2.0 video and have been planning a project to implement some air-sealing in my attic. Keep up the good work.
Very good approach to a video on what normal people face with their current home!
Could also buy plants. NASA researched this approach air quality control for the station, classifying which plants work for which pollutants/toxins. Also, I recall reading a study expensive indoor air purifiers are no better than a quality filter taped to a box fan. The retail units look better than a box fan, but not necessarily better than a DIY purifier.
This video is absolute gold. I am curious if there is some improvements to the subfloor when removing carpet and carpet pad. Ie. Could you seal better between the subfloor and the exterior walls to make a difference, could you seal the subfloor for better insulation or whatever reason?
Humidifier would be in the 5K category for the electric it burns....Replacing my Heat Pump saved me $100 a month. My AC bill was $250 now its $150 and in the winter the Heating bill could get as high as $300, now its never been more than $200 Jan, Feb and usually is $150 or less. Even with the American Standard Unit being a lemon and needing repair's every 2 years , it still paid for itself over the last 10 years. Also switching over to LED's and higher efficiency fridge and washer and dryer.
Blower door tests are the best $150 ever spent!
My RESNET certified HERS rater is a nerd like me and ends up testing all my houses 3 times each and doesn't even charge me for the additional tests!
Love that you have a trusted rater!
@@buildshow The result is continuous improvement. I love it!
Matt, I had a blower door and thermal imaging done yesterday. I have a finished 3rd floor that is surrounded by unconditioned space. I have duct work above the ceiling but have access to above the ceiling and behind the walls. The attic ventilation is gable and ridge line. Zoned AC system that can dump 3.5 tons of ac into that room and take it from 83 to 70 in about an hour (Supercooling...BAD). Anyway, what would you recommend to make the room more comfortable? Right now it’s built to code (r13 walls and maybe r26 ceiling, pink fiberglass insulation. 2 x 4 wall studs, so I am thinking flash and batt (2” closed cell walls and ceiling then put the pink insulation back) OR air seal with spray foam cans/ caulk, put back insulation then put up 2” rigid foam with foil over the pink batts. 3rd option is to have the whole roof spray foamed (Most expensive) Love the channel, learned ALOT and thank you for all the information and videos!
Great video. Could you do a video on where to spend money on upgrades for a new house? Getting ready to build a new house and unfortunately cant afford to do all the upgrades but it would be nice to know where to spend the money on upgrades.
I'm using 2/3 less energy since switching to a hybrid water heater. Great investment.
What about solutions which reduce BTU dump into the living space like LED lights, oven/stove ?
What about thick curtains ?
He's mentioned shades before, I think it was on one of the passive house videos. From what I remember, if the shade isn't on the out side of the house the heat is making it's way inside, from there, what it's absorbed by and localized to is up to you.
I was ready for you to suggest a dehumidifier or HRV in the $1k space. Good information as I remodel my 1950s Colonial - simply, everything is leaky.
A dehumidifier could help prevent COVID-19. The "science" of a potentially deadly airborne virus isn't as easy to test as much of the news suggests. When virus particles are trapped in filters - when and what caused its demise? Was it destroyed when it contacted the filter? Was it damaged an hour ago and managed to linger in the air? But, its known the virus can only survive in microscopic water droplets. Keeping the interior air dry can help with many health issues. Many well insulated air tight buildings don't cycle the A/C long enough to fully remove humidity to make the room as comfortable as it could be, and the conditions could be better for aerosolized coronaviruses. A dehumidifier certainly won't be unhealthy so its a good idea just for summer comfort.
Our electric company (A co-op) will do energy audits for a very reasonable cost, and you can get a rebate of that cost if you do upgrades.
Very cool. Post a link if you don’t mind
@@buildshow Austin does this too if you can mention our Green Building program 👏🏽
You missed Plastic film over drafty windows for $20 😂
Thicker plastic film that replaces the screens in winter works well..
No joke...thin film works especially if you have maxed out attic, wall And floor insulation. I still have old single pane windows and every fall I put on the interior thin film. It works;)
Yeah it works if you have shitty single pain windows.
@@christophergruenwald5054 My windows are single pane but far from shitty. They are the old traditional double hung windows with interior counter weights with side, top and bottom sealing flanges. I would not change them.
In SW Missouri and I had the poorly cobbled together HVAC unit replaced with a basic 14 seer York heat pump and air handler for $7200. I save almost double on my heating bill in the winter. The duct work is on the short list of next things to replace.
Never considered a mini-split for the garage. Very interesting. 👍
Mini split heat pump will save you a ton along with insulation, especially the door.
Enen in the north, you definitely want a dehumidifier. In NY, our AC was never running enough to dry out the air.
in moderate climate zone where for the most of the year , it is not too cold or too hot I install the mini split with 38 SEER 15 HSPF This alone will be enough too cool or heat my house in the most efficient way 7-8 months out of the year
Matt, this is good info for people. I wouldn’t call it a miss exactly since the show went a different direction but the best pure indoor air quality move that someone with a gas stove can do is to replace it with induction. Probably like $1,500 but it is far and away the number one source of indoor air pollution.
Great point Brad. Definitely a miss on my part. Agreed on Gas cooking. I’m planning induction for my Build!
I’m replacing my breaker panel (it’s an FPE), replacing my furnace and adding an a/c, swapped out leaking water valves, cleaning and sealing ducting, and replacing old, rotten single pane windows that are in my basement. Busy, busy.
Great episode would detail your efforts to air seal a garage to the extent possible. I am considering adding a mini-split to my 3-car garage in Dallas and my biggest issue is decreasing air leaks around 4 roll-up garage doors.
Overhead doors are tough. Planning to research this for my Build. I’ll let you know what I find! Appreciate your support Mark!
Matt Risinger another idea for around $5-10k is to encapsulate, perimeter drain, and dehumidify a crawl space (assuming you already have decent grade and gutters for bulk water). Obviously size specific, and lots of quality variables.
My electrical co-op does energy audits with blow door tests for little cost, and it's refunded if you correct most of the issues they discover.
Exactly, many utilities offer energy checkups for free for low income and for seniors too! 👏🏽
Thanks!!!! This is one of the best episodes lately. When the basic remodel turned in to a Rebuild, I almost stopped watching.
More content like this please. Existing home upgrade options--at different price points--that aren't coinciding with large scale renovation or new build phases. Smart upgrades for the average homeowner
At some point physics can't be defied and you're stuck with what you've got.
Yea Matt some of the local gas and electric companies will come out and do it for you too which doesn’t cost you anything. They also have qualifications on getting them fixes on grant money!
Seriously watch 1 to 2 episodes of your show a day. You're awesome man
My contractor is like, WTF how do you know all this stuff? Hah
Matt, you have the best "Lets start the show intro" Loving the Show! and the first comment
Great video by the way! I’ve been saying for a few years it’d be cool if you did a video the average homeowner could implement on an existing home they live in. Good job!
I found sealing the rim joist really makes a big difference for the investment. Also sealing all holes while down there
In my area New Jersey it’s covered by PSE&G
Start adding smart (wifi enabled) fixtures. As you have a little bit of money you can change out fixtures. Smart fixtures can reduce energy. Also if you have a crawl space, putting in a dry system can be done around the 5k realm. And that can increase the life of the home substantially.
Just want to say thank you for your super informative videos. Love how you admit and showcase your mistakes so us DIY'ers don't make the same mistakes! You and your videos rock!
Thanks you for all the hard work and attention to detail. I live in Houston and recently received a quote to foam seal the attic of my 3500 square ft home at the roof line with 5 1/2 inches of open cell foam. My home was built in 2006 and has typical blown in fiberglass. My light bills in the summer are $350 to $500 ( we keep the house 70 - 72 degrees ). I do own variable speed units, one gas and one electric. The gas furnace does have dual pipes for exhaust and intake. My 2 original units are both 3.5 ton goodman 16 seer machines. Would love to see a more detailed video on retro fitting an attic to foam insulation ( I have seen your others ). I was told i needed to manage the attic humidity at 45 -55 % but was also told that the in house air and the attic air can not mix. So I am not sure if I should have separate dehumidifiers for the house and for the attic. When i saw the $10,000 dollar option on this video I hoped you would mention something about foaming the attic. Does that mean it should cost more than that? The foam folks quote:
Description Total
Spray Foam Roof Deck With 5.5" R21 Open Cell Insulation
Spray Foam Attic Gables With 3.5" R13 Open Cell Insulation
$3,925.00
Removal Option
Description Total
Remove & Dispose Of Existing Attic Insulation $1,875.00
Total $5,800.00
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated, even a contact in Houston to get a second opinion.
Look up Corsi-Rosenthal or Comparetto Cube for home made air filtration.
This is an extremely useful video. Thanks very much.
How about sealing and insulating the foundation sill plate on an older home? Thats one of the things my insulation contractor was pushing. Northern home so there’s a cavity there too.
In the desert (Very hot summers, mild winters, low humidity, ducts and HVAC in the attic) I use a whole house fan coupled with a home made evaporitive cooler in a window. The house fan provides negative pressure, and the cooler fan, positive pressure. Choose fan depending on time of day. Don't use the A/C, usually. The attic stays cool (about 90 deg). Garage hot! Improvements?
I know I’m biased on this, but I also think a central vacuum is a good idea, it’s important to remove filth from the living area to keep the air quality better.
What are the general thoughts on adding a radiant barrier in the attic? I am in Texas, 70s home, and have ducts in the attic. Roof structure is trusses, and it seems fairly easy to staple radiant barrier to the underside of the supports for the roof sheathing. This would provide an air gap to the sheathing, and in theory lower attic temperatures.
I'm thinking of adding one to my attic. Many places say this is one of the most cost effective ways of reducing the summer sun's impact on home thermal comfort. The barrier also reflects back house heat during the wintertime.
According to the radiant barrier company's website, because my home is in a temperate climate (Northeast US), the barrier would work best if I thoroughly insulate the attic floor joists and lay the radiant barrier loosely on top. The website says that stapling the barrier to roof rafters is better for hot climates.
Unfortunately, I ran into one issue. I'm fairly certain that my attic floor joists are filled with vermiculite insulation, which likely has asbestos. So I definitely can't insulate the floor until I get an abatement company to get rid of the vermiculite. I'll likely just buy the radiant barrier and tape for under $200, then go up with a respirator mask and carefully try to put the barrier over the entire floor without disturbing the vermiculite.
Depending where you are, changing to a 4" may actually put a strain on your HVAC. HVAC systems are tested for efficiency using fiber glass filters... replacing a 1" to 4" may restrict too much your airflow and burn your compressor. I may be wrong but seems believable.
I’m looking forward to see how/what you use for a good insulated garage door
We had a blower test along with some insulation and new windows. The insulation , weatherstrip, and windows were worthwhile, but the testing was pretty opaque. We got very little information from them. Their answers to our questions were vague. They decided without telling us that the door didn't need weatherstripping because they didn't want the house too tight. It was all part of some energy program. I'd never do it that way again. We like the nicer windows and think it adds to our comfort. I'm coming to see that you don't really save any money though with windows. Do the math. The BEST thing we did for our house is getting mini split and removing all the rotten ducts from our crawl space.
Matt; Love you videos. Been wathcing you for a while. I do appreciate these sort of videos but it’s gettnig a bit redundant. Below i saw film over windows. You could have mentioned radiant barrier in the attic. Tools like water misters over a/c units, heat pumps for hot water, air exhcange (was that in there?). Also efficency is more than heating/cooling. LEDs, water conservation w atomizing showers; this topic is huge. Again, I love your stuff but also hunger a bit for some truly new material. hope all is well
Super interested in seeing how your garage workshop is done. I'm in South central Texas and been considering a conditioned workspace in my garage for awhile. Great video, thanks for the suggestions.