Home Energy Audit Case Studies: Home Energy Audit in Bridgeville, DE
Challenge
This home in Bridgeville, DE, was constructed just fourteen years ago in 2009. Despite the recent construction Lawson Home Services' energy auditor, Ryan Wurzel, found a number of things that would make a big difference in the home comfort, energy consumption, and resulting energy utility costs for this homeowner. These findings are not subjective, rather the standards are defined by Delaware's "Energize Delaware" program. The energy auditor simply conducts the testing, gathers the facts, and then feeds them into a software program called "Optimizer", which then produces the final recommendation report.
The following was shown with the home in existing condition:
- Overall, too much air is leaking out of the house, wasting a significant amount of energy and costing the homeowner unnecessarily
- Insulation value in the attic is R37, and is comprised of loose fiberglass insulation which is prone to "wind washing" as it allows too much air to infiltrate. To add to the problem the levels of insulation is uneven, resulting in some areas where unwanted heat transfer will occur.
- None of the lights mounted in the ceiling are sealed, and wall tops are not sealed - allowing air to escape from the living space into the attic where it is useless.
- HVAC ductwork is very leaky, which causes conditioned air to be leaked away before it gets to the rooms where is supposed to be delivered. The problem with the ductwork is further made worse but its location in the attic where it is exposed to extreme temperatures in hot and cold seasonal weather.
- Water heater is of the old style electric heating element type - very inefficient.
Solution
The solutions to the above problems are:
- Air seal the attic floor, wall tops, electrical penetrations and seal the lighting fixtures.
- Air seal the duct work. Lawson Home Services recommends sealing them from the inside out with the amazing AeroSeal™ process.
- Replace the R37 fiberglass insulation with R60 TruSoft™ cellulose insulation.
- Replace the water heater with a new heat pump water heater which is nearly four times as efficient as the old style water heater.
There are several other minor upgrades not listed here. The grand total of the upgrades is in the neighborhood of $8000 for this home. The improvements will pay for themselves in just 6 years. After that the savings will add up to money that can be used for other things to upgrade the lifestyle quality for this homeowner.