APS Rebate Changes Summary

After The Energy Audit...

http://www.greenintegrateddesign.com/blog/after-your-energy-audit

If you have an energy audit done for your house, feel free to give yourself a pat on the back. You just took the very first step to a more efficient and comfortable home. 

But it's not over yet! You may have been given small verbal updates on the state of your house during the audit, but the true results don't come in until later. You should have a follow-up appointment scheduled soon after the initial audit, where you will be able to see your audit report in-depth and be able to ask questions about it. This is where you might receive a list of possible fixes for the found inefficiencies in your home. 


​The next step is to make a plan! Write down what issues you want to prioritize, and what solutions you want to use on them. ​A good portion of the expected work might require professional touches. But don’t think you can’t do anything yourself. Some quick DIY fixes, along with the additional fixes your home might need, can have your AC running in tip-top shape even as the summer heat rages on outside. 

Energy Usage in Your Home

How To Perform A Variable Speed Pool Pump Calibration & Save Money On Your Energy Bills

As energy auditors and home performance contractors we often find variable speed pool pumps that have never had a proper calibration. Although we do install Hayward and Pentair variable speed pumps because of the great energy savings realized, a post-install calibration can be performed DIY. Here are some easy steps to follow to save money on your energy bills and get the most out of your variable speed pool pump.

Why should you move your washer and dryer to the garage or outside. Helping APS and SRP customers save energy.

If you are like me, your garage is hard pressed for some extra space.  With all my kid’s stuff, holiday decorations, extra boxes and camping gear our storage shelves are packed… but here is a good reason why it’s worth the effort to create some space and relocate your dryer to the garage.

Dryers are work against your AC and furnaces because they exhaust your conditioned air every time they are run.  Next time you take out the garage, take a look up and at your walls and you will see your dryer exhaust vent.  Remember that great smell of doing laundry?  That’s from your dryer exhaust fan.  They are one of the highest exhausting appliances you have depending on how big your kitchen exhaust fan is.  Dryer will pull anywhere from 100 CFM on the low side to 230 CFM on the high side.  This can be potentially a health and safety hazard if you have an attached garage or gas appliances for potential backdraft of carbon monoxide and something your energy auditor will inspect.

An air conditioner is typically sized for 400 sq ft per ton.  That means if you have a 1600 sq ft home, your AC should be around 4 tons.  However, when the dryer is running, it is undermining your AC system by almost half a ton.  So that 4 ton unit actually becomes a 3.5 ton unit with the dryer running.
Dryers typically run off of 240 volts and have a special outlet dedicated just to the dryer.  It is best to hire a qualified electrician to add the proper voltage to the garage or outside.
For gas models, be sure the gas line is shut off when you disconnect the dryer and talk to your plumber about tapping into your barbeque gas line for the dryer or water heater line in the garage.
Here are some DIY steps to help you take the leap and the dryer.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2377893_install-dryer-receptacle.html

http://electrical.about.com/od/appliances/ss/4wireto3wiredryercord.html

I should also note that not using your dryer at all and buying a clothes line or drying rack will save you even more money and a few hours in the desert sun will dry your clothes without fading them.
The average family washes about 400 loads per year and 2.3 kWh/load.  That equates to $92 a year for laundry, not including the air conditioning lost from the exhaust vent.
To find how much energy dryers use, check out the link below.

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/dryers.html

If you have to run your dryer more than once, read our previous blog on how to troubleshoot it.
http://www.greenintegrateddesign.com/1/post/2011/11/help-i-have-to-run-my-clothes-dryer-at-least-twice-to-my-clothes-dry-a-story-from-a-srp-energy-audit.html

You can also calculate your energy savings by switching to an Energy Star appliance by downloading this cool calculator.

What Are APS’s Energy Saving Hours?

It’s obvious that APS makes money the more energy you use but there are times when even their power plants get stressed from too much, or peak demand.  In Arizona, guess when that happens?  When it’s 110 degrees outside and you want to keep a cool 78 degrees in your home.  With your air conditioner being the biggest energy user in your home, it’s no wonder why APS gets a little stressed during these times… and it’s because of those peak demands that the utility company incentives it’s customers to lower its energy use during those times.  To further the energy issue, the Federal government has mandated that APS reduce its electric usage by 20% by 2020.  That is the main reason why APS is paying its customers to make their homes more energy efficient and sponsoring the Home Performance With Energy Star energy audit program.  The APS energy audit program has the same affect on you, the homeowner in that it is designed to lower your energy bill each month but there is a big difference in the way that is accomplished. 

The biggest difference is the APS time-of-use plan and residential rate plan is about energy conservation, whereas the energy upgrades to make your home more efficient is about energy efficiency.  Saving energy at home through conservation is about tweeking your lifestyle to save energy, putting on a sweater when it gets cold outside rather than turning the heater on, turning the thermostat up in the summer even while you are home are energy conservation examples.

What I love and do everyday is about energy efficiency, and that is designing and installing a better constructed home to work more efficiently, so your energy bills go down every month, but you don’t have to change a thing and you are more comfortable.  These are things like checking and sealing the ductwork for leaks, airflow and room pressure issues and adding more insulation which can make a huge difference in how your home operates as a system.  So that was your tip for the day, now let’s get back to APS rate plans.

APS has several rate plans and depending on your schedule.  They are best suited for people that are regularly done for work Monday to Friday. 

http://www.aps.com/main/services/residential/rates/rates_29.html#standard

I thought APS had another 9 am – 6 pm rate plan, but as of this blog, I couldn’t find it on their website.  There is also the equalizer plan which many people like because of its predictability… except when it’s not predictable.  Under the Equalizer Plan you may the same amount on your bills each month as your usage is averaged over 9 to 12 months.  More information on the APS Equalizer Plan can be found below:

http://www.aps.com/main/services/residential/FAQ/ResFAQ_50.html

If you are interested in other energy efficiency ideas, take our quick quiz to the right sidebar and we’ll send you some insider DIY tips to save money on you bills.

High efficiency Air Conditioners Do Not Reduce Utility Bills Alone!

A high efficiency heating and cooling system does not end with the unit itself.  This is especially true in Phoenix, where most of the ductwork is located in attic space where temperatures can reach 140+ in the summer.  A high SEER AC unit is definitely an improvement when replacing older units, but that air needs to be carried through the ductwork distribution system to keep you comfortable in the winter and summer. 

If the air conditioning contractors cut corners on the ductwork, then the entire efficiency of a new unit is greatly reduced.  In Phoenix, homes built after 1980 used flex ductwork as the preferred means of air distribution.  Flex ductwork is good because it is easy to install, required little preparation and can be done by less skilled workers.  On the down side, unless an air conditioning contractor does a proper load and duct design calculation using Manual J and D, a number of problems can arise because of cutting corners.  Problems such as poor airflow, high room pressures, excessive dust and conditioned and heated air being lost to the outside are all too common in existing homes.  Many times if an air conditioning contractor has done work or replaced an AC unit in the past, they really will mess a system up.  I think one of the reasons good home inspectors and energy auditors are so skeptical of HVAC contractors in Phoenix is because we see the outrageous work done and what it is costing the homeowner. 

Duct leakage can mean your heating and cooling system is sucking outside attic air into the unit and heating it in the winter or cooling it during the summer and blowing air into the attic on the supply side.  Both are costly and will decrease the life of the unit.  APS estimates that an average 15% of a home’s existing air is wasted to the outside.  SRP shows similar statistics and both utility companies sponsor home energy audits to check for leakage and offer rebates for sealing the ductwork.  For more information on duct leakage visit:

http://www.aps.com/_files/services/ResFAQ/ductleakage.pdf

http://www.aps.com/main/green/choice/choice_75.html

http://www.bestofbuildingscience.com/videos.html

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_ducts

http://www.greenintegrateddesign.com/air--duct-sealing.html

Is There an Alternative to Radiant Barrier?

We have written several articles on what radiant barrier is, does radiant barrier workand why there are radiant barrier scams out there and in this article we will answer the question is there an alternative to radiant barrier?  

The short answer is, YES!  We first strongly suggest that you get an APS energy audit orSRP energy audit to identify and prioritize the best cost-saving upgrades for your home. The APS energy audit is great because energy auditors cannot make the same recommendations for each house (like a radiant barrier company does) and their recommendations are based on their findings of your home’s audit.  Yes, Phoenix does get very hot in the summer, and yes, if you stand under a box with a 100 degree light shining down on your you are going to feel hotter without a radiant barrier than with one and those make for very convincing arguments for radiant barriers but on this occasion don’t let yourself rule out common sense and the FACTS about heat gain into your home.

So what are the alternatives to radiant barrier?  That all depends on the price, assuming you have a quote in your hand for radiant barrier find your estimated cost savings by using our radiant barrier calculator.

Let’s say your radiant barrier costs around $2,500 by itself and from our calculator your savings is going to be $75 a year (do not be fooled into thinking the radiant barrier is going to save more than $200 a year if you live in a home less than 5,000 sq ft).  So if you really are against getting a home energy audit or have a tight home and duct work system, I would recommend a solar hot water heater.  Unlike radiant barriers, there are great APS and SRP rebates available plus state and federal tax incentives that make the cost of a solar water heater equal to a $2,500 radiant barrier!  With a solar hot water heater, your annual savings are in the hundreds of dollars since water heating is usually the second biggest energy user after the heat pump.  Radiant barriers can gather dust after a couple years in the attic, rendering them totally ineffective.  Solar water heaters have 10 year manufacturer warranties plus if your water heater is old, it is replaced with a brand new one.  In Phoenix, solar water heaters can supply hot water during most of the year, even during the winter.  Phoenix solar hot water systems can be very cost-effective with quicker paybacks and ROI than radiant barrier and it is our favorite alternative to radiant barriers. 

Green ID offers several types of solar water heaters depending on your existing system and needs.  We offer a free solar hot water assessment of your home to help identify which system is right for your home.  Feel free to give us a call to schedule your free, no obligation assessment today at (602) 684-0462 and we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Does Radiant Barrier Work or is it a Scam?

We have been getting lots of questions regarding radiant barrier products.  Radiant barriers seem to make sense to reduce attic temperatures in the summer. You may have seen the home show demonstrations where one side of a mock attic has a high pressure sodium lamp heating one attic with radiant barrier, and one attic without radiant barrier.  These are very convincing demonstrations that you can actually feel or see the temperature differences.  So does a foil radiant barrier product work?

Let me give you a background of where we are coming from as a US EPA Home Performance with Energy Star energy auditor and contractor.  We use a science based approach to reduce your energy bills and make your home more comfortable.  That means our recommendations are based on a comprehensive energy audit using a blower door, thermal camera, energy modeling and heat transfer principals… not on a PowerPoint Presentation someone developed who probably is not an energy auditor.  We have performed hundreds of APS energy audits and SRP energy audits so we have some experience under our belt and seen the benefits and a home that performs well, and the broken promises that are not only costly but bring down companies that do quality work.  So let’s get back to your question.

Here are the facts - 

1.       In Phoenix, with 360 days of sun a year, in a house with minimal insulationyour home is only getting a maximum of 20% heat gain from the attic.  We have written about the importance of your insulation being installed correctly in a previous post.  The majority of your heat gain is through the windows.

2.       Using the most outrageous radiant barrier savings claims of a 30% cost savings onyour heating and cooling bill (sometimes even the sales rep gets confused and says it’s 30% of your total bills), let’s do the math.  I’ve provided a radiant barrier savings calculator you can use to get accurate estimates on your savings below, just enter in your highest summer electric bill.  Let’s say that’s $300 and 50% of that is from cooling.  So that means you are spending $150 on cooling for, let’s be generous and say May, June, July, August, September (5 months).  $150 x 5 months = $750 on cooling (overestimated).  Then we’ll find how much of your cooling bills is from the attic (20% from #1 above) by taking $750 x 20% = $150.  Now take 30% of $150 = $45.  That’s your annual savings from radiant barrier, $45! 


3.       If you are spending $2,000 on a radiant barrier to save only $45 a year, there are much better ways to save money on your bills!  One would be to install a solar hot water or even solar electric system for a much quicker payment and ROI.  That is why we will never recommend a radiant barrier product without tacking the big items found in a home energy audit first.

We hope that helps and feel free to leave comments below or like us on Facebook for a free Energy Savings Guidebook to learn how you can start saving today.

Help! I have to run my clothes dryer at least twice to dry my clothes – a story from a SRP energy audit

During my APS energy audits and SRP energy audits I occasionally run across a home that has high utility bills but as I am going through my inspection of the air leakage, duct leakage, insulation, room pressures, HVAC system and ductwork there is not a huge problem identified.  In one SRP home in Gilbert, I fell back on the homes motors, pumps and appliances and started exploring other options to pinpoint the cause.  During this home’s SRP energy audit the homeowner informed me that she was running the dryer three to four times just to dry a load of laundry.  It can be frustrating when it takes longer to dry your clothes than it does to wash them, especially if you have a couple loads of laundry to do.  I know what that’s like, having bought a 1995 home in Phoenix with all original appliances.  I hated having to run my dryer 3 or 4 times just to get my clothes dry!  If you are in the same situation or you may even have a new washer and dryer set – before you go out to buy a brand new dryer here is a quick tip I found can save you literally hundreds a year on drying costs. 

Your dryer is actually the second biggest energy using appliance after the refrigerator.  Plus if you are having to run the dryer twice or more to get your clothes dry then it is using even more energy.  The washer actually doesn't use that much energy, the costs for the washer come in when it needs to use hot water (try buying cold water detergent and seeing how your clothes come out).  Your dryer vents can be anywhere from a couple inches to 20 feet of ducting to get to the outside.  All that ducting collects lint inside and could clog the vent and decrease the efficiency of the dryer.  By cleaning dryer vents at least once a year you will increase the efficiency of the dryer and help prevent the risk of fire.  A good way to clean the dry vent is to use a shop vac or leaf blower and suck all the lint outside.  You want to be sure to snake the whole system to prevent a buildup.

In this case the SRP energy audit recommendations was mostly around the home’s pool pump run time, recirculation pump, 4 combined refrigerators and freezers and the clogged dryer rather than construction defect upgrades.  This homeowner was still able to take advantage of the SRP rebates available for the variable speed pool pump and the refrigeration recycling program as well as the duct sealing rebates.

7 Ways You Can Save On Air Conditioning Replacement for Phoenix residents

Air conditioning in Phoenix accounts for up to 60% of a home’s annual electricity costs.  It is not uncommon for energy bills to double in the summer time in Phoenix even if a homeowner tries to manage his or her energy use by switching to the APS and SRP time of use plan, only doing laundry and running the dishwasher at night, and setting the thermostat up during the day.  Here are seven ways you cans save on air conditioning costs without spending thousands of dollars replacing your AC unit with a high efficiency unit.  


Air Conditioning Saver #1 - Leave your doors open


No, not your exterior doors but your interior doors.  Phoenix air conditioning companies have spread a lot of false information out there about closing your vents and doors.  You want all the interior doors open or at least cracked to help circulate air back to the return.  Here is a quick test you can do to check if your air conditioning costs are higher than they need to be.  With the air conditioning on close a bedroom door and place your hand under the door to check if you can feel air coming out of the door.  If you can feel air escaping, your room pressures are likely to be unbalanced every time the door is closed.  Have an APS Home EnergyAuditor or SRP Home Energy Auditor do a home performance assessment of your home to actually measure the pressure in each room to determine if correction is needed. 


What if you have teenagers or relatives are staying over or you have dogs that you don’t want in a room so you have to keep the door closed.  Your energy auditor will probably recommend a transfer grille or jump duct be installed to relieve the built up room pressure and can go over the options with you.


Air Conditioning Saver #2 - Seal the ductwork.


Between 20% to 30% of an average home in the metro Phoenix area is wasting conditioned air in the summer and heated air in the winter to the attic.  If 60% of your energy bill in the summer is from air conditioning and 20% of that air is not being delivered to the rooms it needs to go to, that can add up to quite a bit of change over 5 years.  HVAC contractors do not seal the ductwork even on a new, high efficiency air conditioner which is like driving a Prius with a hole in the gas tank.  Sealing your HVAC ductwork not only saves money on your heating and cooling bills, it brings less dust in the home too.


Air Conditioning Saver #3 - Air seal your home.


Making sure your exterior doors are well weather-stripped, air sealing any electrical and plumbing penetrations and sealing any recessed canned lights will help keep your conditioned air inside and the outside air outside.  A leaky recessed canned light can increase heating and cooling bills by as much as $5 to $30 per canned light.
Air sealing your home will also help stop the stack effect which causes warm air to rise and cool air to enter the home.  If you have a wood burning chimney, a chimney pillow will help stop heated air from escaping in the winter and save on your winter heating bills.  If you only have some areas of doors that you can see light through there are easy upgrades you can do with filler weather-stripping to fill those voids without replacing your doors.  I know what you are going to say, don’t houses have to breathe?  Yes, you need to have a supply of fresh air into your house for health and safety concerns but it is better to seal your home as tight as possible and bring controlled ventilation in from the outside than live with a leaky home and rely on dirty attic air as your “fresh air” for the house to breathe with.  An APS Energy Auditor or SRP Energy Auditor will calculate theacceptable “breathing rate” of your home and compare that number with the measured “breathing rate” or house leakiness from a blower door test.  


Air Conditioning Saver #4 - Install shade screens in the summer and remove them in the winter


Shade screens help reduce air conditioning costs by blocking up to 90% of the sun’s conductive heat through the windows.  Windows account for more than half of the heat gain into your home just because they are transparent and have almost no insulation value.  If you do replace yourhome’s windows, gas filled, vinyl windows are the way to go.  


Shade screens are typically clipped onto the frame and can be removed during Phoenix’s winter season when we use our heat to get maximum sun exposure to save on heating costs.  APS and SRP also give rebates for shade screens if you don’t already have them.


Air Conditioning Saver #5 - Go up to R-38 insulation in your attic


Is it a big surprise that Phoenix attics can get hot in the summer?  That huge temperature difference between the attic and the house is another cause of rising air conditioning costs.  Against popular thought though, the notion that the quantity of insulation is more important than the quality is completely wrong.  It is more important how the insulation was installed than how much you have and a home energy auditor will be able to properly assess your home and tell you how much higher your air conditioning bills are than they should be.


Air Conditioning Saver #6 - Check if there is a direct connection from your garage to the house.


This is not a commonly talked about cause of high air conditioning costs but I have found this problem in houses in Glendale, Scottsdale and Gilbert.  The garage is another area that can get very hot in the summer and like I said before, temperature differences are the main driver of heat gain into homes.  Using a blower door, your energy auditor will be able to test the house-to-garage connection that occurs above the drywall where you cannot see and estimate the heating and cooling loss occurring from the problem.


Air Conditioning Saver #7 - Have your air conditioning unit tuned-up annual by a trusted HVAC contractor. 


I personally know that finding a reliable HVAC contractor can be difficult.  Even though you have a friend in the air conditioning business does not mean they will do a good job.  I have been in too many homes where an AC contractor and friend installed a new unit and probably not purposely, but unfortunately cut way to many corners simply because that’s the way it’s been done for the last 20 years.  After that is done, fixing any of their work is 10 times more difficult.  First, the homeowner doesn’t want to point fingers at their buddy’s work, second the homeowner probably doesn’t know what “correct” looks like.  Like a good handyman, every homeowner should have a good HVAC contractor.


Those are the 7 ways you can reduce your air conditioning costs dramatically.  For others ways to save money on your utility bills be sure to check out our past articles and get up to speed on APS energy audits and SRP energy audits for your home.

Air Leakage Around Recessed Canned Lights

If you have had an APS energy audit or SRP energy audit performed on your home the auditor probably showed you the blower door readings or thermal images of your canned lights.  These are notoriously leaky and if a smoke pen is held up to the light, you can see the smoke gets easily sucked right up into the attic through recessed light.  If your home has more than 10 of these recessed lights, it can be a significant source of air leakage in your home.  The average home wastes about $5 to $30 per year per recessed light so it is an important cost savings consideration and health and safety concern if moisture escapes into the attic as well. Here is a little background on these lights and what you can do to stop excess air leakage in your home.

Recessed lights are typically installed in areas of high traffic areas like kitchens, hallways and family rooms.  Canned lights are either IC rated, insulation contact rated, or non IC rated, which cannot come into contact with insulation.  If additional insulation has ever been added to your home you may want to check that the insulation contractors put some sort of protector around the light before blowing more in.   Typically in homes built before 1995, non IC canned lights were used but I have seen plenty of newer homes with non IC rated canned lights installed.  You can find out if your lights are IC rated by going in the attic and looking at the nameplate of the metal light.  There is usually a label glued on top of the light that says the specifications of the light and it will say, “IC Rated”. 

Recessed lights in a two story home can also contribute to the stack effect if there are enough lights in the ceiling.  The stack effect is when warm air rises and is replaced by cool air entering the home through outside penetrations and duct leakage.  The stack effect and air leakage can be stopped by air sealing the home including the canned lights.  To find more information on how canned lights can contribute to the stack effect in your home check out this article by the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center.

There are several ways you can effectively seal your canned lights by either replacement or retrofit.  Replacement options can be done with air tight LED lights or air tight recessed canned lights.  Both replacements are very effective, the advantages of LEDs are a longer lifespan, are fully dimmable, and use less energy.  Replacements done with air tight recessed lights are also very good.  I recently performed an energy audit on a home built in 2006 that had the new air tight recessed lights and can verify that the leakage of the light is very low.  The reading from the canned light you see on my manometer is 0.9 Pa and a typical canned light measures at 40 Pa, which is a lot of leakage.

The other option is to build energy lids with at least 3-inches of clearance between the light and the box.  The energy lid can be fitted over the canned light and sealed at its edges.  Warning!  Do not use expanding foam to seal a canned light; the foam can drip down into the house and on the trim.  The energy lids can be effective if you have non IC rated recessed lights and need to add more insulation to your attic.  You can view more tips on how reduce your energy bills here.

For a guide on ways to seal up your home check out EnergyStar’s publication on air leakage and air sealing your home.

How to Interpret Your APS and SRP Energy Audit Report

To get a $99 APS or SRP energy audit, you can contact APS or SRP directly and they will provide 3 contractors to choose from, or you have a home energy audit done by a BPI Certified contractor of your choice.  Once the initial audit is completed, your auditor will have collected and showed you the biggest areas of waste in your home and then he or she will write up an APS or SRP approved report and software model.  This model is a specific to your home with basic information like square footage, ceiling height and window dimensions and testing data from the initial blower door and duct leakage measurements.  The software takes lots of information about your HVAC system, insulation levels and condition and shading and runs advanced heat load calculations to take your home on what we call an “efficiency test drive.” 

The best part of the software is the cost savings analysis that has been tailored to the Phoenix climate and shows the APS and SRP’s estimated cost savings for each recommendation.  That way you can make a financially based decision on whether to do a whole home retrofit.  The down side is that the report can sometimes be hard to interpret if your auditor is not walking you through it.  I’ll highlight some areas of the report that may be hard to decipher if you are not a BPI Certified energy auditor.  Although this information is specific to the APS and SRP energy audit program, the concepts can be applied to any house.

Air Leakage Results

Page 2 on APS’s Energy Audit report

Page 4 on SRP Energy Audit report

The building shell leakage is measured using the blower door and is the whole home’s leakage measured at 50 Pa.  How do you know if this is a tight home or a very leaky home?  The answer can be found by comparing that number to the Building Air Tightness Limit (aka MVR or minimum ventilation requirement) which is dependent on the size of your home, stories, climate and number of people and pets living in the home.  The MVR tells you how much ventilation is recommended for acceptable indoor air quality according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE Standard 62.2-1989).  Under the 1989 Standard, air leakage is an acceptable method of fresh air ventilation.  This can be far from the truth though because this air leakage can come from anywhere, a dirty attic, the garage where gas appliances are located or the outside directly.  Under the new AHSRAE Standard 62.2-2007, air leakage is not an acceptable method of fresh air ventilation and mechanical ventilation is required.  In the building science world we have a saying, “build-it-tight, ventilate-it-right.”  We want to seal your home as tightly as possible then bring in fresh air in a controlled way where we know how much to bring in and we can even pre-cool it with a Recovery Ventilator.  The APS and SRP reports use the old 1989 ASHRAE Standard in their report and if you are not going to bring in controlled ventilation, you should only seal your home as tight as the MVR and no further.  There are several low-end ventilation solutions that are perform well but we’ll save that for another time.

The SRP report does not provide air leakage and insulation details on your current condition.  Your auditor should have discussed his findings with you during the audit.

Insulation

Page 3 on APS Energy Audit report

I’ve written about the importance of installing insulation correctly and how that can trump the amount of insulation you have.  If you proposal includes “air barrier” work, that is an indication of insulation misalignments and it is up to the auditor and crew to decide if the insulation needs to be moved to be aligned with the sheetrock or a new air barrier (ductboard, sheet rock, Tyvek) should be installed.

Page 4 on SRP Energy Audit report

The SRP report does not provide air leakage and insulation details on your current condition.  Your auditor should have discussed his findings with you during the audit.

Duct Leakage

Page 6 on APS Energy Audit report

The last sentence of the page reads, “Your attic duct leakage was determined to be _____.”  To get an idea if that is bad or not, take that duct leakage number and divide it by the whole home air leakage number found in the Air Leakage section (page 2 on APS’s report) to get the percentage of leakage that is being lost just in the ductwork.  Typical percentages are 10% - 20% of the conditioned air is being lost in the ductwork. 

Page 5 on SRP Energy Audit report

The SRP report does not provide the duct leakage numbers, but if you are curious your auditor will provide the number for you.  Then compare that to your total home leakage to get the percentage of air being lost through the ductwork.

Water Heaters and Combustion Appliance Testing

If you have gas appliances your energy auditor performed several combustion safety tests that test for potential safety hazards such as the flue stack or vent blocked, not enough dilution air, backdraft potential, carbon monoxide levels and gas leaks.  The report only lists carbon monoxide levels but you should be aware of what the other tests are and the potential dangers of having combustion appliances.  Carbon monoxide occurs because of incomplete combustion of gas appliances and higher levels of CO can indicate malfunctioning appliances, blocked vent, not enough makeup air for atmospheric appliances or a gas leak.

Make-up Air, Draft Pressure and Spillage

If your furnace is next to the water heater in the garage, the two probably share a common flue stack.  Often times the setup is where the furnace is power vented and the gas water heater draws dilution air passively.  This is inherently dangerous because is the flue stack is blocked and the furnace is running, carbon monoxide now has a place to escape through the gas water heater vent.  Can you say “design flaw”? 

Another potential problem that occurs more commonly in Northern Arizona but Is just as serious is when there is not enough makeup air for the gas appliance.  Today large exhaust fans and dryers draw so much air in that they can compete with an atmospherically vented appliance and potentially; backdrafting carbon monoxide down the flue stack and into the home, blow out pilot lights or cause flame roll-out.  The difference is pressure between the room with the gas appliances (CAZ or combustion appliance zone) and the outside (or inside if testing garage-into-house potential) is the driving force behind potential problems.  Having enough makeup air in the CAZ is important and it Is code to have a garage vented to the outside with 2 grilles but inside closing doors or having dryers in the same room as combustion appliances can be very dangerous.  The solution to closing interior doors is to add a pressure relief vent through a jump duct or transfer grille that allows built-up room pressure to escape. 

The auditor will test spillage, draft pressure, CO levels and room pressures under worst-case conditions to try to make the appliances fail.  These results will tell you if you have a potential problem and carbon monoxide detectors should always be installed 3 – 6 ft off the ground and functioning properly.  Your audit report should be a recommendation for fresh air ventilation through a vent fan or fresh air intake with zero annual savings.

Summary

The APS Recommended Measures table includes:

DHW is short for domestic hot water and includes solar water heating, hybrid water heaters, low flow showerheads and sink aerators (included free for APS and SRP customers), temperature turndown and tank wraps.

HVAC Upgrades is short for heating, ventilation and air conditioning and includes replacing old AC units and furnaces, duct sealing and shade screens.

Attic Insulation, Airsealing includes air barrier work and insulation upgrades.

Miscellaneous includes pool pumps.

The SRP Recommendations table lists measures out individually like pool pumps, air barrier work, duct sealing for each unit and shade screens for each side of the house.

DHW_SYS 1 Invalid can include replacing the water heater with a hybrid water heater or solar water heater.  The quantity column for insulation is in square feet.

Easy DIY Energy Saving Tip

The APS and SRP energy audits have a prescribed set of standards each auditor has to check.  Outside the usual duct leakage, air leakage and insulation checks it is up to the auditor to decide what services they want to provide.  At Green ID, we pride ourselves on our quality work and customer satisfaction.  We think that our customers get a little more for their money when they use our services compared to other contractors, but there are some efficiency tests homeowners can do themselves to check on their efficiency.  Below is one DIY tip that is easy to do and not very well known.

Back east, bathroom toilets were occasionally piped with hot water rather than cold water.  It is easy to check if yours wasting hot water.   Water heating can be the second biggest energy user in your home and costs will dramatically increase every time you flush the toilet it replaces 3.5 gallons (average toilet water use) of hot water.  It is easy to check if your toilets are connected by turning on the corresponding sink’s hot water line.  Run it until hot water starts to come out.  By the way, this is a good time to take a thermometer and measure the actual temperature of your hot water.  Ideally it should be 125 – 130 degrees.  If it is higher, the water heater is overheating the water (130 degrees will begin to burn you) and don’t worry about the dishwasher, it uses its own heating element while running.  If it is lower, you risk Legionaries disease growing in the water pipes.  Anyway, once the water is hot, shut it off and flush the toilet.  As it refills, take off the top and put your hand in the water stream that’s refilling the tank (this is clean drinking water and you can touch it) and see if it is hot water coming out.  If it is, call Green ID at (602) 684-0462 and have our plumber change the supply to cold.  Your wallet will thank you as will your family when you take all out to dinner with the money you’ve saved.