the energy audit part #1
12 OCTOBER 2010
So back in April I had some help from Tim Ingraham at Rook Energy in calculating exactly how and where this house loses heat. As I hadn't bought anything yet, the time seemed ideal to hire someone whose job it is to literally poke holes in a building!
Of course energy auditing is much more than just finding spots where the draft comes in. Tim showed up, and over the course of 3 hours ran a test for flue back pressure (CAZ test), did a blower door test, and allayed the realtor's fears that he'd sabotage the whole sale. As much as I stinge and cringe at an old leaky home, it turns out we both liked the place enough to move in (Marta and I, not Tim and I.) There went the neighborhood.
Here's the scene from that day: a full on blower-door test. The first thing the apparatus does is allows measurement of the rate of of air infiltration into a building through anywhere but the places it was meant to infiltrate. In other words - all the windows and doors are closed as the giant fan is sucking air out of the building though cracks, frames, pipes, and chimney. Second, depending on the outdoor temperature, it allows a thermal-infrared scanner to see a nice picture of heat loss.
Pictured above, a thermal scan – with air being pulled hard by the door-blower, one part of the leaky doorway has clearly gotten colder from outside and basement air seeping in and up.
Overall, this has been the most educational part of the project. The audit's estimates for heat loss and heating demand have been mighty useful in the piecemeal redesign of the radiators and the boiler system itself. I say that now, but watch my words come mid- February. Anyway, nothing like a nice incentive to lay the fat on the toast. Efficiency Maine will read Tim's final audit report, after recommended upgrades have been done, and send me a check based on the energy saved over the base case. A number of things will factor in – and I'm biting my nails right now wondering if I can make a 50% improvement over the historical demands. I'll only say this of the previous bills – it's not to hard to burn 1000 gallons of oil in a year – many do.
So back in April I had some help from Tim Ingraham at Rook Energy in calculating exactly how and where this house loses heat. As I hadn't bought anything yet, the time seemed ideal to hire someone whose job it is to literally poke holes in a building!
Of course energy auditing is much more than just finding spots where the draft comes in. Tim showed up, and over the course of 3 hours ran a test for flue back pressure (CAZ test), did a blower door test, and allayed the realtor's fears that he'd sabotage the whole sale. As much as I stinge and cringe at an old leaky home, it turns out we both liked the place enough to move in (Marta and I, not Tim and I.) There went the neighborhood.
Here's the scene from that day: a full on blower-door test. The first thing the apparatus does is allows measurement of the rate of of air infiltration into a building through anywhere but the places it was meant to infiltrate. In other words - all the windows and doors are closed as the giant fan is sucking air out of the building though cracks, frames, pipes, and chimney. Second, depending on the outdoor temperature, it allows a thermal-infrared scanner to see a nice picture of heat loss.
Pictured above, a thermal scan – with air being pulled hard by the door-blower, one part of the leaky doorway has clearly gotten colder from outside and basement air seeping in and up.
Overall, this has been the most educational part of the project. The audit's estimates for heat loss and heating demand have been mighty useful in the piecemeal redesign of the radiators and the boiler system itself. I say that now, but watch my words come mid- February. Anyway, nothing like a nice incentive to lay the fat on the toast. Efficiency Maine will read Tim's final audit report, after recommended upgrades have been done, and send me a check based on the energy saved over the base case. A number of things will factor in – and I'm biting my nails right now wondering if I can make a 50% improvement over the historical demands. I'll only say this of the previous bills – it's not to hard to burn 1000 gallons of oil in a year – many do.
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