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Effective Tips
From a Certified Pro
Energy Auditor
Eric Gans
Certified Energy Auditor
Residential Comfort & Energy EfficiencyWednesday, April 01 2020
One of the keys to performing a good energy audit is to be consistent. Consistency, yields high quality results for the homeowner. Having a sound routine and being sure to go through that routine for each and every house will serve the most seasoned home energy auditors very well.
As I began the audit and started outside to take a look around I began to get the overall picture of the house now that I was inside and did a full tour throughout. I made my way around the side of the house to the kitchen area.
 Two things stand out to me right away. One thing to note there is that the kitchen is at the back corner of the house above the garage. The kitchen window above the sink is the window that can be seen in this photo above the garage door. The general area is inside the red lines.
The second thing that is is less obvious and is something that will require additional investigation is the exhaust hood just above the grill to the right of the sunroom.
For the most part, and of course this is something I mentioned to the homeowner, the problem is never only one thing. There usually are several things working against you and the ideas is to wrestle the power away from as many of those problems that you can in, order of how much they cost, in order to make the problem less of a problem.
So, treating the ceiling of the garage with a proper pressure boundary in addition to the thermal boundary would be a significant part of a project that was going to seriously attack the kitchen being cold. But, in this case the example that I will demonstrate here can be seen in all types of houses and perhaps this might be the only source to your issue.
Let's get back to the exhaust hood on the back, above the grill and next to the sunroom.
 At first glance, it might just blend in and some might not even make the connection that it leads to the kitchen and those that do, may not make the connection that it is not connected. What I mean here is that if you turn the vent fan on above you range and if it is blowing air out at you then it is a recirculating fan. Why is this important?
Often times when a kitchen is remodeled little thought is given to the kitchen exhaust requirements. Many times the connection with the preexisting fan is not used. To further the trajedy of not reinstalling proper ventilation, nothing is done to seal and insulate the void leaving a large thermal bypass in a highly traveled area of the house.
Here are a few shots of the kitchen for some more perspective.
Notice the area above the stove top. There is nothing there. Earlier I mentioned that the homeowner just purchased the house so this is the situation they inherited. The story for me was starting to take shape. The kitchen at one time had working exhaust and during the kitchen remodel it was eliminated, but the end result is a big offender when it comes to why the kitchen is not comfortable.
 From the outside you can see that the depth of the exterior wall is roughly four inches and seeing the old wiring and the inside panel that this was a source of some of the problems in this kitchen. Thermal imaging confirmed it.
 So keep this in mind if your kitchen is cold and drafty. It is possible this issue can exist if a microwave oven or range hood is in place with a new recirculating fan. The old exhaust hood is a gateway to the outside as seen in this example. A clue would be to look outside to see if there are any vent hoods not associated with any appliance.
So, how can you fix this yourself?
Here is how you do it. Find something solid, easy to cut to size and air tight. Sometimes heavy duty styrofoam furniture packaging will work. Another option is a piece of polyiso insulation foamboard from the hardware store, but check to see if you can find something around the house since you don't need much. Be sure to do the blocking part. You don't want to shoot a bunch of foam insulation in the hole and muck it all up in case you need it later or stuff fiberglass insulation in there because that will not work. Cut to size, place in the void and seal around the perimeter with spray foam. This will insulate and air seal at the same time and fix the thermal bypass in that location.
Friday, March 27 2020
 This situation illustrates to a homeowner what the envelope of the house is, and how the thermal boundary around the envelope is so critical to comfort and efficiency. The best way to describe the building envelope is to say that it is the separation point between the inside of the home -where you live, sleep and pay for air to be conditioned and the outside which can be described in several terms. Sunday, November 10 2019
Your home is a complex system. Before you do work to any specific part, you need to know a few key building science principles. There is nothing more frustrating than learning that you should have done this or you should have done that...after you already paid for the wrong solution. This happens all too often in home remodeling and retro fitting because there are so many different trades involved and unfortunately, incorrect or outdated ways of thinking are guiding contractors and homeowners to the wrong solutions. As a certified Building Analyst through the Building Performance Institute with over 500 home energy audits conducted and with over fifteen years of home remodeling experience, I understand and specialize in all of the remodeling trades with a focus on building science principles to lead the way and guide us to the source of the problem to find the best possible solution. Here is an example of how this can work.
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