Introduction€¦ · Insulate Garage Ceiling Yes $1,200.00 $259.72 6 $940.28 Insulate Walls No...

CCI Home Energy Showcase Patrick Duffey Final Report (4/10/2020)

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Introduction CCI conducted the energy audit on 11/15/2019. All work related to the CCI Home Energy Showcase was

DIY by myself, the homeowner Patrick Duffey. Work was completed by 4/5/2019, and is summarized as

follows. The Sound Home Plan (SHP), final- is referenced throughout this

report as it relates to work completed. I believe the only difference between version A and version B

was that version B increased the assumption for the heating set point high to a more typical 72 F, while

version A listed a heating set point high of 62 F. In reality, my thermostat is set to an average heating

temperature 60 F (58 F at night, 62 F during weekend days, 60 F during weekday days).

Figure 1 Page 1 of Sound Home Plan (SHP) report provided by CCI (Final Version B). House is the right side of the duplex.


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Solutions for Your Home (SHP Page 2) All items except Insulate Walls and Replace Door to Garage were completed. Not replacing the door to

the garage was justified by the large improvement made to the garage doors themselves in terms of

reducing draft and their increased insulation value.

Figure 2 Reference to Page 2 of SHP, the four categories of improvements that could be made to the house.

Project Completed? Approximate

Installed Cost

SHP

DIY Cost DIY Time DIY Savings vs.

SHP

Seal Air Leaks Yes $700.00 $372.47 23 $327.53

Insulate Garage

Ceiling

Yes $1,200.00 $259.72 6 $940.28

Insulate Walls No $4,200.00 N/A N/A N/A

Replace Door

to Garage

No (Garage

doors insulated

instead)

$800.00 N/A N/A N/A

Total,

Completed

Work

N/A $1,900.00 $632.19 29 $1267.81

Figure 3 Comparison of SHP Solutions for Your Home and completed DIY work.


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Figure 4 Bill of materials and total cost for all DIY work completed. Total cost of completion of $682.82. Copies of the

receipts are available in the Appendix of this document.


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Solutions for Your Home Seal Air Leaks (SHP Pages 3-6) The following is a summary of all DIY work done to seal air leaks, compared to the Sound Home Plan.

The SHP did not differentiate the cost to complete each item, and some materials were used for several

projects, therefore only the DIY time to complete is summarized.

Project Completed? DIY Time

Insulate and seal basement rim joists Yes 4hrs

Use spray foam to seal all wire and plumbing penetrations from basement

or foundation wall Yes 4hrs

Caulk baseboards Partially1) 1hr

Caulk windows Yes 6hrs

Insulate and caulk chimney Yes 2hrs

Insulate and weatherstrip basement doors. Yes 4hrs

Weatherstrip front door and attic hatch Yes 2hrs

Total N/A 23 Figure 5 Comparison of SHP suggestions and completed DIY work.

1)

Only portions of the house found to be particularly drafty, including the bathroom and exposed chimney.


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Seal Air Leaks Insulate and Seal Basement Rim Joists

A total of twelve (12) rim joists of the garage ceiling/kitchen and living room floor cavity

d, after insulating the cavities

with loose fill cellulose (refer to later section). so that I only

had to buy one thickness and such that less waste or scrap would be leftover at the conclusion of the

project, as the foam board was predominantly used for the garage door (Qty 2) insulation project.

Figure 6 - Reference for insulating rim joists. Page 3 of SHP.

Figure 7 Examples of final sealing of basement rim joists after filling cavities with cellulose insulation.


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Seal Air Leaks Wire and Plumbing Penetrations, Other Gaps

Approximately 100 penetrations and gaps were filled in the basement and garage. Spray foam was

between the basement and garage,

and finally to the frame of each of the two garage doors. In addition, all wire and plumbing penetrations

were sealed.

Figure 8 - Reference for sealing air leaks in garage ceiling. Page 7 of SHP.

Figure 9 Before (left) and after (right). Example of spray foam of garage ceiling of boiler line servicing living room above.


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Figure 10 Example of spray foam of boiler lines going up to living space radiators from boiler/laundry portion of basement.

Figure 11 - Caulking of wooden frame above garage doors, and caulk backer rod + spray foam applied to wooden garage door

frames. After it

the garage doors (refer to later section).


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Figure 12 - Before (left) and after (right). Example of spray foam of garage doors. There was about a half inch gap on either

side of each garage door between the door frame and the concrete block walls. A combination of spray foam and caulk

backer rod was used to fill the void.


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Seal Air Leaks Caulk Baseboard

Although not all baseboards were caulked, the bathroom baseboard already was caulked, and as part of

this project I also caulked the baseboard of a second story bedroom where the chimney is exposed and a

strong draft could be felt.

Figure 13 Finished clear caulking of exposed chimney baseboard.


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Seal Air Leaks Caulk Windows

All windows of the house (Qty 16) were caulked using clear silicone. Larger gaps were first filled with

closed cell caulk backer rod.

Figure 14 - Reference to caulking windows. Page 4 of SHP.

Figure 15 - Filling a larger gap between the window and trim with foam backer rod, before caulking.


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Figure 16 - Example of finished caulked window.

Figure 17 - Example of finished caulked window.


Page 12 of 57

Seal Air Leaks Insulate and Caulk Chimney

A fireplace exists in the dining room of the first floor living space. The chimney had been previously

Therefore this plywood was first secured and debris

insulation beneath it and caulking its perimeter.

Figure 18 Reference to insulating and caulking chimney. Page 5 of SHP.

Figure 19 First the plywood had to be leveled with the fireplace lintel. To do so, shims were added and then chimney

debris was removed with a shop-vac. After that, wooden spacers were added along with caulk backer rod to fill larger,

irregular gaps.


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Figure 20 Final product with pre-

Eventually some trim may be added to hide the foam board edge for aesthetic purposes. No fasteners were required due to

the tight interference fit and the application of clear caulk around the perimeter prior to and after foam board installation.


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Seal Air Leaks Insulate and Weatherstrip Basement Doors

The basement consists of a central boiler and laundry room, accessed from the kitchen above, two

storage rooms, originally used as

two car internal garage, located under the kitchen and living room. The coal rooms are accessed from

the central boiler basement room via two tongue and groove wooden doors, while the garage is

accessed by a steel, fire rated door. The exterior garage doors are single piece wooden framed with

glass windows.

foam board and Reflectix® insulation roll. Garage door windows were caulked, and inserts were made

board and Reflectix® insulation for additional

sealing. All basement doors, whether internal or external, were weatherstripped. Pre-existing

weatherstripping was repaired, as needed.

Figure 21 - Reference for sealing air leaks by fabricating new insulating doors. Page 5 of SHP.


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Figure 22 - Initial condition of original wooden garage door (Qty 2), with one piece of 1" rigid foam board installed using a

tight fit to door framing and eventually cap nails.

Figure 23 Garage door with all 1" rigid foam board added. Secured via interference fit and cap nails. Picture on right shows

window foam board covers installed, picture on left shows covers removed.

similar fashion.


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Figure 24 - Windows of garage doors (Qty 8 total) were caulked. Once foam board was added, it was also caulked around

window. All window perimeters were foil taped to allow easier installation of window foam covers.

Figure 25 In-process panels cut from 4x8 sheets of 1" rigid foam board using box cutter and drywall T.

Figure 26 - Covering foam board with Reflectix® insulation roll. Window openings were also cut for the option to seal off

during cold days or open up for some natural light while working in the garage.


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Figure 27 - Creating an air-tight seal at the top of the garage doors using caulk backer rod looped over by Reflectix®

insulation roll. Reflectix® insulation secured with staple gun, where cap nails were not possible.

Figure 28 - I had already put weather stripping on the bottom of each garage door to help with air leakage.


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Figure 29 - Garage door air leakage between door and frame before (left), and after (right). No visible air gap with newly

insulated doors (white in picture on right is weatherstripping).


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Figure 30 - Right hand garage door showing window flaps open . Note that door header

was also insulated with 1" rigid board (and later with Reflectix® as well), and all gaps were filled with spray foam.


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Figure 31 Garage door, insulation complete. Completely caulked and insulated with 1" rigid foam board and Reflectix®

insulation roll.

Figure 32 - Final insulated garage door, shown with door open.


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Figure 33 - Example 1 of 2 basement "coal room" doors, which were just tongue and groove wooden

first added before adding Reflectix® insulation roll.


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Figure 34 - Example 2 of 2 basement "coal room" doors, which were just tongue and groove wooden

first added before adding Reflectix® insulation roll.

Figure 35 - All basement doors also have weather stripping for a tighter seal. Added and repaired where necessary.


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Figure 36 - Finished "coal room" basement doors with 1" rigid foam insulation covered by Reflectix® insulation roll.

Figure 37 - Coal room basement door bottom edges were trimmed to allow doors to fully close and seal.


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Figure 38 - Shim added to one of the coal room basement doors to allow the door to latch and to make a tight seal.


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Figure 39 - In order to be able to completely seal off the "coal rooms" of the basement (right), I had to first relocate all of the

paint I had stored in one of them to the boiler/laundry area of the basement (left); otherwise, I always had to keep the coal

room door open so the paint did not freeze. The new organization of paints in boiler/laundry room of basement is shown on

the left, and the coal room of basement after paint removal is shown on the right. Note that foam board was also added

to the glazed window of the one coal room facing the exterior. Prior to this competition, I had also insulated the

which used to be u

sealing with caulk on both the exterior and interior.


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Seal Air Leaks Install New Weather Stripping, Front Door and Attic Hatch

Weather stripping was added to the attic hatch as well as the door leading to the basement from the

kitchen. In addition, previously existing weatherstripping was repaired and patched for the front door

access

door.

Figure 40 - Reference for new weather stripping. Page 5 of SHP.

Figure 41 - Newly added weather stripping to basement access door, located in the kitchen.


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Figure 42 Newly added attic access panel weather stripping. Attic was previously insulated with fiberglass batts and later

with cellulose loose-fill (R50) prior to this competition.

Figure 43 - Patched and repaired front door weather stripping.


Page 28 of 57


Page 29 of 57

Solutions for Your Home Insulate Garage Ceiling (SHP Pages 7-8) A total of twelve (12) joist cavities of the garage ceiling/kitchen and living room floor were filled with

cellulose loose-fill insulation. A spreadsheet was made prior to purchasing the insulation in order to

calculate the required number of bags for the desired insulation level. Although the SHP recommended

an insulation R value of 20, a value of 30 was achieved. This is partially because the depth of the floor

joists allowed for it, and partially because the vendor of the insulation, Greenfiber®, recommends R25 to

R30 for floors in Zones 5-8 in their Installation Guide. Adding extra insulation seemed prudent, as the

floor separates a heated living space from an unheated one (the garage).

Figure 44 Reference for insulating garage ceiling. Page 7 of SHP.

Figure 45 Reference for insulating garage ceiling, estimated square footage and recommended R value. Page 8 of SHP.


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Figure 46 Excel® spreadsheet made in order to calculate number of bags required. References from Greenfiber®

Installation Guide.


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Figure 47 - Cellulose insulation and blower. Blower was rented from Home Depot. Hose was routed through garage into

laundry room of basement, where there was open access to the garage ceiling joist cavities

board.

Figure 48 - Two joist cavities were not exposed from the basement; therefore holes were drilled in the above kitchen floor to

fill these cavities. These were the plugged , and are naturally covered by

appliances (fridge, left) or cabinets (under sink, right).


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Figure 49 - To be able to push the insulation blower hose all the way down the 19' joist cavity past cross bracing, I rigged up a

tent pole (left photo). The tent pole was zip-tied and duct taped to the end of the hose to help guide and push the hose to

the end. Admittedly, I am NOT very good with covering areas prior to doing insulation work (right photo). I paid for it later

with about 2 hours of shop-vac cleanup.


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Figure 50 - Blowing insulation into garage ceiling from boiler/laundry room of basement. "Seal" around hose made with old

sweatshirts to prevent backflow. Note tent pole "guide" for the hose.

Figure 51 - Photo showing "closed" joist cavity with 1" rigid foam board and "open" joist which had just been filled. All joist

ends were sealed with 1" foam board and foam spray, as summarized previously in the Seal Air Leaks section of this report.


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Additional Notes Switch to Renewable Electricity (SHP Page 13) Currently I am enrolled with Green Mountain Energy. I have been enrolled with Green Mountain Energy

since I believe 2011.

wind.

Figure 52 - Green Mountain Energy supplier information.


Page 35 of 57

Additional Notes Remove Radiator Covers (SHP Page 14) All radiators (Qty 8) of the house were backed with Reflectix® insulation roll as a heat reflector. Only

one radiator had a cover (see photos below), and this cover was retrofitted with insulation roll to help

radiate the heat outward from the cover. The curved shape of the insulation roll should also help

maintain radiator convection.

Figure 53 - Reference for radiator covers and heat reflectors. Page 14 of SHP.

Figure 54 - Kitchen radiator, located under kitchen counter. Entire under counter area covered with reflective insulation.


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Figure 55 - Fabricating foil insulation insert for my hand-made radiator cover. Insulation attached to cover with a staple gun.

Foil insulation cut such that it covers all inside surfaces of the cover, and that its wraps around and behind radiator such that

it prevents heat loss through wall.


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Figure 56 - More examples of reflective insulation added behind radiators. Attached either with staples to wooden trim if

existing behind radiator, or via adhesive Velcro buttons if against plaster wall.


Page 38 of 57

Energy Saving Tip #1 (CCI Email Feb 14th, 2020) Phantom Loads

(250kWh Energy Reduction Credit)

All of these measures I had in place before the competition, except for the light switch.

Almost every outlet has an associated power strip or timer, which we turn off when the loads are not in

use. My main work desk has a power strip that turns off power to everything (printer, monitors,

desktop, etc.). In the kitchen the coffee maker and microwave also have a power strip.

vices (DVD player, stereo). When the TV

has been off for a certain amount of time, the power to all auxiliary devices is turned off so there is no

phantom load.

The heating pad and lights I use in my grow room for starting vegetable garden seedlings are also on a

timer switch such that the lights automatically come on during the day and turn off during the night.

In addition, the washer and dryer outlet is controlled with a light switch in the basement.

forget to turn it back off after doing laundry, so I finally labeled the switch so we could remember

drawing phantom loads when not in use.

Figure 57 - Kitchen power strip with on/off switch. Only turned on during morning for breakfast and at night for dinner.


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Figure 58 - TV/DVD Player/Wifi Router/Stereo power strips. Rear power strip uses the state of the TV to turn on/off standby

power to the TV auxiliary devices (stereo, dvd player). All devices turned off at night.

Figure 59 - Grow room light timer.


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Figure 60 - Sharpie marking washer/dryer light switch. This switch controls power to the washer/dryer power outlet.


Page 41 of 57

Energy Saving Tip #2 (CCI Email March 12th 2020) Drying

Rack/Clothes Line recent

of a main string line run across the porch, two string lines on the side of the porch, a neat laundry

available front yard fence area for hanging things as well.

Figure 61 - Hanging socks in a planter box on a sunny day. Say what you will, but it works.

Figure 62 High density drying hanger I bought in Japan, where almost everyone has these on their stoop or apartment

balcony. Used to hang dry things in basement in winter, or on porch in summer.


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Figure 63 - Main porch clothes drying line.

Figure 64 - Side of porch drying lines.


Page 43 of 57

Additional Energy Conservation Practices LED Light Bulbs All light bulbs in the house except for the front door room ceiling light and the dining room ceiling fan

light were already LEDs. I typically only replace existing incandescent lights with LEDs when they break,

as to not unnecessarily add to landfills. Timing would have it that the front door ceiling incandescent

light burned out while I was doing this project, so I replaced it with a spare LEDs I had. As another

practice, in this and other light fixtures with multiple bulb sockets, I only install 1 LED as I find this

provides plenty of light.

Figure 65 Front door ceiling light replaced with 8W LED. Fixture has two bulb sockets, but only 1 LED is sufficient to light

the room.


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Additional Energy Conservation Practices Composting

homemade compost tumbler and used FreeGarden Earth composter provide all my annual compost

needs for my front yard garden.

Figure 66 - DIY compost tumbler on left, used traditional composter on right. Both are 55 gallon capacity.


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Additional Energy Conservation Practices Water Collection

All water collection items were DIY implemented prior to this contest.

I have a total of four 55 gallon water barrels at my house. Two are fed by downspouts, and the other

two are fed by reverse osmosis greywater. These water barrels are more than sufficient to provide

100% of all water for my vegetable garden and city tree pits outside my house.

An additional two 5 gallon buckets are installed below the sink which also collect reverse osmosis

greywater for washing dishes. I custom made the entire greywater collection system last year when I

added the under-sink reverse greywater system due to the Pittsburgh lead issues. The under sink

buckets have float valves which automatically stop filling the buckets when full and divert water to

water barrels and/or sink drain.

I also have an unknown-gallon mannequin that I turned into a water barrel, which also provides water

for my vegetable garden and in turn feeds the front yard 55 gallon water barrel.

Figure 67 - Front yard mannequin water barrel 55 gallon water barrel. Both fed from front gutter.


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Figure 68 - Rear/side 55 gallon water barrel, fed from rear gutter.


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Figure 69 - Inside garage and outside garage 55 gallon water barrels. Fed either from reverse osmosis greywater or manually

by dumping excess from downspout barrels using buckets.

Figure 70 - Under sink reverse osmosis system and greywater collection 5 gallon and 3 gallon buckets. Buckets can quickly be

disconnected and be used for "bucket washing" dishes.


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Figure 71 - Bucket washing dishes using reverse osmosis greywater.


Page 49 of 57

Additional Energy Conservation Practices Reducing Hot Water Tank

Temperature and Usage Every year I reduce the hot water tank temperature in the spring to 100degF to account for warmer

indoor temperatures and less hot water heat loss by the time the water reaches the shower. Even in the

winter, I keep the hot water tank temperature to 110degF, and supplement a lower water temperature

by running the bathroom heater fan so the air of the room is warmer. This allows for the water

temperature to be set much lower without making it too uncomfortable. The typical suggestion is to set

a hot water tank to 120degF.

Another method I use to reduce hot water usage was to just remove the hot water handle from my

kitchen sink. This forces me to do all dishes with cold water. I also only wash clothes using cold cycle, so

in the end the only hot water used is for showers.

Luck would have it that I also had a backed up sewer line in March during this competition, so I used the

opportunity to flush the hot water tank. Not a drop of water was wasted, as I used the drained hot

water tank water and the subsequent hot water tank flushing water to also flush my main sewer line

while I was clearing it with a drain snake.

as well as helps to improve its efficiency.

Figure 72 - with a basic kitchen thermometer, since hot water tank

temperature control knob does not show temperature.


Page 50 of 57

Figure 73 - Hot water handle removed from kitchen sink. This forces us to always use cold water for washing dishes.

Figure 74 - Draining hot water tank into boiler room floor drain to also flush out main sewer line. A good amount of

sediment was flushed out.


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Additional Energy Conservation Practices Thermostat Settings I believe energy conservation starts with reducing energy consumption. In the winter, the thermostat is

set to 60 F during weekdays, 62 F during weekend days, and 58 F at night. Even so, we remain

perfectly comfortable wearing sweatshirts.

suggested F. The house does not have central AC; therefore, during

the summer we rely mostly on opening the windows and turning on fans, if necessary, at night, and

closing curtains during the day. Typically we will run two window AC units for a total of one week during

the summer, only during the hottest days.

Additional Energy Conservation Practices Transportation

d), and I wanted to be able to walk to work to reduce my carbon footprint from driving. I ve

made the roughly 1 mile round trip walk, which includes the infamous Rialto St., every day since 2010.


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Additional Energy Conservation Practices Home Vegetable Garden Growing my own vegetables 6 months out of the year reduces trips to the grocery store, and reduces

the demand for and the upstream energy consumption involved with the transportation of non-locally

sourced food from all over the world.

Figure 75 - Recent photo of early springtime front "yarden", with Fall 2019 planted garlic sprouted.


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Appendix A Receipts

Figure 76 2/2/2020 (left) and 2/22/20 (right) Home Depot receipts.


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Figure 77 - 3/23/2020 Home Depot receipt.


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Figure 78 12/30/2019 Amazon receipt 1 of 2.

Figure 79 - 12/30/2019 Amazon receipt 2 of 2.


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Figure 80 12/31/2019 Amazon receipt.

Figure 81 4/10/2020 website price check of cap nails, for Home Depot receipt that was lost.


Page 57 of 57

Figure 82 , for Home Depot receipt that was lost.

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