Basics of geothermal energy

Geothermal heating and cooling systems provide the greatest return on your investment; geothermal will drastically reduce your energy bill.

There are two different forms of geothermal; steam and geothermal heat pumps.  For your home, we’re only discussing geothermal heat pumps to heat and cool your space.  Geothermal heat pumps use the earth as a stable source of energy.  For the most part, the temperature beneath the earth’s surface is around 54 degrees.  By tapping into this stable temperature, we are able to inexpensively raise and lower your homes temperature to keep you comfortable all year long.  You’ll no longer feel guilty about forgetting to turn the heat back when you leave for work!

Benefits of geothermal energy

A geothermal heating and cooling system is an affordable and sustainable solution that offers many benefits. Not only will it reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and global warming risks, but it has a significant impact financially, lowering the amount of money you will spend to heat and cool your home.

Geothermal heat pumps are used to cool your home in the summer by rejecting heat into the Earth and heat your home in the winter by taking heat from the Earth and transferring it into your home. This process is similar to that of a refrigerator in your kitchen; keeping your food cold by removing the heat from inside it. A refrigerant is required to transfer the heat out of the refrigerator and into your home’s space. Geothermal heat pumps work similarly, in that they transfer heat in and out of your home by refrigerant. The difference is the heat is transferred to and from the Earth below.

Basics of geothermal energy

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, geothermal heat pumps are among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies available today. If you are looking for a cost-effective alternative to heating and cooling your home this year, consider installing a geothermal heat pump system.  Renewable Home Energy’s qualified installers can provide a free in-home assesment and geothermal system cost absolutely free.  There is never any hassle or pressure to buy.

I Can Sell Electricity?

You bet you can.  And lots of people are earning lots of money doing it.  You see, competition has been introduced in the electricity market in Texas and other states.  There is a company in Texas that gives you and me the opportunity to earn monthly income from electricity customers.  Know anyone that uses electricity?

 

As energy consultants, we work from home, gathering a handful of electricity customers, and build a team of like-minded individuals who also gather a handful of electricity customers.  Doing this, you can garner a residual income that quite frankly, is staggering.  For every electricity customer gathered by your team, you will be paid every month, every time they pay their bill.  Can you think of a more perfect product?  The electricity bill is the one bill that has to be paid… it cannot be delayed or put off.

Maybe you are like a lot of people that work long hours and sometimes even on weekends.  Perhaps your current work plan is even paying all your bills.  But, do you have much left after bill paying to do anything on your ‘wish list?’   No?   And month after month, it goes on…  I know, I was there..

I am not suggesting you quit your ‘day job.’   But,  how about something that can produce EXTRA INCOME or serious enough money which allows you to get and do some of the things you want, instead of only the things you need?

Let me ask you a simple question:

Do you know anyone who uses electricity?

That may sound like a dumb question, but think about it.. really think about it.  We all use it.    Second question:  How many people do you think would like to pay less for that electricity?   Those two questions are easy to answer.join-ambit-energy-start-making-money-now

Here is the exciting part:   you can make a substantial ongoing monthly income just by sharing with people how they can pay less for their electricity.  Something they ALREADY buy, every month, no matter what.

REMEMBER: EVERYONE uses electricity and everyone likes to save money, and you can help them save a lot every year.

 

You have an Energy Star New Home – How accurate are the Projections?

This study is of interest to all HVAC, Insulation Contractors. It is also important to Home Owners.  An Energy Audit makes recommendations and projects cost effectiveness based on a computer model of the Energy Use in each specific home.

How much can you count on those projections? Home Energy Usage depends on three things!

  • First:  The Weather!
  • Second: The Lifestyle of the Family in the Home!
  • Third: The construction of the Home!

Mother Nature has control of the weather! Lifestyle is the difference between having 3 High School Football Players in the family, or 3 High School Cheerleaders.  Energy use will be different. Then what happens to the use when those kids go off to college.

This study actually compares the projections from several hundreds of thousands of homes to their actual usage.  You can read the RESNET Summary. You can read the report itself. I have reprinted the Summary with the link to the Report below.

The original Summary can be read here.

My conclusions:

  • The correlation from projected usage to measured usage over time justifies the reliance on computer modeling using the software to guide your decisions on prioritizing improvements in energy efficiency to your existing home.
  • The correlation of projections for Energy Star New Homes to actual usage gives Builders, Contractors and Home Buyers the confidence to use an Energy Star New Home Certification for lowering the ongoing Operating Costs for Energy in a New Home Purchase.

John Nicholas

 

PROJECTIONS FROM HERS ACCURATE August 22nd, 2012

Posted by RESNET under RESNET News

Over the years, there have been discussions over how accurate are home energy ratings in predicting the energy use of rated homes. To enhance the discussion of the accuracy of home energy ratings’ energy use projections it would be good to review a study conducted and published by Advanced Energy on a large set of homes in Houston, Texas. The authors of the study were Michael Blasnik of M. Blasnik & Associates and Shaun Hassel and Benjamin Hannas of Advanced Energy. The objective of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency supported “Houston Energy Efficiency Study” was to assess the actual energy use of groups of homes built to different energy efficiency specifications in Metropolitan Houston – typical non-program (baseline) homes, ENERGY STAR® homes labeled by a Home Energy Rating and guaranteed performance homes.

More than 226,000 homes built from 2002 through 2007 by dozens of different production builders were included in this study. The large dataset also provided the opportunity to analyze how certain construction characteristics are related to actual energy usage. Data collected for this project included billing data for all new homes built in the CenterPoint utility service territory from 2002 through 2007, information from property assessor databases of four counties, detailed building characteristics for tens of thousands of ENERGY STAR homes from CenterPoint’s ENERGY STAR Homes tracking database, and detailed data files from energy raters including the home energy rating software tool, REM/Rate, input files and building shell and duct leakage test data. The study did not involve any direct data collection in the field but instead relied upon existing data sources.

This approach allowed the scope of the study to be much larger in terms of the number of homes analyzed but left some gaps in our understanding of some details, especially of baseline homes. The overall dataset includes hundreds of variables for 226,873 homes, including 114,035 potential baseline homes, 106,197 ENERGY STAR homes and 6,641 guaranteed performance homes.

Although consumption differences across groups of homes are smaller than advertised, ENERGY STAR homes perform very close to the predictions of the models on average, while baseline homes perform better than the reference homes defined by the HERS standard. ENERGY STAR uses a base case reference home defined as minimum local code specifications combined with the least efficient cooling, heating and hot water systems available, a leaky building envelope and a poor duct system. Using this yardstick to measure the performance of the ENERGY STAR houses in the study, they did quite well – showing a strong and fairly consistent relationship between actual and projected performance for both heating and cooling. Therefore the apparent lack of savings is attributable not to underperformance by the ENERGY STAR homes but to the fact that the baseline houses in Houston perform considerably better than the ENERGY STAR reference house.

You have an Energy Star New Home – How accurate are the Projections?

The relationship between REM/Rate cooling load projections and actual electric usage was examined graphically and statistically for 10,258 homes with sufficient data. REM/Rate projected an average cooling load of 5,506 kWh/yr while the billing analysis estimated average cooling loads at 5,677 kWh/yr, about 3 percent higher – excellent overall agreement. Although the analysis found no systematic bias in the REM/rate cooling projections, there was a large amount of variability in the data. Findings revealed that the correlation was higher between house size and cooling load than between REM/Rate projected cooling load and actual usage. However, the study team feels confident in stating that when using current modeling software with energy-efficient new homes, there is a strong and fairly consistent relationship between actual and projected performance using REM/Rate for both heating and cooling. REM/Rate also estimated the average heating usage of program homes fairly well – only 4 percent lower than the measured loads.

Fresh Air, Your Home, Your Health

It has been said over the years that houses need to breathe.

One of the first times that came up, according to Bill Rose in ‘Water in Buildings’ was during the 1930’s. It had become an argument between the house painters and those pesky Energy Efficiency Folks that were beginning to install insulation in the walls of homes. The 1930’s found our country in the middle of the Great Depression and who could blame folks for trying to save a few bucks! The painters were having problem with their paint peeling.  So they started refusing to paint houses with this new fangled insulation.  If you haven’t heard, insulation in the 1930’s was not new.

As an Energy Auditor, I have audited some old houses.  This past year, I did one that was build in 1912 – 100 years old! And a beautiful 1887, two and a half story Victorian. My friend John from Derby, CT works on old houses. He has found insulation in houses that are older than any houses than I’ve worked on. People have lived around Derby CT, for a few years longer than they have Derby, KS. John really likes his old homes.  He would tell you that one built in 1887 is still somewhat new.  His current project is reported to have been built in 1700, or it may have been 1667.  He is still trying to figure that one out. In some of his old homes, he has found original insulation. He is not sure about the R-Value.  That of course would depend on how well it was installed.  What were they using way back then for insulation?  Good question!  Since Derby, CT is near the Atlantic Ocean, they were using Seaweed!  An original all natural insulation! And, if it got wet, it doesn’t mold!

So the painters were slightly behind the times in refusing to paint houses with that new fangled insulation in them. They thought the insulation was stopping air from moving into the house. And that was causing the paint to peel. Actually, the insulation was not stopping the air movement in or out of the house. You can buy furnace filters made of fiberglass as you can find fiberglass insulation.

I think the phrase ‘houses need to breathe’ is somewhat misleading at best. It is the things we all cherish in our homes need fresh clean air.  So somehow, we who operate the building, we call home, need to make provision for a proper amount of fresh air.

Yes, air can come in when you go in and out the door. Maybe the question is, where is your door.  Does it go to a hall way in a high rise apartment building?  How about the attached garage?  What kind of fresh air might that be?  Can you open a window? Yes – many of us do!  Is that enough fresh air? Do you do it every day? Is it really fresh air?

Fresh Air, Your Home, Your Health

What about your window?  My bathroom window opens. When I do open it, and the dryer is running, the dryer exhaust comes right in?  How about that dryer sheet smell and the moisture and the lint?  Got a swimming pool, or several water features in your yard? What about living near a large pond, lakeside or near a creek or river? The higher humidity in these areas can actually be measured and can get trapped near the soffit of a nearby home. Is that part of your fresh air?

Fresh Air, Your Home, Your HealthIf you don’t make the plan of where and how much fresh air your home brings in, who does make the plan?  My guess is everyone does! Fresh air moves into your home, where it can find a hole. Since most attics are vented, they can provide a hole, then the electrician just drills his one inch hole and puts the half inch wire through it! And you have a hole. The plumber runs a sewer stack up the wall and out the roof. Did he seal around his stack? What about the furnace tech?  He runs a flue up through that attic, or out the rim joist. You can add Larry The Cable Guy, the IT Tech running Cat 5 cable, and the list keeps on going!

You choice now is:

  • Allow the fresh air needed by that which you cherish to come into your home any ol’ way someone lets it!
  • Seal all those accidental unplanned air movement pathways and decide for your self and those you cherish where and how much fresh air to bring in.

Water Pipes Freezing and Cold Weather is Predicted — What should I do?

When the recent cold snap with below Zero temperatures approached, I had several calls about the potential for freezing pipes and what a homeowner could do.  This blog post has compiled all those answers and some other information for easy access.

Things you should know about your water pipes.

Location:  Where are they?  Interior walls?  Exterior walls?  Typical plumbing runs pipes through the wall to the cabinet under (or behind) the sink, shower or tub.

If it is an interior wall, you have less chance of those pipes freezing, then if they are in an exterior wall.

Location:  Where do the pipes enter your home?  Into a basement?  Into the crawl space? Under your mobile home?

This can be a problem area.

The weather forecast says “Your Water Pipes Might Freeze Tonight! Knowing where your pipes are enables you to take some simple preventative action.

Open the cabinet doors by the pipes on exterior walls.  This allows the warmer air from the room into the cabinet area.  Check to see and remove any cleaners etc that a child or pet might get into.

Open a cold water faucet at the sink and let it drip slightly.  Moving water does not freeze. It doesn’t need to move a lot, just a little.  If you do this you may need to replace the faucet washer later. Small price compared to frozen pipes.

Don’t lower your thermostat temperature.  Bypass any setbacks on the thermostat. The amount of energy will be a minimal cost compared to frozen pipes.

Don’t leave home in the winter for any length of time *and* turn the heat down.

If your water supply comes in through a vented crawl space, close the vents.  Check to see that insulated pipes have intact insulation and that it is not wet.  Wet insulation is worse than no insulation. This also applies to mobile homes.

If your water supply comes in to a basement that is not heated, check as if it were a crawl space.

You get up in the morning and there is no cold water at one sink.

First try the other faucets to see if this is just at the one sink, or perhaps where the pipes come in.

Leave each frozen faucet open.  As the ice begins to melt, the water will begin to move and that is good.  Moving water will melt the ice faster.

How you identify the area where the pipe is frozen may vary, you will find it in an area that feels cold, and it seems logical to you that no heat is getting there.

You will have to search for the frozen section(s) of pipe. You can do this with your hand. If you touch the pipe and it is really cold,  you may be close or there.  Normally, water coming from a pipe that is under ground, will be between 50 and 55 degrees F. You will feel the difference with a frozen section or close to frozen section of pipe at 32 degrees.  You can also use a contact thermometer.

If you find no water at all faucets, then your frozen section is probably at a point of entry to the home. Older homes, prior to the 1940′s, that were built before running water was brought into the home, will have many varied places to look. If you have lived there very long, you probably already know. Otherwise, it will be in a basement or crawl space, or perhaps an exterior wall.  If you live in a home that is built on a concrete slab, your odds of a frozen entry pipe happening are minimal.

To Thaw the frozen section. Use heat!

Use a blower dryer, a heat lamp, some type of portable heater. You can use a towel soaked in very hot water, and wrung out well.

Do *not* use any type of open flame.  Pipes are almost always close to parts of the home that burn, and that is not a good thing.

Second, stay with your heat source and the frozen pipe.  If the pipe starts to leak during the process, you need to know so you can shut off the water.

When you get the pipe section thawed, and you have no breaks or leaks, great! If you get any type of leaking, get it fixed.

Prevention for the next cold snap.

You should follow the simple preventative steps listed earlier.

For a more permanent solution, you need to create a situation where the pipe section that froze is kept warmer. That means you add heat or insulation and stop cold air movement.

Pipe insulation from the big box or the hardware store could help.  Buy the correct size, it comes molded for 1/2, 3/4 and larger pipes.  This is a foam that you can easily compress.  So, fasten it snugly, but not tightly.  It should fit more like a nice sweater on your arm instead of a tight rubber band.  Since it is squeezable, it is open cell foam and will allow air movement through it. So I would wrap it with something to stop the wind. Tape would be easy, but you could use something rigid, like small pieces of plywood. For tape, you could use packing tape, or duck tape.

Depending on the location of the pipe section, some rigid foam, blue or pink board type, might work better. Typically this would be a pipe near an exterior wall, with room to put the insulation between the pipe and the wall.  You can fasten it to the wall.

Most of these will also benefit, and some instances will require additional heat.  So opening a cabinet door is something you might have to continue. Modifying any type of duct work is not recommended for directing heat at this type of problem.

This leaves those section in an unheated basement or a crawlspace.

You could add a heat tape.  Make sure you have easy access to this to turn it off after the cold snap and to turn it back on for the next one.  If you don’t, you will probably leave it on all winter and that is expensive. You also need to carefully check the sizing of any extension cord. If in doubt, hire an electrician to add an outlet, so an extension cord is not needed. Adding this type of fix is also something to keep your eye on and check regularly. It is a Fire Hazard.  I would not recommend a used heat tape.  Buy a new on and replace it annually, until you get a more permanent and safe resolution.

Permanent and Safe Solutions

These require some thought and planning. They may take a contractor to implement. You may find through the planning process, other problems that will be fixed.

Water Pipes Freezing and Cold Weather is Predicted — What should I do?

Give me a call, if you have frozen pipes and want a permanent solution. I can develop a solution for you. Since I don’t sell the products you might use, I can come up with a solution that works for you! Not one that moves my merchandise.

Build Your Own Home Energy Audit

A comprehensive Home Energy Audit takes time and covers a number of areas. It provides lots of information and recommendations.  A homeowner may choose to limit the inspection to those items of their concern.

The energy efficiency of each home combines an analysis of the components of the home and how well they are installed.  Think of a bucket of water, the bucket is the walls and ceiling of your home. A pinhole in the bucket will drain the water from the bucket and the heat from your home!

A Home Energy Audit looks at the ability of each building component to resist the transfer of heat. The air tightness of each component is also reviewed.

This post covers a description of each part of a comprehensive Home Energy Audit.

Pricing, previously contained in this post, is posted separately.

Utility Analysis

The actual usage over the last 12 months of Electric and Gas is compared to the home size and evaluated. This requires information from the Utility Companies.

Infiltration Testing                 

(Multi-point Blower Door Testing with Thermal Imaging and Indoor Air Quality Analysis)

Everyone has felt a cold draft at one time or another. Since the air blew in and the house didn’t pop like an overfilled balloon, the air blew out somewhere else.  This test simulates a 20 MPH wind on all four sides of the home at the same time. It allows an actual measurement of leakage and it identifies the leaks. This allows a specific plan for the leaks in your home to be fixed.

The recommendations will include effective measures to improve indoor air quality, not just install what the salesman has in-stock. If you have de-humidifiers running this Testing is important.

Ceiling Evaluation:

The ceiling and attic areas are examined for insulation, ventilation and thermal bypasses. This is done from the outside of the home, the inside in all rooms and from the attic. It may involve remote camera usage. If Infiltration Testing is part of the package, information from the Thermal Imaging portions are applied to the ceiling Evaluation.

Foundation Wall Evaluation (below grade):        

In most homes a major source of heat loss is from the crawl space, the slab or the basement walls. There are generically referred to as the foundation of your home. Traditionally, builders have confused the thermodynamic principles involved, with hot air rising and heat loss, to falsely assume that basements cannot be kept warm.

Wall Evaluation (above grade):

Homes over twenty years old, or homes with a major insulation failure may benefit from a specific wall evaluation for walls above grade.  It is part of a comprehensive  energy audit. All wall evaluations are conducted with Non-Destructive-Test Methods to start. Depending on the home, the type of construction, access to various areas, further testing that involves minor holes being drilled will be discussed with and approved by the homeowner before the end of the evaluation.

The condition and energy efficiency of your exterior siding is done at this point.            

Equipment (furn. AC, hot water):                    (Includes safety checks on Gas Fired Equipment)

Your heating and cooling equipment is a large investment. What are the efficiency ratings on your existing equipment and what is available on the market? How does a home owner sort out fact from sales pitch.  This inspection includes safety testing for gas fired equipment. Furnace, Heat Pump, AC, Hybrid Heat Pump, are included.

Windows and Door Evaluation:           

Windows are advertised everywhere.  On the Radio, TV, the newspapers and other print media all carry large volumes of sales pitch for replacement windows. The FTC has fined some window companies for outlandish claims on energy savings.

Are your windows an energy problem? Can those energy problems be fixed or should the windows be replaced? What is the best for my home?  Low E, argon filled, double pane, triple pane? How does a double pane window save energy?  All these questions and more are answered. And you get the answers from someone that does not have a financial interest in your purchase or non-purchase of a product.

Windows and Doors are both holes in the wall.  From an energy loss standpoint there is not much difference. Doors are not as heavily advertised, but they are pushed after the salesman gets to quote your home.          

Computer Modeling and Reporting

The Comprehensive Home Energy Audit provides a complete energy usage model and reporting of problems, recommendations and solutions. Interactions between building components are considered in the computer model. You can go from the report to soliciting firm prices from a contractor or doing it yourself with this report. This reporting will qualify for applying for and Energy Improvement Mortgage if you are buying a home, or refinancing your current home.

If you choose various parts of the Home Energy Audit, written reports and recommendations will also be provided. These will all you can go from the report to soliciting firm prices from a contractor or doing it yourself with this report. The reports are limited to the selections made. Interactions between building components are not considered.

Duct Leakage Testing Not included in the comprehensive audit.

Some comfort and energy loss issues involve improperly installed ductwork. Testing is easy. Fixing these problems can vary in complexity depending on the home.      

Lighting and Appliances Not included in the comprehensive audit.

Incandescent, halogen, CFLs, LEDs, which is best for your home?  Not every fixture needs a high efficiency light! Should I get a new fridge or other appliance?  All these are part of the Lights and Appliances.

Bonus Room (over the garage, or in the attic) Included in the comprehensive audit.

Build Your Own Home Energy Audit

Rooms placed over a garage or in the attic are a special case. They are part of a comprehensive audit. They can be an individual item, with infiltration testing, due to the unique construction problems with them.

Green home energy for Your life