Home Performance Analysis

Transcription

1 395 National Drive Suite 15 Burtonsville, MD FAX: Home Performance Analysis ENERGY AUDIT REPORT Prepared For: Matthew Lesko 399 Prospect St Kensington, MD 2895 Date Audit Performed: Tuesday, January 12, 21

2 Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction and Report Findings Summary Section 2: Combustion Safety Test Results Section 3: Detailed Findings and Recommendations Section 4: Common Conservation Strategies Appendix A: Computer Modeling Results

3 1) INTRODUCTION AND REPORT FINDINGS SUMMARY INTRODUCTION A Home Performance Analysis was conducted on 1/12/1 at 399 Prospect St, Kensington, MD The home is a two story colonial style built in The home s dimensions, windows and doors, mechanical equipment, and other features were examined and recorded. A blower door test was conducted, and inspection utilizing a FLIR thermographic imaging (infrared) camera was conducted at a house depressurization of about 5 Pa. The National Energy Audit Tool (NEAT) computer program was used to determine the most cost-effective improvement suggestions summarized in Section 3. The detailed analysis report from NEAT is included in Appendix A REPORT FINDINGS SUMMARY Recommended Improvement Estimated Annual Savings Billing Adjusted Annual Savings Estimated Cost Simple Payback, Yrs Adj. Simple Payback, Yrs Infiltration Redctn $ $ Attic Ins. R-3 $22.32 $2, Low Flow Showerheads $94.58 $4..4 Sillbox Ins. $43.28 $ DWH Tank Insulation $39.9 $ DWH Pipe Insulation $25.87 $21..8 Totals: $ $3, Page 1 of 2

4 2) COMBUSTION SAFETY TEST RESULTS Combustion Testing Summary This home is all electric with no combustioni appliances. Therefore, no combustion testing was necessary. The detailed results are shown below: Combustion Zone measured value CAZ 1 CAZ 2 acceptable limit / Recommendation Ambient Carbon Monoxide: parts per million <9 parts per million Outdoor Temperature: degrees F Baseline Pressure relative to outside: Pascals Pressure relative to outside, exhaust devices on: Pressure relative to outside, furnace air on: Pressure relative to outside, interior doors closed: Pascals Pascals Pascals Pressure relative to outside, worst case: Pascals Pascals Furnace / Boiler Spillage Test: Not Applicable Not Applicable < 1 minute Flue Draft: Pascals Not Applicable Carbon Monoxide: parts per million Not Applicable Efficiency: percent Not Applicable Water Heater Carbon Monoxide: parts per million Not Applicable Efficiency: percent Not Applicable Stand Alone Test Spillage Test: Not Applicable < 1 minute Flue Draft: Pascals Not Applicable Combined Test (Furnace Running) Spillage Test: Not Applicable < 1 minute Flue Draft: Pascals Not Applicable Page 2 of 2

5 3) DETAILED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Below you will find our recommended improvements to your home, ranked by the potential annual energy cost savings. You will also find an estimated cost for the improvement, and the estimated Simple Payback Period. The payback period is given in years and is obtained by dividing the expected installation cost of the improvement by the expected annual savings. If you provided us with your previous year's utility bills, you will also see an adjusted value for your annual savings and simple payback period, based on the utility information. **IMPORTANT** Annual Savings, Improvement Cost and Simple Payback Period are estimates only and may differ considerably depending on contractors chosen, quality of materials and installation, and future energy costs. Infiltration Redctn Improvement Cost: $8. Annual Savings: $ Simple Payback Period (years): 1.5 Billing Adjusted Every home requires a certain amount of air infiltration, or the exchange of air with the outside (what we typically refer to as "fresh" air). A good rule of thumb for the minimum amount of air exchange is.35 Air Changes per Hour, or ACH. ACH is based on the volume of conditioned air your home contains. For example, if a home contained 2, cubic feet of conditioned air, that home should have at least.35 times that, or 7, cubic feet per hour of air exchanged with the outside. Any higher ACH than that is simply wasted energy. Typically, this excess leakage is one of the largest sources of home energy loss. These leaks not only waste energy, but also tend to make the house drafty and uncomfortable, especially in the winter. In addition to saving energy, controlling air leakage can reduce moisture problems and reduce the influx of odors and contaminated air from the basement or crawlspace, while increasing the overall comfort of the occupants. The dominant force driving air leakage energy loss in wintertime (when the largest losses occur) is known as "Stack Effect". Hot air in a house rises, creating a high pressure at the top floor ceiling and forcing its way out into the attic and outside. This escaping air then creates a low pressure at the lowest points of the house that pulls cold air in through gaps and cracks. By focusing on air sealing at the top and the bottom of the heated space, the stack effect can be substantially reduced. High pressure air at the top escapes, creating low pressure at the bottom, pulling in cold air Page 3 of 2

6 To quantify the amount of leakage in your home, a blower door test was performed. During the blower door test, your home showed excessive leakage of 533 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) at a depressurization of 5 Pascals (Pa). The Building Airflow Standard (BAS) for fresh air ventilation in CFM at 5Pa is.35 x V x N / 6, where V is the conditioned air volume of the house and N is a conversion factor based on the geographical region and the number of stories above ground. Your home's BAS is approximately 233 CFM at 5Pa. Since the tested infiltration rate is more than twice the minimum recommended rate for your home, air sealing can be installed without concern about inadequate ventilation. Blower door installation To help pinpoint the leaks contributing to the air infiltration, we also used an infrared camera in conjunction with the blower door. The blower door was used to lower the pressure inside the house, forcing air to be drawn in from all openings. Since the outside air was cooler than inside during the site visit, the infrared camera shows leaks from the outside as cold areas (green and blue color). The basement mechanical room is currently vented to the outside. This room is a "confused" space, meaning that it is neither inside nor outside. It is recommended that this space be brought inside by sealing the vents, air sealing the rim joist bays (the area above the foundation between the floor beams) and then insulating them with fiberglass batt insulation. Below you can see the IR image indicating cold air flowing in through the rim joist area. Page 4 of 2

7 On the second floor, the attic entrance hatch is a common source of energy loss. Because of the pulldown steps, it is difficult to insulate the door, and air can leak around the hatch. Below you can see the air leaking in around the hatch. The air leakage can be reduced by simply installing foam weatherstripping around the perimeter of the hatch where it contacts the frame. Attic entrance IR image showing air leakage Sealing and insulating these types of trap doors with the collapsable ladder attached to the attic side is a challenge. As an alternate to the sealing recommendations given above, there is a product called an Attic Tent available online that offers a nice solution to both the air leakage and insulation problems, as shown below. They come in different sizes, and sell for about $2. depending on the size. More information can be found at Attic Tent entrance seal and insulation closed. Attic Tent open. Page 5 of 2

8 Recessed lights are also a common surce of air leakage. Below you can see that yours are no exception. Your existing fixtures are not Insulated Contact (IC) rated. Therefore, there are three possible solutions: 1. Replace the fixtures with airtight, IC rated fixtures 2. Fabricate a box out of drywall or other suitable material that is placed over the fixture on the attic side, and the box then sealed to the attic floor with caulk or spray foam. 3. Install replacement trim rings that form an airtight seal. The options above are listed in the preferred order, as well as most expensive to least expensive. Recessed lights are a common leakage source IR image showing air leaking through fixture The duct system in the attic showed some leakage, especially on the supply side. This wastes energy in two ways: 1. Air that has just been heated is leaking out into the attic instead of being delivered to the living space. 2. Leaking supply ducts cause the house to become depressurized, drawing in cold air from other leaks in the house. The bulk of the leakage seemed to be on the main supply trunk right at the attic entrance. Also, the return duct needs to be sealed to the attic floor from above. Supply register on 2nd floor IR image showing cold air leaking in through the duct system. Page 6 of 2

9 Dirty insulation indicates leakage at this supply trunk Return register duct should be sealed from the attic side A common though hidden source of energy loss comes from the interior walls on the top story. Typical framed walls are constructed with a bottom plate 2x4 and a top plate 2x4 connected by the wall studs, then drywall is applied to the framing. Over time, for various reasons, a gap will form between the drywall and the top and bottom plates. This gap can be as large a 1/4 inch, and can run the entire length of the wall. Since the interior wall cavities are typically empty (uninsulated), air is free to exit through the top plate gap into the attic, drawing air under the wall baseboard and through the bottom plate gap. Even if the air cannot enter under the baseboard, the cold air will fall down into the wall cavity, pushing the warm air out. That cold air then becomes heated and thus cold air will continuously circulate in the wall cavity. Example of top plate with gaps, from the attic How interior walls lose energy Page 7 of 2

10 Below is an example of top plate leakage in your house. The solution to any top plate leakage is to expose the top plates on the attic side, sealing thenm with spray form insulation, and then installing insulation over them. Notice the dirty insulation below, indicative of air leaking through the top plates. Top plate gap as viewed from the attic Page 8 of 2

11 Most of your windows did not show excessive leakage. However, the kitchen window below did leak substantially at the seal between the top and bottom sash. This can likely be addressed with weatherstripping. brushstroke-like IR image indicates substantial leakage Page 9 of 2

12 Attic Ins. R-3 Improvement Cost: $2,4. Annual Savings: $22.32 Simple Payback Period (years): 1.1 Billing Adjusted The insulation in the attic space is a vital component of a home's ability to avoid energy loss and keep you comfortable year-round. In the winter, a good insulation layer will prevent the heat from transferring through the ceiling and to the outside. In the summer, it will prevent the ceiling from becoming excessively warm. A hot ceiling surface will radiate heat down into the air-conditioned space and its residents. Attic temperatures can reach 13 degrees or higher in the summer. Insulation is rated by its ability to prevent heat from moving from hot to cold areas, called an R rating. The higher the R rating, the better the insulation. Current county code requires all new homes to have at least R-38 in the attic spaces, with R-49 recommended. You currently have about 6 inches of fiberglass batt insulation. There are many areas with gaps and where the inulation has been pulled back or misplaced. This gives you an approximate insulation level of about R-15. Example of insulation being installed Page 1 of 2

13 Low Flow Showerheads Improvement Cost: $4. Annual Savings: $94.58 Simple Payback Period (years):.4 Billing Adjusted Water heating can be as high as 2% of your home's energy usage depending on the number of occupants and their personal habits. This is mentioned in Section 4 of this report, but it bears repeating here. You can benefit substantially by replacing the showerheads in your bathrooms with low-flow showerheads. Typically, a low-flow showerhead will be rated at 2.5 gallons per minute or less. These are readily available at any major hardware outlet, and they are inexpensive and easy to replace. Low flow showerheads can pay for themselves in a month or two. Page 11 of 2

14 Sillbox Ins. Improvement Cost: $82.8 Annual Savings: $43.28 Simple Payback Period (years): 1.9 Billing Adjusted The band/rim joist, or sillbox, is the area between the ceiling joists (beams) that is part of the outside wall. This area should be sealed with caulk or foam along the wall sill and subfloor, then insulated with fiberglass batt insulation. This was also discussed in the Infiltration Reduction section, and pertains only to the mechanical room. Example showing wall sill plate, and sillbox (band-rim joist) Properly installed rim joist insulation Page 12 of 2

15 DWH Tank Insulation Improvement Cost: $5. Annual Savings: $39.9 Simple Payback Period (years): 1.3 Billing Adjusted Your hot water tank is a good quality electric heater with a capacity of 5 gallons. The insulation level of this model water heater is modest, resulting in heat loss. The fact that the unit is located in conditioned space makes this loss less important in winter, since the escaped heat then helps to heat the inside of the house. However, in summertime the escaped heat works against the air conditioner. Also, even in winter, the heat lost to the basement is expensive electrical resistance heat. The insulation of the water heater can be improved upon by adding an R-1 insulation jacket, available at the major local hardware outlets. These insulation jackets are inexpensive and easy to install. Water heater insulation jacket Page 13 of 2

16 DWH Pipe Insulation Improvement Cost: $21. Annual Savings: $25.87 Simple Payback Period (years):.8 Billing Adjusted Although it will result in modest savings, the simple and effective improvement of installing foam insulation on both the inlet and outlet pipes of your water heater are worthwhile. Foam pipe insulation is inexpensive and easy to install Page 14 of 2

17 Summary of Recommendations Recommended Improvement Estimated Annual Savings Billing Adjusted Annual Savings Estimated Cost Simple Payback, Yrs Adj. Simple Payback, Yrs Infiltration Redctn $ $ Attic Ins. R-3 $22.32 $2, Low Flow Showerheads $94.58 $4..4 Sillbox Ins. $43.28 $ DWH Tank Insulation $39.9 $ DWH Pipe Insulation $25.87 $21..8 Totals: $ $3, Page 15 of 2

18 4) COMMON CONSERVATION STRATEGIES Independent of any improvement measures, there are some techniques you may consider using to save energy. They include: a. Programmable Thermostat If your house is vacant during certain periods of the day or week on a regular basis, a programmable thermostat can save 15% or more of your energy costs during the coldest and hottest months. A home s energy loss is directly related to the difference in temperature between inside and outside, so when no one is home, or when everyone is asleep, the thermostat can be adjusted (colder in winter, hotter in summer) to reduce the loss. While it is possible to manually control the thermostat, this has the disadvantages of remembering to change it, and to coming home or waking up to an uncomfortable temperature. With a programmable thermostat, you can have the heater or air conditioner begin to bring the temperature to a comfortable level before you normally arrive home or awaken. If you have a heat pump with electricity for auxiliary heat for your heating, it is vital that the programmable thermostat you install be an adaptive thermostat. This type of thermostat learns over time how long it takes to bring the house up to temperature, so that it does not use the auxiliary heating. Without this feature, much of the savings realized during the time the home is vacant will be negated by the expensive-to-use auxiliary heating coils. b. Water Heater Temperature Hot water can represent up to 2% of your home s monthly energy bill. While homes with many occupants (especially of the teenage variety) simply use large amounts of hot water, for many homes a significant amount of hot water energy is lost while the water heater is in stand-by mode, keeping the water up to it s set temperature for hours while not in use. Depending on your particular heater, it may be worthwhile to insulate the exterior of it. If so, you will have found this in the list of recommended improvements earlier in the report. However, most homes have a hot water heater that has a higher capacity in gallons than is used at any time before the water heater can recover to fully heated status. By gradually decreasing the target temperature of the water heater until you are either using all hot water when bathing, or you run out of hot water before the heater can recover, you can reduce the stand-by loss of the water heater. c. Exterior wall outlets Insulate outlets along all exterior walls with foam outlet gaskets and insert child safety caps in these outlets. d. Low Flow Showerheads In order to save water in general, and hot water most importantly, you can replace your high-flow showerheads with low-flow showerheads. Low-flow showerheads rate at 2.5 gallons per minute or less. There are many such showerheads available on the consumer market that provide a comfortable, satisfying shower while using substantially less water. This is generally a good option for all households, but it is especially cost effective in homes that have many occupants (or the aforementioned teenagers). Page 16 of 2

19 e. Window Blinds Radiation is one of three main ways that heat moves from hot to cold, and can move through a vaccuum. This is how the heat from the sun reaches Earth. Think of sitting next to a campfire on a cold evening. It feels very warm even though the air is still cold, unless someone stands between you and the fire. Their body blocks the radiating heat from the fire, and you instantly feel colder. Once they move out of the way, the warmth also returns instantaneously. Even the best performing windows are heat sinks in the wintertime at night. Their temperature will be colder than the adjacent walls and inside air. Similar to the campfire radiating heat to your body, when near the relatively cold window your body will radiate heat to the window, making you feel cool. By closing blinds at night in the winter, you can reduce the heat loss by radiation from you and other warm objects. f. Maintenance of Mechanical Equipment Your heating and cooling systems will only perform near or at their factory-rated efficiency if they are properly maintained. Make sure to have your equipment serviced by a qualified service technician at least once per season. g. Installation of Efficient Lighting Compact Flourescent Lights, or CFL's, use about 25% of the energy of a comparable incandescent lightbulb, and will last up to 7 years. By replacing your old lightbulbs with CFL's as they burn out, you can reduce the energy used for lighting your home substantially. Be aware, for lights that you have a dimmer installed, a digital dimmer and special CFL (more expensive) are required. Alternatively, you can stick with the standard bulb for those lights that you dim on a regular basis, or you may decide that the dimmer is not necessary. You should also be aware that CFL's contain small amounts of mercury, and therefore when they are replaced the old light should be disposed of properly. Page 17 of 2

20 APPENDIX A: DETAILED NEAT IMPROVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 18 of 2

21 NEAT Recommended Measures Agency Efficient Home LLC State MD Run On 1/12/21 RunID Client ID Matthew Lesko Version (3/19/28) AuditID Audit Name Client Name Lesko, Matthew Audit Date 1/12/21 Auditor Weather File WASHTODC.WX Setup Library Name Senergy Setup Library Comment The home is a two story colonial style built in The home s dimensions, windows and doors, mechanical equipment, and other features were examined and recorded. A blower door test was conducted, and inspection utilizing a FLIR thermographic imaging (infrared) camera was conducted at a house depressurization of about 5 Pa. The National Energy Audit Tool (NEAT) computer program was used to determine the most costeffective improvement suggestions summarized in Section 3. The detailed analysis report from NEAT is included in Appendix A Annual Energy and Cost Savings Index Recommended Measure Components Heating Cooling (MMBtu) $ (kwh) $ BaseLoad kwh ($) Total (MMBtu) 1 Infiltration Redctn Low Flow Showerheads DWH Pipe Insulation DWH Tank Insulation Sillbox Ins. F Attic Ins. R-3 A Energy Saving Measure Economics Index Recommended Measure Components Measure Savings ($/yr) Measure Cost ($) Measure SIR Cumulative Cost ($) Cumulative SIR 1 Infiltration Redctn Low Flow Showerheads DWH Pipe Insulation DWH Tank Insulation Sillbox Ins. F Attic Ins. R-3 A Materials Index Material Type Quantity Units 1 Attic Insulation Cellulose, Blown - R-3 12 SqFt 2 Sill Insulation Fiberglass Faced Batt - R SqFt 3 DHW Tank Insulation 1 Each Page 19 of 2

22 Index Material Type Quantity Units 4 DHW Pipe Insulation 1 Each 5 Low Flow Shower Heads 2 Each Pre/Post Retrofit Energy and Loads Pre Retrofit Post Retrofit Heating Cooling Heating Cooling Annual load (MBtu/yr) Annual Energy (MBtu/yr) Heat loss/gain (kbtu/hr) Output required (kbtu/hr)(ton) Approximate Manual J Component Contributions to Peak HEATING Load Component Type Component Name Area or Volume (Inf) Pre Retrofit Load (Btu/h) Post Retrofit Load (BTU/h) Wall Wall Wall Wall Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Door DR Door DR Door DR Attic A Foundation F Infiltration Inf Total heat loss Tot Duct loss Duct Output required Output Approximate Manual J Component Contributions to Peak COOLING Load Component Type Component Name Area or Volume (Inf) Pre Retrofit Load (Btu/h) Post Retrofit Load (Btu/h) Wall Wall Page 2 of 2

23 Component Type Component Name Area or Volume (Inf) Pre Retrofit Load (Btu/h) Post Retrofit Load (Btu/h) Wall Wall Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Window WD Door DR Door DR Door DR Attic A Foundation F Infiltration Inf People People Appliances Appl Total Sensible TotS Ducts Ducts Total (with ducts) TotW Size (tons) Size Latent Load (inf) LatentI Latent Load (occ) LatentO.. Latent Load (tot) LatentT Total Load Total Size (tons) Size Special Notes NOTE: Heat loss and Output required are only guides to sizing equipment. NOTE: See NEAT User's Manual for further sizing details. NOTE: Read cautions in NEAT User's Manual related to sizing results. NOTE: (+) in the Materials list indicates there are more related User Defined Materials. Retrofit Measures NOT Considered Window shading (awning)