By Brian Skeele, on May 6th, 2011
I’ve started a list of good ideas that come about if we rethink the functions and interplay of our home and its neighborhood. So far I’ve got 29 killer (If I do say so myself) ideas. The first 7 are home oriented, the last 22 are more neighborhood oriented. Add your ideas to the list via the comment area!
5. Lower Heating and Cooling Bills
cellulose insulation
A dollar saved is a dollar earned! Increase the R-value (insulation) in the walls and ceiling, so there is little need for heat. Waste heat from the refrigerator, lights, computers, solar panel on roof, or wood burning stove, can heat the home if your insulation is high, and there are few air leaks.
A tight house requires fresh air heat recovery exchange venting. These are clever devices exhaust stale air, but, in the winter time, transfer the heat to the fresh air coming in. In the summer, the cool of the inside air is transferred to the fresh hotter air as it comes into the house.
By taking these step you’ll be future proofing your cash flow from post peak oil production spikes. There are different strategies, with different pay back periods….Share them here!…
Design tips.
I’ve looked into this paint additive, a technology from the Space Shuttle program, that is supposed to make the outside of your house more insulated. Each of these little grains, like dust, are actually hollow spheres, vacuums, and when the paint dries, they create an insulative layer. I actually got the job of repainting a client’s house using this additive. It’s been a couple of years, I’ll have to ask her the results, now that several seasons have past.
Challenges and New Skills
It can be quite expensive to add insulation into the walls of an existing home. We have a lot of flat roofs in Santa Fe. Adding spray foam insulation onto the roof is most affordably done when the old tar roof needs to be replaced.
Have a Remodel/insulation question? Post your Challenge. Kind of like Ask Ann Landers meets This Old House….and the collective wisdom answers!