Submitted by Northwest Energy Team
Olympia Businesses Offer DIY Advice
The last Home Efficiency Action Training (HEAT) workshop of the season is Thursday, April 25, 5p.m. – 7p.m. at the Lacey Timberland Library. These workshops are free and the public is invited. HEAT is organized by several local groups and businesses that focus on conserving energy and energy efficiency.
This workshop focuses on things you should know before you or a contractor tackles a home improvement project. If you know why your home behaves as it does, you can lower your energy bills and make your home more comfortable with little to no extra cost. So if you’re planning, for example, to tear into your attic, take care of everything you can while you’re up there. That way you don’t have to go up again any time soon.
Speaking of attics, let’s talk about attic projects.
With the warmer months approaching (slowly), people start thinking about those eleven stifling days in the middle of August where we swear, next year, we will improve the situation. It’s next year now. What are you going to do? Sun shining on your roof in August heats your attic to 140° so a good, inexpensive place to start is by checking your roof’s insulation and sealing up any air leaks in your ceiling.
Air Sealing
Crawl up in your attic and take a look around. First thing you want to do is to seal any holes between your ceiling and the attic with spray foam or caulk. These can be speaker boxes, fire alarms, any hole cut in your ceiling. Can lights are notoriously bad air leakers. Do NOT try to seal them. Frankly, the best and safest thing to do is to buy retrofit cans from the local hardware store.
If you can’t find the air leaks easily, look for discolored insulation that is grey or black or generally grubby. This shows where air has leaked from your living space into the attic. The grubbiness is dust from your house filtered through the insulation.
Insulation
For Olympia’s mild climate, you’ll need a blanket of about 10 inches thick of cellulose (R-38). Pile it on! Insulation is wonderful for trapping winter warmth. It is equally effective keeping your home cool in the summer.
Adding insulation is something you can do yourself. The blow-in cellulose is wonderful stuff and gives you excellent return for your money. You can apply it right over the old insulation unless any critters have lived in your insulation at any point. This includes rats, raccoons, birds, possums, etc. Contaminated insulation has to go. All of it. You don’t want to live with what those squatters have left behind.
Ventilation
Whether you or a contractor add insulation, check that your eve, or soffit, vents don’t get covered with insulation. These are the vents on the underside of the eves that help keep your attic properly ventilated. Baffles are used to keep the eve vents from getting clogged. While you’re at it, also check to make sure your ridge vents are not too tightly sealed by bug screens.
So that’s the kind of stuff that will be covered at this Thursday’s HEAT workshop. Other topics will include:
- Are attic fans useful?
- My house has gable vents. Are those good?
- My roof sheathing is black. Why?
- Will opening the attic hatch on a hot day help cool my house?
- What to watch for if getting your roof replaced.
- Are there any Energy Star or Puget Sound Energy rebates available for my project?
- Are there any low-interest loans out there for my project?
- Plus many other FAQs addressed. Email or call ahead if you have a specific issue so you can be sure to get a well-thought-out opinion.
This HEAT workshop’s featured speaker is building science expert Brent Foster of Northwest Infrared. Paul Ivy of Northwest Energy Team will address HVAC/ductless heat pump questions. Representatives from PSE will be there is give details on their Re-Energize rebates. And a representative from Generations Credit Union will give a brief run down on their low interest home improvement loans.
Bring your questions, pen and paper. Be ready to take notes! See you this Thursday at 5pm.
For questions, please contact Paul Ivy at 360-357-9167 or email Paul@NorthwestEnergyTeam.com
