Energy Basics: Understanding Your House
There are a number of factors that lead to energy use & loss from your house. In the building sciences, we tend to look at the exterior of the house (the 'shell' or 'envelope' of the house) in terms of how well it blocks drafts into & out of the house (air flow) & how well it slows heat loss (commonly...insulation).
The first step in saving energy in your house is to keep your heat/cool in the house as long as possible...we airseal to stop the hemoraging of air you paid to condition & we insulate to reduce heat loss through the walls & ceilings.
The next step is to look at high energy USE appliances in the house: inefficient Heating & Cooling, hot water systems, electrical appliances, lighting, ect.
Below are a few diagrams showing some of the principles of energy loss in YOUR house:
Click on the bars below to see or hide the charts/pictures
| Air Leakage |  |
| Higher energy bills, harder working HVAC | |
| Comfort issues | |
| Ice dams | |
| Moisture problems | |
| Mold & mildew | |
| Condensation on windows | |
| Structural damage | |
| Inadequate Air Exchange | |
| Indoor air quality issues | |
| High humidity or dryness | |
| Allergy symptoms |
Insulation works by trapping air in small 'bubbles'...slowing down the ability for heat to move. The more sealed off these 'bubbles' are, the better a material insulates. Of the major insulation types:
Fiberglass
Cellulose
Foam
...Foam has the best ability at reducing convective and radiant heat losses, then Cellulose, and the least effective is Fiberglass. Foam is quite expensive, while Cellulose is relatively inexpensive
