Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: DaveWertz on January 25, 2014, 06:11:38 PM
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Been thinking about getting and energy audit done to my home. Ive been bitting my nails about getting blown cellulose on my first floor since this floor seems to not be heating constantly. Ive gone and fully insulated the attic and did as much as seal as I can deal with!. Have any of you had an energy audit if so was it well worth it? Or should I just quit being a tight ass and do the insulation blown in the walls? Cant seem to decide.
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Spend the money on the energy audit Dave. Stop guessing about where your heat losses are. The audit will tell you where your biggest bang for your buck is. Make sure that the auditor does a blower door test as well as a color screen thermal imaging camera view of your house inside and out.
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I got one a year ago with a groupon - more just to ease my mind that I wasn't loosing heat crazily anywhere. The guy had some really good suggestions on places I could improve.
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There are a few in the area. Im going to call monday and set something up. Kinda hoping these guys arent going to break the bank, that would interfere with my spending towards the house. As of now I have around 1800 to safely play with.
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Mingom if you dont mind me asking what did it cost you?
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I paid $149 for a $450 energy audit - guy was super through, blower door test, IR Camera, crawled in the attic, would have done a combustion test on my propane unit if it was running, and was happy to have me with him every step of the way - and explained everything.
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check with your electricity dept, ours offer that free and of course they have the insulation/ water heater /heat pump programs. some offer solar incentives as well
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Get the audit and as hondaracer mentioned "stop guessing". you will have a report in your hand and can pick and choose wich project to tackle based on your budget. Check with your state also to see if there are rebates.
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Yeah I was just reading that our electric supplier offers this for free or at most $50. Im going to call tomorrow for sure. The guessing game got old and expensive REAL quick! I'm about 1k into it now. As long as I can stay under my $1700 mark I will be happy as a pig in chit. Seems like when I get one project done another 5 pop up! Never ends.....
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Well I was wrong about my local electric supplier doing free audits. They want 600-800 for an audit. I called a few other places and the cheapest I could find was a gentleman near by that does it for 300-400 per floor!! I talked to other companies that do this and they even said that is robbery for an audit. This company charges a flat rate of 275 for the whole house but I am just out of there area of travel. This is very very salty to say the least.
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Those are crazy numbers. Ask the $275 guys if they will come out for $350.
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Dave did you ever contact Kerry Ellis, our dealer in Binghampton
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Slim I tried calling but got no answer? Honda, He said he would travel that distance for an extra fee but he said it could be anywhere from 400-700. Only because they would have to set one of there employees aside for the whole day to be able and come to my place. There were about 3 other auditors I found in my area and all were about the same price. That really cuts into my pockects pretty deep. It's a hard one to choke down to pay that much. I really have to sit back and think about what I want to do. A big part of me really wants to have one done but I will be limited with my funds getting put back into the house. If I wasnt paying the mortgage and utilities myself it would be a no brainer but until then I have to budget my spending. I was really shocked with those numbers!
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Wow. I cant imagine paying someone for that.
They offer them here through elec company but they tell you the goofiest crap, like to put plastic over your Windows and turn thermostat down.
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Scott, Yeah these aren't like that at all(or shouldn't be anyway). They should have a blower door fan that they set up to pressurize the house. Then they take readings of how much pressure the house holds, they go around and find where the air is finding for ways out of the house. They should also go around with a color thermal imager and show you all of the cold spots inside and show you the warm spots on the outside of the home.
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Im trying to get one of my buddies that is chief at the fire company to "borrow" there thermal camera and ill just do it myself. I will donate money to them then in turn claim it on taxes as a donation. Im hoping he can pull threw so I can save some money.
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Dave, If you can get your hands on a thermal imager from the fire department you will be able to do an OK job. Our imagers in the fire service are black and white so you will be able to see warmer spots which will show up as lighter white and colder which will show up as darker. It won't be nearly as good as a color screen tic though. Its unlikely that they will let you borrow it since they are in the neighborhood of 8-10k so the department probably only has one, but maybe they can come over and use it with you. They should be able to help you to better understand the readings as well.
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I sat here and thought about maybe just having the first floor which includes the basement done. Maybe I can work 1 floor at a time. Thats about my only option for these prices.
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Dave did you leave Kerry a message, you might want to try him again, you also may be able to find some of your leakage with a simple infrared temp gun, certainly not a thermal imaging camera but they will work in a pinch.
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Im definitely going to call him again.
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Well I had my audit done today. In a nut shell he suggested to seal up my basement as that is where I would get most of my gain. He also stated to maybe have blown cellulose in the attice in lieu of my R30 over top of blown cellulose that is already there. To me that seems like I would be wasting ALL my money I just spent putting that all up there. But he told me to seal up the outside entrance to the basement which I already knew that was drafty, then to go threw and seal the whole outside edge where the foundation meets the frame of the house. Then to go threw and somehow seal up the little pockets between the floor joist. I already stuffed them with fiberglass and it helped a little bit so Im really not sure how to approach that. The one side of my house there is barley enough room to fit my hand let alone getting a can of spray foam up in there so that will most def be the hardest part. There was allot of draft coming from that area. Then after I get the basement squared away to go threw and worry about the windows and the doors. I.E. Caulking around the window and replacing door seals.
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Dave, I'm glad you did the audit! Did he run any tests or just give suggestions? Remember fiberglass is not air sealing, it just filters air. You need to chaulk or spray foam. The $30 great stuff pro gun is worth every penny. As soon as you let go of the trigger the foam stops an you can lay a bead of spray foam down like chaulking.
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My problem is the big area I have to foam I would almost need something that sprays a wide bead. And I was checking out those Great Stuff Pro14 guns, I think that is what is was. He didnt run any test because it was cold out. He just gave suggestions. Some pretty good ones at that. It really pisses me off because I got about 6inches of blown cellulose under the fiberglass in the attic, wouldn't you think that be enough to stop air? I dont see snow melt on my roof anymore LOL.
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Honda, Thinking about getting this kit, I think it will suit my needs better. The gun is small but can cover a larger area. Those small areas I cant get a can into, well this should do the trick. I can also go around and do the area between the frame and foundation. Seems pricey but might be well worth the money. I think 200 board ft should be suffice? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dow-Froth-Pak-200-Spray-Foam-Kit-346963-/161168053870?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25865d566e (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dow-Froth-Pak-200-Spray-Foam-Kit-346963-/161168053870?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25865d566e)
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Dave, if you get the froth packs, wait until it's at least 70 outside for awhile, anything that has to do with foam will work better when it is warm. If not you will be losing about 25 percent. Have you gotten an estimate from a sprayfoam company? Higher pressure and everything is heated.
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I did have an estimate done and it was WAY out of my range. The guy even recommended that it would save me a pile of money doing it myself. Im going to order that kit. I found the same one on ebay for 307 shipped to my door. Ill just wait until it gets warmer out or start a fire in the basement using my wood stove.
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Dave, I don't have any expierence with any of the kits but Home Depot sells 200 bf kits for 299. Remember that is 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch thick 200 feet long. It would be a great kit to seal your sill plate to your foundation wall. Foam is about r6.5-7 per inch thick.
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I found the froth pak 120 for $375! I didnt see them advertise the froth pak 200 for $299.
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I just looked at their website and I couldn't find it either. I was just at my local home depot the other day and saw it in the store for $299. I'll have to look te next time I am there.
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I went ahead and ordered the Dow froth pak 200 off ebay. 307 shipped to my door. Saved me $100 from any other company. To bad I have to wait to do it unless I have a fire downstairs going in the wood stove. They recommend between 60-80 degrees when applying this foam.
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Let us know how it goes. What do you plan on covering with the kit?
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On 2 complete walls of my house there is an area that has horrible draft coming between the frame of the house and the foundation, Now there is a floor beam that runs right next to it so I cant get one of those big spray foam cans it there to seal it up. Plus this sprays a wider area and comes out with some force so I should be able to get it nice and sealed up with the Froth Pak. Plus Im going to tackle all the cavities that are between the floor joist and the outside walls.