Sealing Doors and Windows To Stop Drafts
In the 58th episode of On the Job, Larry Janesky, owner and founder of Dr. Energy Saver helps us understand the importance of sealing the “shim space” around door and windows in order to eliminate drafts that make our homes uncomfortable and our heating and cooling bills higher.
When houses are built, the spaces for the windows and doors aren’t cut to fit snuggly around the window or door frame, there is usually a ¼ of an inch clearance left around the frame, for shimming and adjustments. That gap is what we call the shim space, which is often overlooked in terms of insulation or simply filled with chunks of the same material used to insulate the wall cavities – which is often fiberglass.
Fiberglass doesn’t stop air flow, and when applied to the shim gap, it merely acts as an air filter.
Many homeowners try to improve comfort and energy efficiency by installing or replacing their windows with energy efficient models, but when so much air is leaking through the shim space due to lack of proper air sealing, the investment in new windows doesn’t bring the expected results.
In this video, Larry installs one part expanding foam using a thin nozzle attachment to the gun. The thin nozzle attachment is ideal for applying the material and can reach all the small spaces around the window frame and around the door frame.
The foam will expand and close all the gaps.
A Dr. Energy Saver technician can also perform this energy saving process in existing homes and during window replacement projects.
To learn about more ways to save energy and make your home more comfortable, watch other videos of the On the Job Series and subscribe to our YouTube Channel for the latest updates.
Insulating Basement Walls with FOAMAX
Welcome to the 80th episode of Dr. Energy Saver’s On the Job Video Series!
This episode is all about the importance of basement wall insulation in home comfort and energy savings.
Basements are a subject that Larry Janesky, owner and founder of Dr. Energy Saver, knows very well. After all, he’s been in the basement waterproofing business for over 20 years as the owner and founder of Basement Systems — the world’s leading basement waterproofing network.
In this video he explains why basements are so damp and cold, and how much impact an uninsulated basement can have on the comfort of your home and your energy bills.
The concrete walls in the basement are very dense and cold year-round. The ground is cold and during the winter, the outside air is equally cold. According to the laws of thermodynamics, heat tends to travel from more to less.
That means that a significant portion of heat produced by your boiler or furnace will tend to escape to the outside through the basement walls — a problem that Larry demonstrates using thermal imaging.
Watch the results in the thermal imaging camera as the basement walls are insulated with FOAMAX.
FOAMAX is a special type of polyisocyanurate rigid foam insulation board that is especially suited for basement walls. It has a high R-Value per inch, and — unlike other types of rigid foam — it can be left exposed in a basement.
FOAMAX is also waterproof and acts as a vapor barrier, directing any wall seepage to the perimeter drain system installed down below.
Visit our website for more information about FOAMAX and other basement wall insulation options, and don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for the latest videos!
Insulating Walls with Dense Packed Cellulose
Dr. Energy Saver is On The Job again…this time to help a local homeowner make his home a more comfortable and energy efficient building by improving wall insulation.
This house, like many others in the U.S., had its exterior walls insulated with fiberglass batts when it was originally constructed. In this case, Larry Janesky, owner and founder of Dr. Energy Saver, demonstrates and explains why the fiberglass insulation wasn’t doing a good job of insulating the wall cavity.
Using a borescope, a diagnostic device consisting of a camera attached to a long flexible tube with a lens at the end, Larry shows us the big gap between the facing of the 2-inch thick fiberglass batt and the drywall, in this 3.5-inch thick exterior wall.
Fiberglass insulation, even when properly installed, doesn’t stop air flow and, in this case, the gap within the wall cavity left plenty of room for air to flow in and out of the living space. With the fiberglass insulation heat is consistently lost through the exterior walls during the winter, and gained during the summer, making this house very difficult and expensive to heat and cool.
For this home, dense packing cellulose insulation on top of the existing fiberglass insulation was the chosen method. Cellulose is an environmentally friendly insulating material made with shredded paper and also a powerful fire retardant – giving cellulose insulation one of the highest fire safety ratings among all insulation materials. The paper is treated with borate — a harmless, antiseptic used in eye washes and similar household applications — to inhibit mold growth and deter pests.
To install the insulation and reduce the amount of dust, powerful, high pressure blowers are used to pack the cellulose in wall cavities. To minimize disruption for the homeowner, the wall cavities are usually accessed from the outside, by drilling holes under the siding. This particular home was scheduled to get brand new siding so the holes were drilled straight through the existing cedar siding.
A surprisingly large amount of cellulose is normally used to dense pack walls, even in these walls where they were already insulated with fiberglass. From the inside of the home and during installation, Larry explains how dense packing cellulose will help stop both air flow and conductive heat transfers through the exterior walls.
With exterior walls properly insulated and air sealed, this home is now easier to heat and cool, year round – making the energy bills much more affordable. Among the many homeowners we help every day, all across the US, this is one more satisfied customer! We would love to help you too.
Visit our website or give us a call for a comprehensive home energy evaluation!
Insulation and Air Sealing Improve Comfort and Value
Using NYSERDA rebates to save on upgrading your home’s insulation and air sealing isn’t just securing stable indoor temperatures year-round – it’s an investment in the value of your home.
By reducing the amount of heat and air that leak in and out of your home, insulation keeps your energy right where you need it and maximizes the comfort you feel, requiring less air conditioning in the summer, and less heating in the winter – an attractive asset for potential homebuyers who are willing to pay more for energy efficient homes.
Winter Home Checklist
Watch this video to learn how to prep your home for winter with our checklist for efficient warmth. From air filters to insulation, Halco keeps you warm.
FOAM HOME!
Hal Smith, CEO of Halco, is delivering ET’s to your neighborhood. That’s ‘E’ for Energy and ‘T’ for Technicians. Halco ET’s recommend two steps to maximize heating comfort and savings: (1) FOAM your HOME, and (2) Electrify your home. Have a Halco E.T. visit your home for a no-cost energy assessment!
