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ALS · 11-18-2024, 02:03 AM

I've owned my 1960 multi-level since 2011 and estimated, that if I had air sealed this house back in 2012 I'd have saved $2500-$3,000 on my electric and gas bills. The original owners lost their butts on the utility bills in this house. I'll never forget what the son said to me at the closing, My Mom Could Never Get Warm In That House.

When I first moved in I found a number of things that were causing the high utility bills, corrected them and that made a big difference. What I found this spring and summer while air sealing the house had me saying, I want to beat the builder and the homeowners senseless, more times than I can remember. Lots of hidden holes and openings that should have been sealed and some of the larger ones had insulation stuffed in them. It's not what you see but what you can't, that is costing you money.

Air Sealing is the best time and money invested solution to a high utility cost problem. I can't understand why more people don't do it. Oh because they don't want you to know. The scams run on home owners that don't know about air sealing are unending. If Insulation companies advertised air sealing as much as the replacement window companies do, and explained the benefits, they'd make a killing.

You've all heard them, save money on your utility bills with new windows, let us add insulation to your attic to save you money, let us spray foam or blow in insulation to your exterior walls and my favorite money grab, lets us lease you a solar panel system for your roof.

If they want to sell you blow in insulation for your attic, make sure they are AIR SEALING it before they add the insulation, otherwise you're wasting your money. You can spend $5K to $10K or more on windows to save maybe 6%-8% on your utility bills. Is that a good return compared to that small savings on your utility bills each year?

Spend maybe $200-$300 dollars, and a few weekends of your time, you can cut your utility bills in the summer and winter by hundreds each year.

It all started for me when I was looking for something on YouTube and Air Sealing popped up as a suggestion. Well I'll warn you, this is one of those Going Down The Rabbit Hole kinda subjects.

Does it work, yes and very well thank you? Most home owners can save between a low of 20% to as high as 40%, on their utility bills each year.

The older the home the higher the return because energy efficiency in the building standards before 2000-2010, was atrocious. No matter how tight and insulated you think your home is, it isn't.

BTW I'm not done with my house, I still have to finish air sealing and increasing the insulation in my attics next spring. The rest of the house including the garage is done.

OK here are some numbers with my electricity use over the summer. At first I wasn't happy because I only saved about $17 a month over the summer before. Then I looked at the graph that comes in my electric bill. It shows the average energy use of all similar sized homes in the area, the top 20% most efficient homes and my house. Then I got real happy. My energy usually runs right in the middle of the top 20% either above or below by 3% to 5%. Now during the June-July, July-August, August-September billing cycles this summer, those three bills averaged 24.5% below the top 20% most efficient homes. My electric bills averaged between mid June and mid September, $98 a month. That was still a 15% drop in my power bills over last summer, on top of what the bills could have been, if I hadn't air sealed the house. Remember I used 24.5% less power over that same period than the average of the top 20% of the most efficient home owners.

What was even better, the power company is comparing my electric use against homes that are 500 square feet smaller.

I'll send you over to YouTube and down the Rabbit Hole. Here's what to search for, "Air Sealing Your Home", "Blower Door Test","Energy Audit","Rim Joist Sealing" and "Attic Sealing". Most of these videos can run between five and maybe thirty minutes at most. These guys get to the point right off the bat as they say, but listen and pay attention to what they are saying and showing you. This is about saving some serious money on your utility bills over the long term. The age of the video is irrelevant. A fourteen year old video is just as informative as a one day old video. Not much has changed when it comes to air sealing other than some of the products used, the process is all the same.

Lastly watch a number of these videos to get comfortable on what you're going to be looking at, in time, money and sweat equity. No one covers everything in their video so it's prudent to listen to a number of these professionals. BTW you can pay someone to do it for you, it will cost you a few thousand and up and over $10K if you have a large house. The upside is many counties and states have generous rebate programs to cut those costs for making your home more energy efficient.

Lastly this is a cumulative process, every thing you do, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is, will save you money. Slow and steady wins the race on this project. If you air seal your home over a month, six months or a year you're still going to cut your utility bills, as you go through the process.

I'll give you one small example. You see that light switch, power outlet, cable/Internet connections on your wall? Unsealed they can cost you between 3% to 4% on your utility bills. Lets say you spend $1000 on heat this winter those switches and power outlets through out your home are costing you $30-$40 over that same period of time. They are pulling warm air out of the house and up into the attic, through the walls. It's called the Stack Effect. A tube of caulking and foam inserts will cost you around $20, to air seal all of them. Do you have ceiling lights, ceiling fans, how about can lights, they're even worse on your utility bills?

Good Hunting!!!

11-18-2024, 02:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
ALS EcoModding Apprentice Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 118 Thanks: 2 Thanked 25 Times in 18 Posts	Air Sealed the house I've owned my 1960 multi-level since 2011 and estimated, that if I had air sealed this house back in 2012 I'd have saved $2500-$3,000 on my electric and gas bills. The original owners lost their butts on the utility bills in this house. I'll never forget what the son said to me at the closing, My Mom Could Never Get Warm In That House. When I first moved in I found a number of things that were causing the high utility bills, corrected them and that made a big difference. What I found this spring and summer while air sealing the house had me saying, I want to beat the builder and the homeowners senseless, more times than I can remember. Lots of hidden holes and openings that should have been sealed and some of the larger ones had insulation stuffed in them. It's not what you see but what you can't, that is costing you money. Air Sealing is the best time and money invested solution to a high utility cost problem. I can't understand why more people don't do it. Oh because they don't want you to know. The scams run on home owners that don't know about air sealing are unending. If Insulation companies advertised air sealing as much as the replacement window companies do, and explained the benefits, they'd make a killing. You've all heard them, save money on your utility bills with new windows, let us add insulation to your attic to save you money, let us spray foam or blow in insulation to your exterior walls and my favorite money grab, lets us lease you a solar panel system for your roof. If they want to sell you blow in insulation for your attic, make sure they are AIR SEALING it before they add the insulation, otherwise you're wasting your money. You can spend $5K to $10K or more on windows to save maybe 6%-8% on your utility bills. Is that a good return compared to that small savings on your utility bills each year? Spend maybe $200-$300 dollars, and a few weekends of your time, you can cut your utility bills in the summer and winter by hundreds each year. It all started for me when I was looking for something on YouTube and Air Sealing popped up as a suggestion. Well I'll warn you, this is one of those Going Down The Rabbit Hole kinda subjects. Does it work, yes and very well thank you? Most home owners can save between a low of 20% to as high as 40%, on their utility bills each year. The older the home the higher the return because energy efficiency in the building standards before 2000-2010, was atrocious. No matter how tight and insulated you think your home is, it isn't. BTW I'm not done with my house, I still have to finish air sealing and increasing the insulation in my attics next spring. The rest of the house including the garage is done. OK here are some numbers with my electricity use over the summer. At first I wasn't happy because I only saved about $17 a month over the summer before. Then I looked at the graph that comes in my electric bill. It shows the average energy use of all similar sized homes in the area, the top 20% most efficient homes and my house. Then I got real happy. My energy usually runs right in the middle of the top 20% either above or below by 3% to 5%. Now during the June-July, July-August, August-September billing cycles this summer, those three bills averaged 24.5% below the top 20% most efficient homes. My electric bills averaged between mid June and mid September, $98 a month. That was still a 15% drop in my power bills over last summer, on top of what the bills could have been, if I hadn't air sealed the house. Remember I used 24.5% less power over that same period than the average of the top 20% of the most efficient home owners. What was even better, the power company is comparing my electric use against homes that are 500 square feet smaller. I'll send you over to YouTube and down the Rabbit Hole. Here's what to search for, "Air Sealing Your Home", "Blower Door Test","Energy Audit","Rim Joist Sealing" and "Attic Sealing". Most of these videos can run between five and maybe thirty minutes at most. These guys get to the point right off the bat as they say, but listen and pay attention to what they are saying and showing you. This is about saving some serious money on your utility bills over the long term. The age of the video is irrelevant. A fourteen year old video is just as informative as a one day old video. Not much has changed when it comes to air sealing other than some of the products used, the process is all the same. Lastly watch a number of these videos to get comfortable on what you're going to be looking at, in time, money and sweat equity. No one covers everything in their video so it's prudent to listen to a number of these professionals. BTW you can pay someone to do it for you, it will cost you a few thousand and up and over $10K if you have a large house. The upside is many counties and states have generous rebate programs to cut those costs for making your home more energy efficient. Lastly this is a cumulative process, every thing you do, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is, will save you money. Slow and steady wins the race on this project. If you air seal your home over a month, six months or a year you're still going to cut your utility bills, as you go through the process. I'll give you one small example. You see that light switch, power outlet, cable/Internet connections on your wall? Unsealed they can cost you between 3% to 4% on your utility bills. Lets say you spend $1000 on heat this winter those switches and power outlets through out your home are costing you $30-$40 over that same period of time. They are pulling warm air out of the house and up into the attic, through the walls. It's called the Stack Effect. A tube of caulking and foam inserts will cost you around $20, to air seal all of them. Do you have ceiling lights, ceiling fans, how about can lights, they're even worse on your utility bills? Good Hunting!!!