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Don Ames
This family lives in one of the oldest historical towns of the State. The small downtown area is mostly antique shops. The household consists of Grandma, two daughters and a granddaughter.
I have visited this house several times and in a previous article I reported on the rat infestation of previous years. Remember how the rats chewed through the water lines and caused a lot of moisture damage. This manufactured home was built in 1995 and has three bedrooms, two baths and 1100 sq ft.
This house has gotten rid of the rats and is now getting ready for to have a heat pump added to the electric furnace. Before the heat pump is installed, a duct sealing contractor will seal the heating ducts and air seal the house and the work will be paid for by the power company through their energy saving program and therefore, not cost the homeowner a cent. This program is available at no cost to manufactured homes only. For stick built homes, there are incentive funds available that pay for part of the duct sealing work. Duct sealing is the most cost effective, energy saving work you can have done to a home with a forced air heating system. I recommend you contact your power provider to see if you have incentive ( rebate ) funds available that will pay for this type of energy saving work.
The contractor performed both a blower door and duct blaster test with the following results.
1. First the Blower Door and house air leakage. The initial test showed 1706 cubic feet per minute of house air leakage before the house sealing work was done. After air sealing some of the air leaks, the air leakage was reduced to 1444 CFM. For the air sealing the contractor was paid $35 for the blower door test and $250 for reducing the air leakage by more than 200 CFM.
2. Now for the Duct Sealing. The initial duct blaster test showed air leakage from the ducts to the outside of the home to be 313 cubic feet per minute. After the ducts were sealed, the duct leakage dropped to 111 CFM for a reduction of 202 CFM. For this work, the contractor was paid $35 for the duct blaster test and $300 for sealing the ducts. To be eligible for the incentive payment, the contractor had to reduce the duct air leakage by more than 50%.
The contractor also installed 8 compact fluorescent bulbs, 3 faucet aerators rated at 1.5 gallons per minute, and 1 shower nozzle rated at 1.75 gallons per minute. The contractor was paid, by the incentive program, a total of $35 for the low flow appliances and the bulbs.
The end result was a home that is tighter and wastes less energy, a home that will have lower energy costs – and the upgrades were provided free by the power company. This is what we call a win-win opportunity.
Now were ready to install the heat pump. The heat pump will reduce the heating costs by up to 50%. Plus, they can take the window A.C. out and have whole house air conditioning.
Hope you enjoyed this real home, energy saving , adventure. Come back soon…but, I won’t leave the lights on for you… Don