Charlottesville Real Estate

8 Easy Ways to Seal Air Leaks around your Charlottesville Home

For what the typical family wastes every year on air leaks–about $350–you can plug energy-robbing gaps, start saving money, and enjoy a more comfortable home.

1. Insulate around recessed lights

Most recessed lights have vents that open into the attic, a direct route for heated or cooled air to escape. When you consider that many homes have 30 or 40 of these fixtures, it’s easy to see why researchers at the Pennsylvania Housing Research/Resource Center pinpointed them as a leading cause of household air leaks. Lights labeled ICAT, for “insulation contact and air tight,” are already sealed; look for the label next to the bulb. If you don’t see it, assume yours leaks. An airtight baffle ($8-$30 at the home center) is a quick fix. Remove the bulb, push the baffle up into the housing, then replace the bulb.

 2. Plug open stud cavities

Most of your house probably has an inner skin of drywall or plaster between living space and unheated areas. But builders in the past often skipped this cover behind knee walls (partial-height walls where the roof angles down into the top floor), above dropped ceilings or soffits, and above angled ceilings over stairs.

 Up in the attic, you may need to push insulation away to see if the stud cavities are open. If they are, seal them with unfaced fiberglass insulation ($1.30 a square foot) stuffed into plastic garbage bags; the bag is key to blocking air flow. Close large gaps with scraps of drywall or pieces of reflective foil insulation ($2 a square foot). Once you’ve covered the openings, smooth the insulation back into place. To see these repairs in action, consult Energy Star’s DIY guide to air sealing.

 3. Close gaps around flues and chimneys

Building codes require that wood framing be kept at least one inch from metal flues and two inches from brick chimneys. But that creates gaps where air can flow through. Cover the gaps with aluminum flashing ($12) cut to fit and sealed into place with high-temperature silicone caulk ($20). To keep insulation away from the hot flue pipe, form a barrier by wrapping a cylinder of flashing around the flue, leaving a one-inch space in between. To maintain the spacing, cut and bend a series of inch-deep tabs in the cylinder’s top and bottom edges.

 4. Weatherstrip the attic access door

A quarter-inch gap around pull-down attic stairs or an attic hatch lets through the same amount of air as a bedroom heating duct. Seal it by caulking between the stair frame and the rough opening, or by installing foam weatherstripping around the perimeter of the hatch opening. Or you can buy a pre-insulated hatch cover kit, such as the Energy Guardian from ESS Energy Products ($150).

 5. Squirt foam in the medium-size gaps

Once the biggest attic gaps are plugged, move on to the medium-size ones. Low-expansion polyurethane foam in a can is great for plugging openings 1/4-inch to three inches wide, such as those around plumbing pipes and vents. A standard 12-ounce can ($5) is good for 250 feet of bead about half an inch thick. The plastic straw applicator seals shut within two hours of the first use, so to get the most mileage out of a can, squirt a lubricant such as WD-40 onto a pipe cleaner and stuff that into the applicator tube between uses.

 6. Caulk the skinny gaps

Caulk makes the best gap-filler for openings less than 1/4-inch wide, such as those cut around electrical boxes. Silicone costs the most ($8 a tube) but works better next to nonporous materials, such as metal flashing, or where there are temperature extremes, as in attics. Acrylic latex caulk ($2 a tube) is less messy to work with and cleans up with water.

 7. Plug gaps in the basement

Gaps low on a foundation wall matter if you’re trying to fix a wet basement, but only those above the outside soil level let air in. Seal those with the same materials you’d use in an attic: caulk for gaps up to 1/4-inch wide and spray foam for wider ones. Use high-temperature caulk around vent pipes that get hot, such as those for the furnace or water heater. Shoot foam around wider holes for wires, pipes, and ducts that pass through basement walls to the outside.  In most older houses with basements, air seeps in where the house framing sits on the foundation. Spread a bead of caulk between the foundation and the sill plate (the wood immediately above the foundation), and along the top and bottom edges of the rim joist (the piece that sits atop the sill plate).

 8. Tighten up around windows and doors

In the main living areas of your home, the most significant drafts tend to occur around windows and doors. If you have old windows, caulking and adding new weatherstripping goes a long way toward tightening them up. Bronze weatherstripping ($12 for 17 feet) lasts for decades but is time-consuming to install, while some self-stick plastic types are easy to put on but don’t last very long. Adhesive-backed EPDM rubber ($8 for 10 feet) is a good compromise, rated to last at least 10 years. Nifty gadgets called pulley seals ($9 a pair) block air from streaming though the holes where cords disappear into the frames.  Weatherstripping also works wonders on doors. If a draft comes in at the bottom, install a new door sweep ($9).

Article Written by  Jeanne Huber

Tags: Home Energy Savings, seal energy leaks

10 Ways to Control Energy Costs in your Charlottesville Home

From cleaning out filters to weatherproofing windows, you can incorporate many preventative measures into your Charlottesville Home now and save money right away.  You’ll help keep out the elements and maintain a comfortable temperature inside.  Here are some money saving tips:

Money-Saving Tips 

Invest in a programmable
thermostat to save money.

1. Get With the Programmables

One of a homeowner’s most cost-effective moves is to install a programmable thermostat (they typically retail for about $85). Such thermostats can be set to increase and reduce temperature, depending on when you’ll be home. If you can make simple electrical connections, you can do the installation yourself. 

2. Weatherproof Windows

Insulate windows with spring metal, vinyl, felt, or self-adhesive foam. If your windows have deteriorated beyond saving, consider replacements chosen for R-value (resistance to heat loss or gain). Avoid metal-frame windows, which conduct cold into a home. 

3. Weatherproof Doors

Doors lose twice as much energy as windows because of their larger surface areas, frequent openings, and harder-to-seal thresholds. But, like windows, they can be inexpensively weather-stripped and sealed, and a wide variety of rubber or metal sweeps and threshold locks can be added on to seal those bottom-area gaps. 

4. Maintain and Strengthen Garage Doors

Garage doors present an even bigger problem than regular doors. Flimsy metal or warped wooden garage doors lose heat at an alarming rate and are one of a home’s prime weak spots during violent wind storms. Heavier, better-insulated wood or fiberglass models require well-maintained quality components. 

5. Insulate Exteriors

If your exterior walls lack interior insulation, check if you can drop in loose-fill insulation from the attic or have blown-in insulation professionally installed. Another big heat loser — basement walls and crawl spaces — can be framed out or insulated from inside or out to realize energy savings of up to 30 percent. 

More Tips

6. Insulate Interiors

Once you understand different ratings and types of insulation, you can insulate around pipes, heating and ventilation ducts and electrical outlets. Don’t overlook the small openings where these fixtures pass through floors and walls — the average home’s gap space here loses as much energy as a two-foot square hole in an exterior wall.

For added efficiency and safety,
have the chimney swept yearly. 

7. Burners, Flues, Heaters, and Dishwashers

Furnace filters should be changed every few months, while an annual chimney sweep will boost efficiency and reduce the risk of flue fires. Turning down the water-heater temperature settings to 140 degrees F for dishwasher-equipped homes (that’s the minimum to kill germs) and 110 degrees in a home without a dishwasher can save energy and cut scalding risks. Some newer dishwashers boast internal heaters that let you keep your main heater at a lower setting. 

8. Fire Up Your Fireplace

Wood-burning fireplaces are actually net heat losers, but installing or retrofitting wood-burning inserts and stoves or going with high-efficiency natural gas fireplaces can give you added efficiency and redundancy in case your main heating system needs repair.  

9. Help Your House Keep Its Cool

White cement or metal roofs are top choices among roofing materials, as they keep a home cooler in summer. Other ways to beat summer heat include whole-house fans and attic fans as well as time-tested helpers like awnings and shade trees. 

10. High-Tech Help for Your Car

Regular tune-ups, use of synthetic motor oils, and maintenance of proper tire pressure (cold weather contracts air) all save gasoline and make for a safer and more reliable vehicle. Gasoline-electric hybrid cars offer double the gas mileage of conventional vehicles, and tax incentives make buying them attractive.  Carpooling and shopping or banking online are just a few other interactive ways to save gasoline.

Tags: Charlottesville green living, energy saving tips, weatherproof Charlottesville home

Creating an Eco-Friendly Yard

Creating An Eco-Friendly Yard

Simple things you can do to transform your yard into an eco-friendly paradise, and still save time and money in the long run and increase the value of your home.

Everyone tries to do their share to make our planet better. We recycle, we conserve, we use energy-efficient light bulbs when possible, and we carpool. But what about our own back yards?

Tips for Ecological Landscaping in Your Own Backyard

Minimize Lawn. Replace the lawn areas close to your house with plantings and let large areas of lawn farther away from the house grow up into meadows, only cutting it a few times per season. Mow a walking path through the tall grass that winds around the perimeter of the property, creating play areas, sitting/picnic areas, ponds, etc–something the whole family can enjoy! Also eliminate the chemicals used to treat your lawn with organic methods (www.safelawns.org). A minimized lawn means reduced mowing, less work and fewer emissions.

Plant Perennials. Plant perennial flowers and ornamental grasses which only require a once-a-year haircut. They also provide food and shelter for butterflies and birds. Be sure to select varieties that are hardy and not invasive for your region. If done right, these garden beds don’t have to constantly be maintained and will still provide beautiful blooms and leaf structure all season long.

Select Prune-Free Trees and Shrubs. Plant deciduous trees on the south side of your house to provide shade and keep your home cooler in summer months. Select shrubs to be planted around the foundation of your house that do not require pruning to reduce pruning maintenance, and try to select varieties that also provide berries and shelter for wildlife. I recommend Rhododendron ‘PJM’, Syringa ‘Palibin’, and Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ as three flowering shrubs that are low-maintenance, do not require pruning and work well in foundation plantings to provide blooms in May, June and July-August respectively.

Install Eco-Friendly Hardscaping. Hardscaping is a great, low-maintenance alternative to lawn and can lead visitors to your home in an elegant fashion. Create patio areas, walkways and fire pits with stones or materials that are local, recycled and porous (to reduce runoff).

Create Edible Gardens. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs are not only great to look at, but can save you a trip to the supermarket. Edible gardens are fun, delicious, and educational for the whole family.

Build Healthy Soil – Feed the soil in your garden beds with local compost and protect it with organic mulch to keep moisture in and the weeds out. The plants will be healthier as a result and will need fewer chemicals to fight disease and pests.

Use a Rain Barrel – Catch rainwater that comes off your home and use it instead of potable water for irrigation, fountains and pond-less waterfalls in your garden areas. Go one step further and create a rain-garden that filters storm water runoff and gives it time to soak into the ground and recharge groundwater sources.

Tags: eco-friendly tips for your yard, Green landscaping, Green living