Lawson Home Services Declan Hindsley conducted an energy audit on this Newark, DE home. Energy Audits are the best way for homeowners to find the most cost effective means to increase the comfort of the home while simultaneously decreasing energy consumption. The home construction industry has been consistent in the past so our auditors see the same problems over and over.
Declan found the following issues in this Newark, DE townhouse:
Leaky attic floor
Under insulated attic floor and basement walls
Inefficient leaky basement windows
Leaky HVAC ductwork
Leaky, uninsulated attic hatch
HVAC ductwork located in hostile attic environment
Poor dryer venting
Solution
The pictures below showcase the problems. Each has an accompanying explanation with a solution.
Inefficient Basement windows can be cost effectively replaced with Everlast™ High-Efficiency basement windows.
Mastic and tape has been used for decades by HVAC contractors to seal joint in ductwork. Unfortunately mastic cracks and tape comes loose, allowing conditioned air inside to escape into places where it does no good. The solutions is AeroSeal™, which seals the ductwork from the inside out.
Attic hatches like these not only are unsealed and allow air from the rooms below to escape into the attic, but are uninsulated, allowing heat to easily transfer from the attic into the rooms below in summer and from the rooms into the attic in winter. A David Lewis Attic Hatch Cover is the Dr. Energy Saver solution.
Open wall tops allow valuable conditioned air to be sucked into the hollow wall cavities through electrical sockets and switches, delivers it into the attic where it eventually escapes into the atmosphere. Insulation must be removed so these openings can be sealed with expanding Zyp foam.
Long runs of flexible dryer duct is a bad idea. The ribbed flex-duct provides a rough surface to which moist lint sticks and accumulates over time, clogging the duct and slowing the airflow your dryer needs to do its job. The solution is to replace these ducts with rigid, smooth-walled duct pipe. Also remember to have your dryer ducts cleaned regularly.
Radon testing is an important part of the Lawson Home Service Energy Audit
Another path that allows air from hollow wall cavities to escape into the attic are these wiring penetrations. These can be effectively sealed with expanding Zyp foam.
