Attic Insulation Improvement and Duct Sealing in New Castle, DE

Tuesday, October 17th, 2023 by Mike Sites

Challenge

This homeowner in New Castle, DE, made a great decision by selecting Lawson Home Services, a top-level Dr. Energy Saver company that offers tailored solutions for those seeking to make the best energy saving improvements to their home. Lawson Home Services ensures that each home receives attention, recognizing that every home is unique in its energy consumption and comfort needs.

The home construction industry has learned quite a bit since 1971 when this home was built. Back then energy was cheap, but that’s no longer that case. Like Ben Franklin said, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Saving energy is saving money that you can put to better uses. So how exactly do we save energy in our homes? Dr. Energy Saver has the answers.

Solution

The Dr. Energy Solution: PDR – Produce Deliver Retain.

Producing conditioned air by controlling its temperature and humidity must be done efficiently. Lawson’s energy audit will reveal exactly which home equipment upgrades will deliver the biggest bang for the buck over time.

Delivering the conditioned air to the places where it is needed can be challenging when old duct work leaks. Sealing the HVAC ductwork with our patented Aeroseal™ process ensures the air you have paid to condition is delivered to the rooms where it is needed rather than being leak into spaces where it does no good.

Retaining the conditioned air is important. When conditioned air escapes the home unconditioned air must enter to replace it. Construction flaws in attic floors are the biggest source of conditioned air loss. In addition, insulation in attics is often seriously deficient. Dr. Energy Saver’s solution is two-fold: seal all the cracks and penetrations of the attic floor and replace old dirty ineffective insulation with R-60 TruSoft™ Cellulose.

Occasionally new windows can help prevent energy loss. In the case of this home the loosely fitted single-pane basement windows were contributing to the intrusion of unconditioned air, as well as providing little or no insulation value. These are being replaced with Everlast™ Hi-Efficiency basement windows.

We install 17" or more of TruSoft™ cellulose insulation bringing the insulation value to an R60. Insulation value in attics like this one built in 1971 is often found to be no more than R11.

This blower door apparatus is used to measure the "air leakiness" of the home. When good air leaks out, it is replaced by bad air. Air sealing the attic and basement goes a long ways to ensure this does not happen.

You wouldn't believe all the places air leaks from your house up into your attic (where it is swept away into the great blue sky above).

Multiple attics and complex roof lines are typical of homes build in the seventies and eighties. This house had three attics, each a unique configuration requiring a unique strategy for air sealing and insulation.

This is a specially constructed attic scuttle hatch Lawson's hard working crew put together. It will stop air from escaping into the attic and will insulate the home downstairs from the hostile and extreme conditions typically found i attics during hot summer months and cold winter months.

The orange stuff is Zyp foam. This expandable foam is used to seal gaps around light fixtures and close up gaps created during the original home construction.

Zoom in and look closely at the light fixtures. You can see the gaps between the drywall and the metal fixture. This provides a pathway for air to escape from the living space below. These must be sealed with Zyp foam.

This pull-down stairway provides access to another attic in the house. Pull-down stairs are notoriously air leaky and allow heat transfer because they are not insulated. There was no space in this attic for the typical hatch cover we install so this zippered type was used here.

Lawson's crafty crew constructed this air tight insulated attic scuttle hatch cover from scratch.

The shiny wall is an air-sealed SilverGlo™ insulated wall that isolates second-story living space on the other side from the harsh temperatures of the attic over the garage.

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Attic Insulation Improvement and Duct Sealing in New Castle, DE

Challenge

Solution

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