Monday, January 28, 2013

R60 Attic Update #1

After getting two quotes at $2100 and $3000 for R48 attic insulation only, I decided to let EnergyPro do my attic at R60 for $2175.  Additionally they leak tested my house, leak tested my ductwork, installed weather stripping at 3 doors, insulated all my wall outlets, and spot seal my attic; canned lighting; ductwork & plenums.

All in all, I think it was a good deal.  Turns out I had a wide open vent at my kitchen hood vent.  I plan to replace the entire hood and install an internal damper.  Currently I have removed the fan and just taped off the open 8" duct.  This duct was responsible for the previous posts super high CFM in the leak test.

This new test I believe is more accurate result of my "loose" house which really was not that bad.  This tested value was 2400 CFM @ 50 Pascals.  Not too far from an Energy Star compliant home!   We shall see if I get there after all sealing is complete.


Both my heat pumps were leak tested at a 25 Pascals and found to be leaking at around 250CFM each which when divided by their 4 Tonnage size results in the calculated loss of about 14% (anything over 20% is considered faulty)

For more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_leakage_testing




Bedroom Unit: 224 CFM@25Pascals / 1600 = 14% leakage


Kitchen Unit: 214 CFM@25Pascals /1600 = 13.4% leakage






Sealed up many openings in attic and all around the chimney:

 12 Canned Lights Throughout House


Chimney Perimeter Had Clear Openings to Living Room

 

Although Not Energy Improvement, Possible Leaks Prevented At Roof Openings 

Bathroom Fans Too


Filled up the attic with CertainTEED blown fiberglass to a height of 22 inches getting a maximum of R60.





Filling In Around Chimney Area - Voids of Chimney Sides Also Filled In.









The workers said this was a really big house and they used 6 cans of foam sealant when they normally use 1 or 2.  They worked until about 8pm and had to close up before finishing.  They will need to come back to "pooky" seal up the rooftop AC plenums and perform their final pressure tests to verify the sealing improvement to the house and ducts.  


Truck Pumping Fiberglass

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