Daily Home Renovation Tips

The next recommendation in the Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report we received from the evaluation company under the ecoENERGY Grant program was a simple one:

This recommendation is further described later in the report as follows:

If we act on some of the earlier recommendations, specifically replacing the majority of the windows with ENERGY STAR rated windows, we are well underway to achieving this recommendation and it’s $300 combined grant, and of course the annual energy savings by having a less ‘leaky’ house to heat in the winter and cool in the summer.

But, there is more to this. Simple measures one can take, as advised by our evaluator, Bruce, will also help reduce the air leakage of 253 square inches during his visit include:

• Using strippable caulking around the entrance to the attic from one of the bedrooms
• Installing weather stripping and a sweep on the door to the cold cellar (remember, the cold cellar has a direct vent to the outside).
• While not on the report we know that the front door has a massive amount of air leakage….we can feel the cold air coming into the house on a cold or windy day

What’s more, if our air leakage improves not by 10% but by 20%, our understanding is that the grant money doubles to $600.

To continue with the next part of this series, simply use this link to Part 9.