Daily Home Renovation Tips

Editor’s Note: Over the holidays we are re-publishing selected articles related to our ecoENERGY energy conservation experiences. Some of the grant amounts may have changed. To access the more than 20 articles we have written on our energy conservation experiences through the ecoENERGY Residential Retrofit program, simply use this link to access our ecoENERGY Energy Conservation page.

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Yesterday, we left off confused about the first recommendation from the ecoENERGY Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report, namely insulating the basement walls.

If you recall, we have stated that the vast majority of our basement is already finished and insulated. Only the work room is not, and it is a very small room. We were concerned that we were looking at major re-insulating the finished basement walls.

So, we called the company we used for the ecoENERGY Grant program. They were very nice. They indicated that we needed to contact directly the person who undertook the actual evaluation. So we did.

What we learned was that this recommendation should not have been on the report. Yes, he agreed in looking at his notes that this recommendation only related to the small unfinished area of the basement, i.e. our work room.

And, yes, he agreed that this area represented less than 12% of the entire basement wall surface. He also stated that in order for us to be eligible for this incentive under the ecoENERGY grant program’s guidelines, we would need to have at least 20% non or under-insulated basement walls.

What appeared to have happened is that when he submitted his evaluation report to the company’s head office, the person who actually did the data entry from his notes mis-interpreted what the inspector had indicated.

So, two key lessons here:

First, if you do not understand something in your Energy Efficiency Evaluation Report, ask. Call up the company you used and if need-be, call up the inspector. Our inspection company and inspector were very, very nice and patient with us asking our questions. We couldn’t be more pleased.

Second, before you undertake any renovations be sure you understand what the recommendation is and that it is accurate. To err is human and we all make mistakes. However, to spend money on an energy conservation investment which is recommended in your energy audit report in error is no one’s fault but your own.