Aircooled6racer Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Hello: I was wondering if anyone knew about insulating a home against the hot weather? I live in Texas where there is high heat and high humidity. With electric prices going higher I figure I can spend alot on insulation and still save. Let me know what you guys know and where to get more info. I appreciate any info at all. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkS_A18138 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh :roflol: :roflol: :roflol: Move up north!!!!!! Ok on the real side, eric we had blown in insulation done at our old home and it worked awesome. Also make sure your roof is vented well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murkish Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Hello: I was wondering if anyone knew about insulating a home against the hot weather? I live in Texas where there is high heat and high humidity. With electric prices going higher I figure I can spend alot on insulation and still save. Let me know what you guys know and where to get more info. I appreciate any info at all. Thanks, Eric Hi, Eric. One place to start is with your power company. Many of them have online resources that will provide information on energy-saving. Some will even send someone out to do a power usage audit. Regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Mark: Remember I am from the Great White North I moved to Texas so I could enjoy the good life. Besides my wife doesn't like the cold. Keep the suggestions coming. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Getting ready to do a pass at our house. 15 years old - the blown insulation has compacted, etc. They can also check all the doors and windows and make sure they're sealing adequately. Radiant barrier in the attic might help, too - I have no experience with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Burtchell Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 (edited) Hey Eric, I am a sales manager for a new home builder in Central Texas. We sell approx. 120 homes per year and they all have passed the Energy Star rating system. I would suggest contacting an EPA certified tester in your area that performs this type of test. They will hook up a machine and a computer to your front door opening and basically suck the air out of your house. It will show where you have heat transfer( loss). That way you can spend your money where its needed. There are several testers in our area and I sure that there are probably dozens in a city as large as Corpus. Edited June 6, 2008 by baerburtchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Suber Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I run the energy programs for DUH, I mean HUD in South Carolina. Had a conference call with DOE on how to make HUD homes more energy efficient and maintain affordability. As recommended earlier, the first and most important step is to pay for an energy audit of your home. Here in South Carolina, they run between $400 - $500 (money that will pay for itself down the road). This audit will reveal weaknesses in insulation, HVAC, etc in your home and will allow you to prioritize improvements to make your home more energy efficient and prevent many expensive mistakes. For example, my neighbor had all of the windows replaced in his home last year - about $20K worth of work. He saw absolutely no change in his power bill over the last year (heating or cooling). I recommended an energy audit which he had done last month. His HVAC was decent but the duct work was shot. He was losing 20% of his cooling in the duct-work before it ever made it into the house. As a result, the windows did nothing. He could have saved the $$s on the windows and repaired/improved the ductwork where he would have seen savings immediately. DOE has a lot of information on their website as does HUD about improvements to existing homes. You might also want to go to the Sustainability Institutes's website. They have a complete program for cost effective improvements to make a house more energy efficient. BTW, my energy audit is being done tomorrow.... Other immediate steps are to seal openings to the outside, around windows, doors, etc. Foam sealant should be sprayed around the toe-plates on concrete foundations and slabs (where accessible). Weaknesses and "leaks" will be revealed in the audit as the inspector will use a blower system to find "leaks". There is a LOT of information available. I will post some links tomorrow from work. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Keen Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 The "fan test" and smoke pencil will tell all. Leaks can not hide from the smoke pencil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshooter3 Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 You can also try to tint your windows with reflective tint. I just did my classroom and it made a big differance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Down in Arizona they all have these tinting window screens on the outside ??? Arizonians should know the answer, the land of ambient 120F ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZip Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I'm only 39 but have lived in the desert for almost all those years. We do a good job of staying cool. Dual paned windows can help quite a bit, but so can awnings that shade the actual sunlight from your homes windows. The less infared radiation to hit your window means less absorption of that energy by air and items within your home, which translates to less cooling required to maintain comfort. Blinds don't work as well as the heat that hits them transfers upwards and into the room. The Idea is to keep as much infared radiation out of your house in the first place. Having your duct work checked is a plus too but don't forget to have your coil and filters checked also. (Especially if you have dogs!) Hair and dust will clog those things up and cleaning ours has made a 20% difference. We rplace our filter every tihirty days. Another thing that can help is just shade your house with some trees. We cut down a nuisance lemon tree in our back yard that would shade our master bedroom from afternoon sun. I am glad that the neighbors trees have filled in that gap in the last year as we were warmer for the first two years after that tree was removed. I built an addition onto our home. It added thirty percent more square footage, but only made a 15% increase in our energy cost. It has R15 under the sheeting, and R30 above the lid. The windows are dual paned and tinted but also a southern exposure and get little sunlight in the summer anyway. I also installed a high efficiency FAU and condenser. That part of the house stays cooler longer, and ccols faster. Hope that helps. If you get too hot you can come over and swim in our pool! We swim in it eight months out of the year! JZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Suber Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Here is the link to the DOE site: http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/homes/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Suber Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Here are a couple of other links: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid171.php http://www.sustainabilityinstitutesc.org/resources.html (see request energy audit. products, links) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Hello: Thanks for all the replies. I am going to go up in the attic this weekend in the mourning for sure. I will check all the ducting for leaks and install an exhaust fan in the gable. The roof has hot air fans (wind operated) but they don't seem to do much. I am looking at some radiant film covering to install on the roof rafters to reflect the heat. I know I need more insulation for sure. I guess I will have to start looking up some of these websights and ask around a house audit. We have a pool as well but I need to buy a beer cooler that floats ;-) Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Moore Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 attic heat is one of the reasons the living space gets hotter as the day goes on. i've seen some people install electric gable fans that turn on once the attic reaches a certain temperature, this will pull the hot air out of the attic from one side and replace it with cooler air from the other side. also trees are big help, drive by an old farm house in the middle of nowhere and you'll see it's surrounded by huge trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Suber Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 attic heat is one of the reasons the living space gets hotter as the day goes on. i've seen some people install electric gable fans that turn on once the attic reaches a certain temperature, this will pull the hot air out of the attic from one side and replace it with cooler air from the other side. also trees are big help, drive by an old farm house in the middle of nowhere and you'll see it's surrounded by huge trees. Yep, air movement in the attic plus the right amount of insulation makes a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 Not to mention, some roofing materials (shingles esp.) see a drastically reduced life span if the attic relies on passive ventilation...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robomanusa Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 one other thing you can do is contact your electric company for a list of suppliers, the one you have may not necessarily be the cheapest, I have duke energy for an electric company, but they have like 9 or 10 diferent electric suppliers each with there own rates, and they vary by the time of the year, some higher some lower, some lower than your current rate during summer months, but higher in winter months, check into this...might be able to lower your costs that way.....I was able to save about $600.00 this past winter by switching mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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