Welcome to Hals Energy Tips

Posted 6/5/2009

Due to my daughters graduation from medical school, it has been 2 weeks since my last tip. Sorry about that. Starting this week, and most likely for the next few weeks we will focus on Air Sealing and Insulation.

Throughout my tips I will always try and focus on the tips that give the biggest money savings for the smallest investment. This week will be the biggest return on investment of any. At this point we need a little reminder of the principal of Air Sealing. The theory is as follows; The more we can keep the outside on the outside, the better. Since most of our energy usage is home heating, anything we can do to keep heat in and cold out will reduce our energy use and cost. The most common element on all houses is the band joist. The most common area of consistent heat loss is the band joist. Air Sealing and insulating the band joist is this weeks tip.

For those new to construction, below is an illustration of a band joist.

If your house is old, it most likely has no insulation all. If its relatively new, you might see 3 1/2 inches of fiberglass insulation. Either way, the general problem is that this area is neither air sealed nor insulated. We can accomplish both easily and inexpensively by both caulking and installing foam insulation. See below.

Above, on the left is an illustration of the same band joist now caulked and insulated. To the right is an actual photo of the completed project in 1 joist bay. The 3 steps are very easy to follow. First, caulk all four seams along the band joist. Then cut and fit a piece of 2" or better 3" rigid foam insulation. The foam board should be either exterior grade or closed cell radiant foil faced foam. You can cut the insulation to fit snugly, but not too tight to install comfortably. Next simply foam the insulation in place. Notice that the foam goes around the whole insulation panel as well as any pipes or wire that protrude.

The cost for this project for a sample 2400 square foot, 2 story home with a 20' X 60' footprint (which represents a 20+60+20+60= 160 linear feet) at a price of $2.00 per linear foot. Our sample would cost 160 X $2.00 or $320.00 plus your time, which should be less then 1 day. The payback: at LEAST $100.00- $150.00 per year. This is a no brainer. If energy prices go up at all you might make the investment back in less then 2 years. If you can afford to do it, go for the highest thickness possible. TUFF-R™ 1-7/8 In. 4 x 8 Polyisocyanurate Rigid Foam Insulation costs about $1.00 a square foot and is rated at R-13. Double that and you are at R-26.

If you have fiberglass insulation in your band joist bays just take it out. It's not doing anything except filtering the cold air that is coming into your basement. (Why did you think the insulation was dirty? The dirt you see on the fiberglass is dirt in the air coming from outside.) If you want to get fancy, there is one upgrade to this band joist fix up, and that is the use of DIY spray foam. I priced out this exact same job using spray foam which would additionally cover the sill plate and upper foundation. Purchased at one of the links below the cost would be $600.00, a little less then twice the price of the rigid foam panels. While it is twice the price, it is half the labor. Our sample house could be foamed in less then 3 hours.

Here are some of the sites that sell DIY foam. (By the way, DIY assumes a general knowledge of usage. If you never used spray foam assume a learning curve. You can click on any of the following links: FoamItGreen, BetterFoam, FomoFoam, & TigerFoam.

OK. Need more of a reason? How about getting a tax writeoff?

Congress has approved the 2009 economic stimulus bill ("The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act") which includes an extension and expansion of the existing federal tax credit for installed insulation. The federal tax credit for installing insulation in 2009 is 30% (previously 10%) of the purchase price up to a $1500 tax credit for 2009. A consumer can save as much as $1500 from the purchase price when adding insulation to their existing home. Here's how it works; 1. Work must be "placed in service" from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. 2. The work must be for taxpayer's principal residence. 3. $1,500 is the maximum total amount that can be claimed for all products placed in service in 2009 & 2010. 4. Must have a Manufacturer Certification Statement to qualify. 5. Save your receipts & our Manufacturer Certification Statement, which you can download. 6. Improvements made in 2009 will be claimed on your 2009 taxes (filed by April 15, 2010).
7. See the Instructions attached to 2008 IRS Form 5695 to help you further with this provision.

Lastly- Do your research this week but wait until next weeks tip before you proceed. The reason? Next week's tip will be about foundation insulation. You might want  to think about these two areas together. Have a nive week.