Barron Heating AC Electrical & Plumbing Blog: Archive for the ‘Healthy Home’ Category

Fixing Your Duct System Makes “Cents”

Wednesday, October 9th, 2013

In this article we are going to be discussing the EFFICIENCY MATH of purchasing a furnace and how duct sealing plays into your decisions.

Many customers start with the goal of “increasing their efficiency”, however, what they should be focusing on is “decreasing energy use”. In a lot of ways this is similar to the Government cutting spending or increasing taxes. For example, if there is a budget that needs to be met, they can either cut spending or increase taxes to meet it. Saving energy is like this in that if we need to lower your energy use we can either cut waste or increase efficiency.

The real kicker is that not one of us would buy a hybrid car and then run it on half inflated tires, but thousands of consumers make a similar decision every day when buying a heating system. Time and time again, they are told to increase the equipment efficiency without regard to whether the duct system is diminishing the total system efficiency through leaks to the outside.

It is a matter of simple math that no one ever explains, which scenario from below would you pick?

80% Furnace with Aeroseal Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $3500)

  • ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 80%)
    = $0.80 Delivered to Ducting
  • ($0.80 Delivered to Ducting) x (3% Duct Leakage After Aerosealing)
    = $0.776 Delivered Into the Home (Not bad…)

95% Furnace without Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $3500)

  • ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 95%)
    = $0.95 Delivered to Ducting
  • ($0.95 Delivered to Ducting) x (33% Average Duct Leakage)
    = $0.627 Delivered Into the Home (Ugh, that’s horrible.)

95% Furnace with Aeroseal Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $5000)

  • ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 95%)
    = $0.95 Delivered to Ducting
  • ($0.95 Delivered to Ducting) x (3% Duct Leakage After Aerosealing)
    = $0.922 Delivered Into the Home (Winning!)

The Moral of the story? It is important to buy the right things for the right reasons.

Posted by Wes Diskin

Continue Reading

Posted in AFUE, Duct Sealing, Energy Savings, Healthy Home, High Efficiency Systems | Comments Off on Fixing Your Duct System Makes “Cents”

What You Gain From An Energy Audit

Friday, October 4th, 2013


With qualified and experienced inspectors an energy audit will pinpoint the cause of many problems that lead to an uncomfortable home. Whether its uneven temperatures, bad air quality, or dust problems it is important to look at the home as a system to find the appropriate solution.

There are many important areas to test and analyze for an effective audit on home performance.

  • First is an informative meeting with you, the home owner. There is nobody who knows the experience of living in your home better than you. The inspector should know when and where you experience discomfort throughout your home. Take note of the air quality, consistency of heating, odors, and anything else that you would like to change.
  • Next comes an analysis of your utility bill. Seeing where you have been spending money on energy in the past and present gives you a basis of comparison for future savings and the return on your HVAC investments.
  • The testing begins with a Blower door test. This will help to locate air leakage pathways. Included in this is duct leakage (and repair if necessary). Studies indicate that duct leakage can account for as much as 25% of total house energy loss.
  • By using Infrared Thermography, the most sophisticated analytic tool in energy auditing, wall cavity and ceiling insulation and moisture related issues in your walls can be seen.
  • Moisture Analysis is an often overlooked, but very important step in monitoring the health and durability of you and your home.
  • Its important to analyze flue gas at the hot water heater and other fossil fuel appliances. Combustion Analysis and combustion safety are one of the main focal points in the energy audit and homeowners are often unaware that they have problems with their combustion equipment.
  • The last thing is to look into Weatherization Services. Your energy audit should offer a comprehensive report that will outline the most cost effective path for weatherization work.

Energy audits range in price from $100 up to over $1000. When finding the right provider for this service make sure they offer all of the necessary tests and have the experience and expertise to get you the answers you need.

If you’re interested in an energy audit learn about Barron Heating’s $195 Home & Duct Performance Assessment.

Continue Reading

Posted in Blower Door, Duct Test, Energy Savings, Green Living, Healthy Home, Home Performance | Comments Off on What You Gain From An Energy Audit