Lowering Energy Costs for a Homeowner in Ware, MA

Challenge

This homeowner in Ware, MA was going through an absurd amount of oil for the size of the home. He thought that the problem was the boilers and had accepted they’d likely have to get replaced. Once we went in for the Free in Home Evaluation, we noticed old insulation up within the ceiling of the basement/crawlspace. This insulation is pulled down by gravity away from the sub floor that it’s supposed to be protecting. This allows cold air up into the home, making it harder to heat. He also had a dirt crawlspace with ducts running through with no thermal barrier to keep the heat running through them from being cooled down. Not only that, but the heat coming off of the boiler, which could be heating the basement and floors above it, was being lost.

Solution

We started off by pulling out the old batts of insulation and loading them into our truck to be disposed of later. We then went in to seal the rim joist, which is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps throughout the rim joist allows for a lot of air leakage into the house. We seal the rim joist and over sill plate with two part expanding spray foam.

We then went to work on the crawlspace. We insulated the walls with our SilverGlo EPS foam insulation board. The graphite in the foam coupled with a foil face on both sides keeps heat out in the summer and in the winter. A dimpled drainage matting is installed across the floor to create an airspace and thermal break. TerraBlock floor insulation is installed over that matting and finally, a vapor barrier liner is installed permanently over the dirt floor.

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this homeowner won’t have to replace his furnace and his home is more comfortable than ever!