Drafty Home in Thompson, CT

Challenge

These homeowners in Thompson,CT had concerns with heating and cooling in their home. Their system was working overtime, but the home was still not feeling as comfortable as it should. Not only that, but they were spending more than a normal amount on energy costs. 

Through our free energy evaluation, we found that the home was not properly air sealed. Attics are vented in order to help regulate the temperature of the roof as well as to circulate out moisture. The problem is that for every cubic foot of air that goes out, a cubic foot of air is pulled in. If the attic is sealed off from the rest of the home, this is not a problem. However, when this is not the case, air gets pulled through gaps and spaces that may be present. This not only causes air from outside to be pulled in, but air that the homeowner is paying to heat and cool is being pulled up into the attic and then out, making the system have to work harder to keep the home comfortable if it is even able to at all.

One problem in some homes is chimneys. Due to fire code, no combustible materials can be within two inches of the chimney, which often means that there is a two inch gap around the chimney going from the basement all the way up to the attic. The basement is often neglected when it comes to air sealing, meaning that a chimney essentially becomes a highway for air to rise up and be lost.

Solution

Before we can insulate, we need to ensure that space is sealed off. While some contractors seem to think that no combustible materials means no materials at all, we thankfully have the proper tools for the job. We fit a metal flashing around the chimney where it meets the attic floor to act as the main barrier. Once this piece is properly fitted and shaped, we seal it with fire caulk, to provide a safe but effective seal. Once this flashing is installed, we are able to wrap the chimney with batts of rock wool insulation. Rock wool is made from slag, a byproduct of the smelting industry, so it is highly heat resistant. We then will often hold it in space with tape or some other form of a tie to keep it from falling over while we work on sealing the rest of the attic. Once all of the sealing is done, we are able to blow in our Trusoft cellulose insulation around it safely and are then able to remove the tape as the batts will now be able to stay up thanks to the cellulose around it.

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this home is now far more energy efficient!