THINK ABOUT INSULATION WHEN RENOVATING

Think about insulation when planning out your summer home renovation projectRenovation season is here !  It's spring, and its time for all of us to get going on our own home renovation projects.  For some, this may be a simple flower bed upgrade, and for others, it may mean the addition of a kitchen expansion, the addition of a second floor on a bungalow, or finally devloping that basement  you never use.

Insulation is not a cosmetic aspect of your home, so it's often overlooked when planning a renovation.  It's not as beautiful as new kitchen countertops, but it can help pay for those new countertops by saving you up to 40% off your current heating and cooling costs.  When planning your renovation, here are a few areas you should consider improving, while you are making a mess in your home.  

• Upgrade your attic.  It gives you the best return on your investment, it's simple, and doesn't really affect any other areas of your home.  If you have a home that is more than 15 years old, you can probably save significant money on energy costs, especially during our bitter winter season, in Calgary.

• Inspect and upgrade your ventilation in the attic.  If you are planning on a new roof, there is nothing more important than ensuring that your roof is protected from below, from searing heat that may build up in the summer, and frozen moisture that may build up in the winter.  Ensure that you have air intake at your soffits, and make sure that you have adequate outflow of air, via roof vents and turbines.

• Basement insulation.  The second leading cause of heat loss in an older home is typically poor, or no, insulation in the basement, particularly in the "header" and "joist end" areas at the top of your concrete frost wall.  This is an service that we offer, that is often overlooked.  Even if you are not developing your basement, please make sure that you have adequate exterior frost wall insuation, and that you have no drafts or cold air penetration through your joist end spaces.  We offer a full line of fiberglass, spray foam, and even reflective insulation to combat heat loss.

• Draft proof other areas of your home, on the exterior walls.  This is a great DIY project.  You can buy outlet gaskets at your local home improvement store, and add caulking around those drafty window and door casings.  This is also a great time to ensure that you have good weatherstripping on your exterior doors as well.

• Don't forget about your garage attic.  Many modern homes have an attached garage and they often have a shared attic space.  Most new homes have less or even zero, attic insulation in the garage portion.  This can lead to significan cold infiltration into your home, and causes a convective effect, drawing heat out of your common garage wall.

• Be kind to your electrician.  If you are doing major electrical work up in your attic, or you are adding a second floor onto your bungalow, please remember that we offer full insulation removal services.  Trust me, this is something you don't want to tackle yourself.  We often get calls from frantic homeowners who start removing their insulation with shop vacs, and shovels, and garbage bags.  When we empty our five ton truck at the dump, and it contains 2 tons of material that we just vaccumed out of someones attic, I often wonder "who does this by hand ?"

Pleae remember that this is a great time of the year to get some insulation work done because the cost of labour is lower, and everyone is not stressed out about cold winter days.  Give us a call, and get a free onsite estimate, to see what areas we can improve, and save some money this winter !

Why Upgrade My Attic In The Summer?

Roof shingles that have been damaged by excessive heat in attic and other damaging factors.Ultimately, there is no "bad" time to upgrade your attic insulation, but there are several key reasons why the summer is a very good time to get the job done.

First, most people wait until the first big cold snap of winter, before they start thinking about upgrading their attics.  It's a bit like snow tires, except, its probably a bad idea to put snow tires on in the summer, but you could probably do without the high prices, and long waits, to get them on when the snow does start to fly.  The smart people, book their snow tires, and pay for them in the summer or fall. Unlike snow tires, attic insulation is easilly installed during the summer, and because it's not the rush season, the prices are more competitive, and the booking timelines are shorter.

A second reason to upgrade during the summer, is simply beating the heat.  Insulation serves a dual function, in that it will keep your home warmer in the winter, and cooler in the summer.   If you have air conditioning, it will keep the cool air in, and reduce how often your air conditioning has to work.  With electricity being a growing commodity cost, this will definitely save you money.  

Even if you don't have air conditioning, the added insulation will reduce how the heat in your attic, drops back down into your home, in the evenings when the hot summer sun finally recedes.  If you don't have adequate insulation, that heat will drop down into your home more evidently, and can cause sweltering discomfort.

A third reason, associated with the heat, is the improved air flow you get with additional insulation, and an the evaluation of your attic ventillation that comes with it.  Many of Calgary's homes lack adequate ventillation in their attics, and are at risk of shingle damage from overheated roof sheathing.  This can significantly reduce the live of your roofing materials, and cause heat damage to the framing members below.

A fourth reason, is the added conveinence of having the work done during the summer months.  You don't have your front door open when it's 30 degrees below zero, and you don't have the likelyhood of tracking dirty snow into your home.  It's simply a more comfortable, and stress free environment for our workers, and the home owner.

If you are renovating your home, even in the interior, you may wish to have your attic done at the same time, while you are in renovation tolerance mode, that brief time period where you are willing to tolerate people coming into your home all day long, and making a bit of a mess, and making a little noise.  You might as well get the attic done at the same time, never have to worry about it again.

Save, Improve, and Upgrade

Do you want to make your home more energy efficient and at the same time make it more attractive to prospective buyers? With the high cost of electricity, natural gas and propane, prospective buyers are looking for energy-efficient homes. If you can take our advice and upgrade a few of the items in our list, you will make sure that your house stands out from the crowd and you will see a reduction in your monthly utility bills while you wait for it to be sold.  Here are the top 5 ways to increase the value and efficiency of your home.

Replace the Hot Water Heater with a Tankless Model

A tankless water heater supplies on-demand, continuous hot water. Buyers see them as a luxury item. You will quickly see that they save energy and money. A standard tank water heater will heat the water and then the water will immediately start cooling down, most times needing to be heated again before you use any of it! Thats called standby heat loss and it wastes money all year long. Choose a gas-powered whole-house tankless heateror electricity-powered single application models and you’ll cut your energy costs significantly. The buyer will be attracted to the fact they can take a shower while the laundry is running and someone is washing dishes and never run out of hot water.

Upgrade your Heating and Air Conditioning Components to Increase the Efficiency of the Unit

Real estate experts say that you might get as much as 80% of the cost of the system back in the sale of the house. In other words, if you invest $10,000 in a new, energy-efficient heat pump and air handler, it might increase the sale price by $8,000. You’ll cut your heating and cooling costs by up to 50% every month while awaiting a sale and that new, energy efficient HVAC system will definitely grab the attention of the cost-conscious buyer.

Add Insulation

Losing heated air through your attic can account for upwards of 15% waste on the average heating and air conditioning system in a regular house. Bringing your attic insulation up to a factor of R-40 to R-50, minimum, will save you money all year long because it also keeps energy-wasting hot air out of your living space in summer. List the upgrade in your marketing material and potential buyers will take notice.

Replace Old Windows

If you hope to sell your home in the next year, this might not be a cost-effective move. But if the sale is 3-5 years off, this is a good time to take this step especially if your windows are more than 20 years old. New, tight-fitting, low-E, energy-efficient windows really can make a significant difference. Not only will they look much better, but they will help in saving energy and also make it easy to sell your house.

Adding Solar Panels

With more emerging technologies and reasearch the price of solar panels is really beginning to decrease as we find new and more resourceful ways to use the sun for heating. Some HVAC systems are solar-ready, meaning the addition of a small PV solar panel can provide all the electricity needed to run a heat pump or central air conditioner. A potential buyer would really like hearing that they will not have any additional cost for their heating and cooling system usage!

You should take time to evaluate each of these and decide if any of them are the correct choice in your situation? An energy-wise investment in your home will cut your utility bills for as long as you live there and also make the home more attractive to potential buyers. These top 5 ways to increase the value and efficiency of your home might turn out to be an important investment with wonderful ROI.

Watch Out For Ice Damming !

Diagram of the causes of ice damming and the potential for damage to shingles and other roofing componentsIce damming is a condition whereby a mass of ice builds up on the lower surface of the roofing substrate, predominantly during the freeze thaw cycle of extreme cold temperatures, and warmer temperatures.  It is a problem inherent to Calgary, with our Chinook warm spells.

The most likely cause is a lack of insulation along the outside edges of the attic, and an uneven gradient distribution of insulation between the center and outside perimeter. The problem is accelerated by an under insulated attic, with a poor vapor barrier, because warm air is allowed to freely leave the home, and penetrate into the attic, creating a warmth to the underside of the shingles.

When a large mass of snow is dumped on the roof, it is warmed by the warmer center of the attic, and runs down the roof, until it encounters a colder lower edge where there is little or no heat. 

The water freezes along this lower edge, getting under the shingles, and repeats over and over, until a dam of ice holds water on the roof for further freezing.  It is generally worst, where there are unheated overhangs larger than 8”.  When an extreme warm spell occurs, or spring temperatures, this ice will melt, occasionally penetrating the damaged shingles, and occasionally penetrating into the attic cavity itself. 

There is great potential for damage to the wall cavity below, if this occurs.  It is incumbent on every home owner to observe their roof during all seasons, and keep up with maintenance and the prevention of this condition.  Neglect of such circumstances can lead to water penetration and ice buildup in the attic, and possibly the wall cavity.

The best way to prevent ice damming, is to upgrade your attic insulation, and observe how snow melts on your roof after a snowfall.  With more insulation, both in the center mass, and the outside edges, you reduce the flow of heat from the home, into the attic, thus reducing the likely hood that snow will melt quickly, and then freeze into a dam at the lower edge.  Ice damming is a cumulative effect that damages the shingles over many years, until there is a failure and a roof leak.  It is not a condition that can occur in one season, or several months.

Should You Wait on EcoEnergy Announcement ?

Fortunately for the economy, it looks like the Harper government has decided to renew the EcoEnergy program in some form, and put up to 400 million in grant dollars back into the long running program.  Construction and renovation are Canada's primary economic driving force, and this kind of stimulus has two beneficial effects.  It helps homeowners save money on their energy consumption, and reduces our environmental footprint, as well as provides vital stimulus to the recovering Canadian economy.

Most studies show that for every dollar spent in the construction sector, there are 10 more dollars spent in associated industries.  Take a look around at your family and friends.  How many people do you know who are contractors, or sell carpet, furniture, architects, interior designers, or simply work at Home Depot or Rona ?

While the details have not been announced yet, many people ask us if they should wait until they are announced before upgrading their attic insulation ?  There are two ways to look at the answer with regards to attic insulation.  If you are simply considering an attic insulation upgrade, then the answer is a definite NO.  Because it will cost you several hundred dollars for the required audit, and follow up audit, you could be putting that money into your attic upgrade, which average less than  $1000.

Our on site estimator will do an analysis of your attic, and tell you everything you need to know about how much you have, and how much you need.  Also, we are specialists in this industry, where as auditors provide a valuable service, but they do not "specialize" in insulation and ventillation of your attic.  Even if you decide to go with an energy evaluation, you can get the pre-evaluation now, get the work done, and get the follow up evaluation after the grant is formally announced, and still get the benefit of the upgrades, plus some possible grant money.  Please contact your local authorized auditor for details on this.  There are three authorized auditors in Calgary: VerdaTech Energy, AmeriSpec Canada, and Atco Gas.

A second issue, is the inflation of pricing that will occur when the program is finally formalized.  Right now, prices are relatively stable, and we are offering some very competitive packages on attic upgrades.  If you wait until the fur hits the fan in the fall, when it's getting cold, labor and material prices will invariably climb, as well as extended and less reliable booking times.  As the weather starts to get cold in the fall, it will become more difficult to book an audit, and an insulation contractor, and it will probably cost you more.

Please take the time to contact the authorized auditors and discuss the ins and outs of the grant program system, they are the professionals in that area.

VerdaTech Energy, AmeriSpec Canada, and Atco Gas.