Category Archives: Energy Audit

Spring into Energy Savings with a Home Energy Audit

Spring has sprung, and if your home isn’t properly optimized, the only thing that’ll be rising faster than the temperature will be your energy bill! Luckily, the experienced professionals at Energy Efficiency Experts are here to help you get ahead of Mother Nature and save significant money in the process. When it comes to your…
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A Home Energy Audit: Mansard Roof and Overhang

  • mansford roof
  • overhand 5
  • overhang 3
  • overhang 2
  • deck-cantaliever

mansford roof

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early this morning we conducted a home energy audit of a small house with a Mansard roof. The main complaint is that the top floor is hotter than the 1st floor in summer and colder in winter. I went into the attic first and there is about 14″ of fiberglass insulation, we measured the house and started the blower door test. Under the new ASHRAE standards the house has an infiltration rate ~25% above the recommendation for this home. I used a smoked stick on the outside of the house and this is what I found:

overhang 2

 

 

 

 

 

The smoke stick shows how the air is being drawn between the floors by the vents in the overhang of the Mansard roof. This was occurring at both the front and the back of the house and has a huge impact on the comfort and efficiency of the home. What happens in the summer is that it feels like the heat has its fingers wrapped around the top floor so its always significantly warmer than the first floor.  In the winter, the heat from the first floor is being removed by the air moving from one overhang to the other and the heat that rises from the first floor is being removed so the 2nd floor never gets really warm.

deck-cantaliever

This is a the design of the joists inside this Mansard Roof; there is nothing to stop the air from passing between the joists into the ceiling of the first floor. We see this problem in homes with overhangs as well, where the continuous air/thermal boundary has been broken and it is like have a big tear in the back of your Patagonia (Or North Face) jacket; it impacts the performance of the jacket.

This is easy and inexpensive to solve:

  • Remove the soffit cover.
  • Seal between the joists with foam board and foam.
  • Install insulation under the overhang (R-30 or R-38) depending on the joist depth.
  • If the soffit cover cannot be sealed add an air barrier such as 1/8″ plywood.
  • Replace the soffit cover.

We pride ourselves on finding issues and solutions to uncomfortable homes, so if you have an issue with a room in your house or the top floor is not the same temperature as the 1st floor, give us a call 202-557-9200.

Thanks,

Pascale

Home Performance Tips: For a More Comfortable and Energy Efficient Home

While the new presidential administration is rolling back regulations and initiatives around environmental protection and energy, consumers still have a lot of ‘power’ when it comes to choosing who to purchase electricity from and how to reduce their consumption. According to the EIA electricity data, residential consumers already pay the highest cost per kWh compared…
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Energy Efficiency and the 45th President’s Administration

Over the first couple weeks in office, the new presidential administration is rolling back regulations and initiatives around environmental protection and energy. This in turn is leaving consumers less protection from big business which will have an even stronger grip on controlling energy costs and policy. So, what’s happening on the individual policy levels? Appliance standards…
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