My grandfather, the original Allison Arthur Bailes, was an electrician, plumber, HVAC contractor ('heating & air man'), and refrigerator repairman. In the '70s when I was a teenager, I used to spend a couple of months each summer working 'on…
Guest post by David Richardson of Thermal Performance Services in the Lexington, Kentucky area. David is an EVER rater, HVAC contractor, and combustion safety instructor for the National Comfort Institute. This is his second guest post in the EV Blog,…
You may have heard somewhere that insulation works by trapping air. 'Dead air pockets' is the operative term often used. So, the logical next question, then, is, why doesn't the large dead air pocket in an uninsulated wall cavity reduce…
My grandparents in Louisiana heated their home with natural gas space heaters in all the rooms of their home. I loved them because fires are just so fun! (I'm not going to tell you about that time my friend Bubba…
Yesterday we finished up our first two-day class on ENERGY STAR Version 3 for HERS Raters. We spent the morning of the first day going over the basics - the changes, the transition from V2 to V3 via V2.5, and…
If you read my article last week, you know that most insulation materials don't stop infiltration, although it's commonly believed that adding insulation is the solution to a drafty house. That's only one of many limitations you need to be…
Guest post by Ed Voytovich of Building Efficiency Resources (The BER). I know Ed mainly through our interactions in the LinkedIn RESNET BPI group, where he's a frequent and knowledgeable contributor, though we also met IRL (in real life) at…
Whether you're brand new in the community of home energy auditors, home energy raters, and home performance pros or have been in it for years, these two events are at the top of the heap for learning and networking. Whether…
In yesterday's article, I wrote that atmospheric combustion appliances should not be inside the conditioned space of a home. If you have a furnace or water heater that draws air from the room, uses it in the combustion process, and…
A lot of houses have atmospheric combustion appliances. What that means is that a lot of houses have the potential for problems with atmospheric combustion, including serious health and safety problems as well as higher energy bills. First, let me…