Response from Intelligent Design Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Solar, & Electric
Accounting of events on this energy audit from December 6, 2013 We were called out to this home to perform an energy audit. Our home energy audit specialist found a number of minor things, none of which would have resulted in significant energy savings and none of which would have resulted in a return on investment. We provided testing with a blower door to test for the leakiness of the home simulating a 20-mile per hour wind and used a thermal imaging camera to find any issues with heat gain due to poor or missing insulation. The attic in the home was enclosed and the heat gain from the attic was very minor, there were few penetrations in the ceiling causing air losses nor were there many penetrations in the wall causing heat losses. The windows in the home were excellent; the ducts were sealed very well. The auditor did recommend that the customer have the gaps in drywall surrounding the ceiling ventilation fans in the bathrooms sealed, something she said her boyfriend could do for her. The main issue in the home was the uneven air distribution, which was causing hot and cold pockets in the home. The only way to resolve this was to perform air-balancing along with installing a properly sized air conditioning and heating system with a blower motor capable of providing enough static pressure to push the conditioned air to the rooms which were hot in the summer as they weren't getting enough air flow. The problems she was experiencing were due to an improperly sized air conditioner and improperly balanced registers. The auditor answered all her questions of curiosity and informed her that complete new systems range from about $4500 to $20000, depending on which unit she wished to go with and what accessories such as air purification and humidification. No written quotes on replacement of the air conditioning and heating were provided because the customer was not in the market and did not want to look at the specific brand and SEER options. While sticker shock can occur when learning what properly installed systems cost in today's market, it is unfortunate that she only remembered the high number. The customer agreed that there was no need to provide an estimate at the time as she was looking for very inexpensive or FREE ways to improve her energy costs. This was not possible as the home was built very well overall. As for leaving the closet door open, she did have a closet with a register in a very odd place. If she was not going to balance the registers, then we would have recommended leaving that door open to allow cold air to flow into the rest of the home. Thank you for the opportunity to audit your homes efficiency. We are happy to report that other that your air flow issue and low efficiency HVAC you have a very well built home