Green Zone Home

Green Zone Home did a really good job. I called three or four different folks. We had to take a permit to get our furnace and A/C installed and I have not been to that process in that particular replacement previously. I didn’t know what I was looking for and neither that these tests had to be done to meet city codes. They were the most helpful in terms of explaining what they’re going to do and how it works. When my system did not passed, they were extremely helpful about showing me where they thought the issues were so my contractor could come back and repair those. They gave me a detailed list of things to fix. They were just very open and helpful. They were able to come out on short notice for the retest when my contractor was here. In fact they have given me that idea to make sure the contractor was still there when they did their test so in case they found something else they can fix it right away instead of having them come back out again. They were able to get the same guy out on a very short notice. That was appreciated.

I knew of about all of the things my home could do better, but I needed the expertise of Green Zone Home (GZH) to help me develop a plan of attack. The rep arrived on time and dressed accordingly to get grungy and crawl attic spaces. We sat down to review my list, address some of my questions, and explain the service and what was going to happen. The inspection took 2.5 hours and ran into a conference call I had to attend, so the rep gave me a 90 second wrap up, but said I would get a detailed report via email. I anticipate receiving the report this coming week. The report is the "tangible" of the service and ranks the issues in the house in the order they should be addressed, estimated cost to complete the projects, and recommendations of companies that could do the work. Thankfully, the entire process went without any push to buy any additional services or to use any specific company. Though happy, here are some other thoughts. Since I knew so many of issues already, the $150 could be considered high. For someone who knows or assumes they have issues and want to start addressing them, GZH is someone you should call and is well worth the $150. Also, the rep had some strong personal opinions on another service provider that she had in writing on a separate "resources" handout. I have a home warranty with American Home Shield (AHS) that I am completely happy with, but the GZH rep was surprised. The rep had personal work done by an A/C company contracted by AHS and proceeded to blame AHS for the failures, but it turned out to more of an issue with sketchy contractors trying to make up margins on the work being done.

My energy audit was fairly positive, as my home is only 13 years old. No real improvement to be made in sealing around windows or doors, and the insulation in walls and attic is in pretty good shape. It was recommended that the air conditioner ducts and vents be sealed, as cold air was leaking into my attic from not only the seams in the ducts, but also the plenum on the pump (which is housed in the attic rather than in a closet in the main part of the house) as well as around the edges of the vents in each room. After about 2 hours spent doing all this sealing, a re-check showed that the air flow from the vents was increased by about 10% throughout the house. Not a huge improvement, but it means that less cooled air is being wasted in the attic. The auditor also recommended radiant barrier for the attic/roof, but said it should probably wait until the next time the roof is replaced (a common enough task in central Texas, where roofs normally get replaced every 5 years or so due to hail or wind damage). He also said that the current a/c unit will be good for a few more years, and isn't terribly inefficient; I trust his recommendation because his company does not install or sell air conditioning equipment so there is nothing in it for him.