The importance of energy conservation is rising in track with soaring costs for natural gas, the fuel used to heat almost all homes on the South Plains.
Members of the West Texas Home Builders Association Remodelers Council are finding that homeowners are looking intently for ways to hold down heating costs this winter. Driving that search are industry predictions of an increase of at least 25 percent, and possibly as much as 50 percent, in gas costs for the heating season.
Danny Bownds, chairman of the Remodelers Council, said one of the most effective measures to prevent heat loss in a house is to add insulation to the attic area, especially for older homes.
Roy Jones, manager of residential installations for Bruce Thornton Air Conditioning, said as much as 80 percent of a home's heat can be lost through the attic.
Roy Jones, manager of residential installations for Bruce Thornton Air Conditioning, illustrates how the caulk around windows should be checked before the winter heating season. Homeowners also often add storm windows to cut out cold air.
Houses that were built 20 to 30 years ago may have started with enough insulation, but now there's often a need for more, according to Bownds.
"The insulation settles and packs down, and the homes just lose their insulation value," he explained.
"If they have a little bit of insulation already, usually you can add eight or 10 inches and get close to an R-30 value (the maximum resistance value normally used in the Lubbock area). For most of the new homes nowadays they are putting R-30 in them."
According to Bownds, a fiberglass type of insulation can be blown into attic areas to provide the depth of protection needed to keep heat from escaping.
Home Energy Saving Tips Attics Add eight to 10 inches of insulation to the attics of older homes. Contractors say as much as 80 percent of a home's heat can be lost through the ceiling. Windows Seal with caulk, or add another pane by installing a storm window. Doors Repair weather stripping. Consider adding a glass storm door to wood doors exposed directly to the weather. Electrical outlets Insulate wall plugs with an interior foam plate. Hot water heater An insulated wrapping can keep the burner from coming on as often.
Attics are relatively easy to access for building up insulation because they usually are open spaces. Walls, however, are another matter. A homeowner or contractor must drill through the gypsum wallboard inside a home to reach the wall space. And there has to be a series of holes because each set of 2-by-4-inch studs form a separate wall space.
There are other areas of a home where the steps needed to block infiltration of cold air are not quite so drastic. Windows fit into that relatively easy category. Especially when only a caulking gun is needed.
"Seal up and caulk around the outside," Jones advised. "Fill any cracks or spaces, or rip out the old caulk and put new caulk in."
He said that if there are large gaps, insulation can be stuffed in.
"But not too tight. Or, you could use nonexpandable foam. Just anything to stop the infiltration. In the wintertime, infiltration is our biggest killer cold air getting into the house, or cold air seeping in. You want to seal it out."
For homeowners more interested in economy than aesthetics, a heavy grade of clear plastic can be attached over a window's exterior by framing it with small strips of wood. Such a measure can significantly reduce cold air infiltration.
For single-pane windows, homeowners may choose to add a storm window.
"That helps tremendously," Jones said. "Then caulk and seal it and you are going to do a pretty good job with that."
Jones has a note of caution, however, about totally sealing some double-glass window systems:
"If you try to seal up the window, or have too much humidity and temperature difference in between, it's going to be like rain on those windows. You want to be careful and make sure the window is designed to match the climate and also the type of window you are covering in order to prevent condensation. That can ruin window sills and cause mold. You are fixing one problem and causing another."
According to information provided by the National Association of Home Builders, some contractors now install storm windows on the inside of homes to preserve the exterior architecture.
The interior storm window generally is mounted with a bracket made of vinyl or a metal that can be permanently fastened to one or more sides of the interior window frame. It offers a detachable glass or acrylic pane.
Both Jones and Bownds mentioned an often overlooked source of cold air infiltration into a house: electrical wall plugs.
"They make a little foam cover that goes behind the wall plugs," Bownds said. "You just take the plate off and the little foam cover goes behind the cover. It seals off that area and works pretty good."
Jones said his company offers a pressure test to determine how readily air is leaking through the overall structure.
"We have a machine called a blower door. We put it in the doorway of the house, then we put a high pressure blower in there and we can measure how much leakage is in the house."
Normally, the tests are conducted free for homeowners at this time of year. Information is available by calling 745-7944.
Leaking ducts can be sealed by a similar pressure test.
"A lot of people call in for duct cleaning, but 99 percent do not need duct cleaning. They need their ducts sealed because they have infiltration," Jones said. "Air is leaking out of the ductwork and going around the grills. The dirt you are seeing is from your attic, not from your ductwork."
Jones said that Aeroseal, a product in which the Environmental Protection Association owns part interest in the patent, is blown into the duct system. It seeks out leaks in the pressurized ductwork, and solidifies, sealing small holes.
According to Bownds, a variety of measures should be taken to conserve energy in a home, all contributing to efficiency.
Some homeowners, he said, even wrap their hot water heaters with insulation to prevent its heat loss.
Bownds believes the wrapping helps contain some of the heat and keeps the burner from coming on as often.
"Every little bit helps," he said of energy conservation measures. "It is a combination of things, and the more you do the better it is."
Ray Westbrook can be contacted at 766-8711 or email@example.com
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