Comments on: Fixing an Old House? Follow Einstein’s Advice

By: PRAKASH UPADHYAYA

PRAKASH UPADHYAYA — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:21:10 +0000

Thank you.
Thank you.

By: Ted

Ted — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 19:52:54 +0000

Yes, I like that.
Yes, I like that.

Yoder ermine opportunity first. Get process sequence IN ORDER. You might enjoy this little calculator and key: http://bit.ly/Homescale 

Then, if opportunity exists, learn customer priorities (pain), help them develop a budget (money), and agree upon decision making process (time to present solutions developed).

By: John Proctor

John Proctor — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 19:47:33 +0000

In short — 5 minutes is to
In short — 5 minutes is to short, 4 hours is too long. Weatherization programs we see overdo the analysis and waste a lot of money then do too little of the right things

By: John Proctor

John Proctor — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 19:40:27 +0000

@Ted Kidd

@Ted Kidd
Ted I partially agree with the premise, I think it is quite overblown in application.
In California and elsewhere the stimulation money made you measure a bunch of things and put it into a simulation program to produce a prioritized list that was both incorrect, excessive, and took long to gather the information.
So: 1) measurements are good - blower door in most cases, duct leakage, and combustion safety (as the originator of that we see overcomplication as well).
2) if there is no insulation in the walls or ceiling or little in the ceiling -- insulate.
3) If there are disconnected ducts, then reconnect them and test the duct leakage after that.
4) Don't rip out a furnace, boiler, air conditioner, or heat pump just because it is old and the rule of thumb in the computer program says it is inefficient.
5) Don't replace electric resistance baseboard heaters with a ducted heat pump. Put in real thermostats on them.
6) If there is enough money to redo the duct system then put in new short runs (not to the edge of the house) and insulate the hell out of them if they are outside the conditioned space.
7) If the heating and cooling bills are very low and the customer is comfortable, do none of the above.
-- on and on -- twitter @proctoreng

Essentially there can be for a certain climate a checklist that runs from the most important to the least important. If items 1 through 3 are already done, then the options start, in priority order at number 4. The customer will perhaps want number 6 instead of number 4 -- that is the reality of the market.

By: Ted Kidd

Ted Kidd — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:47:54 +0000
John, seems you disagree with
John, seems you disagree with the blog premise?

This seems an all too common perspective borne out of the free weatherization programs; "you know what they need." which is close cousin to; "eh, 100,000btu/4 ton should do it."

Unfortunately you not only have infinitely unique problems, you have infinitely unique budgets and priorities, and savings opportunities that must all come together in optimized design.

If someone wants a suit tailored to fit their taste AND budget, how do you arrive there by spending 5 minutes to understand their problems?

So, where exactly do you want to cut corners in the design process? What exactly are you saving by doing this?

By: John Proctor

John Proctor — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 04:40:50 +0000
Our view is that a 4 hr or
Our view is that a 4 hr or more science project is not necessary in many cases, AND that gathering a bunch of data to input to a simulation to tell you what you already knew needed to be done is crazy! A simple and sophisticated checklist would work fine for most single family buildings.

By: pj

pj — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 04:19:38 +0000
“Insanity: doing
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein”

This means if you have to do a 4 hr Science Project, Full Monte, Proctological, Circus Act Audit complete with Blower Doors, Duct Blasters, X-Ray Vision Glasses, etc, etc, on every home in a 10 year old subdivision of 30,000 houses you are insane.

By: John Proctor

John Proctor — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 01:09:38 +0000
These great suggestions and
These great suggestions and many others are just published in the second edition of No-Regrets Remodeling from the editors of Home Energy Magazine. Here is a quote from page 5, "Time spent planning will pay you back handsomely. Consider your options, make all you decisions before you start...."

By: Ted Kidd

Ted Kidd — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 19:59:00 +0000
As Nate suggests, to do this
As Nate suggests, to do this right isn't something that can be done well in a rush.

In fact houses are pretty sturdy and when you do this WRONG the problems don't start to manifest for years.

I'm starting to see people who have had rushed work designed and implemented poorly. Their homes are beginning to show mold, have drywall tape pop, etc. What they all have in common is design was not COMPREHENSIVE. Comprehensive takes time, and I believe it takes collaborative effort. (I can't do it alone)

Would you trust an architect to design your house in an hour? Or would you want to engage in an iterative design PROCESS?

Let's make this into smaller steps. Start by understanding problems, opportunity, and the homeowners situation. Do no harm should apply to finances too.

My job is to:

1 Help people understand their problems.
2 Develop a budget that will NOT take food off their childrens plates at the end of the month (this part requires delicacy, and is a big part of the value auditors should bring).
3 Understand OPPORTUNITY (Improvements for some houses cost more than on others, and the energy savings ability to carry part or all of those improvements varies too)
4 Help homeowners understand if the AUDIT process is a good fit for them.

There are those in this industry with self-interest in selling that makes the sale "faster". That is exactly the WRONG way to go, as Nate suggests we need to SLOW DOWN and be more thoughtful.

By: Ted Kidd

Ted Kidd — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 19:45:24 +0000
IT ALL STARTS WITH AN ENERGY
IT ALL STARTS WITH AN ENERGY ASSESSMENT!