{"id":166,"date":"2021-04-06T19:28:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T19:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/?page_id=166"},"modified":"2021-04-15T17:25:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T17:25:49","slug":"air-sealing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/air-sealing\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Sealing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A good way to start air sealing your home is to do a Blower Door Test<\/a>, which determines the air infiltration rate of a building and the areas that leak energy can be found by holding a smoke \/ incense stick close to potential leak sites while the blower door test is running. In general, door frames and window frames leak energy like sieves so starting there can give most bang for the buck, so to speak. Most building contractors like to use fiberglass for air-sealing, DO NOT do this, fiberglass doesn’t do anything in terms of air-sealing. Instead use a mix of spray foam and caulking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next seal your rim joists (where your concrete foundation meets the wood frame of the house) by spray foaming these gaps. Modern construction technique place a thin compressable membrane there, which is enough to keep the joints sealed, but if your house has an older construction, you may need to find these gaps and fill them yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples of where we have air-sealed – that can still be seen! Most stuff is hidden behind trims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Spray foam in rim joist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Spray foam in door frame with trim removed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A good way to start air sealing your home is to do a Blower Door Test, which determines the air infiltration rate of a building and the areas that leak energy can be found by holding a smoke \/ incense stick close to potential leak sites while the blower door test is running. In general, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-166","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/building-envelope-introduction\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":0},"title":"Introduction","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Rationale behind proper Air-sealing and Insulation Our biggest effort has gone into finding the weak spots of the house in terms of air-sealing & insulation and beefing them up. Before we did this work, the house was so inefficient that when the wind blew, the interior doors swayed with\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_dressed-for-spray-foam_zoomed.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_dressed-for-spray-foam_zoomed.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/img_dressed-for-spray-foam_zoomed.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":169,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/basement\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":1},"title":"Basement","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Basements are often cold and damp, so beefing up insulation and good air-sealing makes the space more usable and livable. First we insulated from the inside, with interior insulation it is important for areas that likely to be subject to hydrostatic pressure (water -- think more than 12\" below grade)\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Basement-insulation.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":167,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/insulation\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":2},"title":"Insulation","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Another example of building out a wall to beef up insulation is a project we took on a couple of years ago to beef up our entire north wall. The rooms on the north side of the house were always somewhat uncomfortable in the winter. So, one summer, we dug\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20151102_090123.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20151102_090123.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20151102_090123.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20151102_090123.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20151102_090123.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":165,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/walls\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":3},"title":"Walls","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Original Wall The walls are typical 2x4\" construction. Since this house was built back in 1960 the level of insulation was poor, when we cut open the sheet rock we found 2\" thick insulation in a 3.5\" cavity. We guess that we should have been lucky to have any!\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wall_cross_section_sill-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wall_cross_section_sill-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/wall_cross_section_sill-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":170,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/attic\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":4},"title":"Attic","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Attics are other big sources of air leaks, so we have done some work there too. Attic Hatch with rubber gasket and sprung clips for tight seal We have blown-in as much insulation as the attic could take! Not snow but blown-in Fiberglass!","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210408_163347-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210408_163347-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210408_163347-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210408_163347-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210408_163347-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":161,"url":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/heat-pump\/","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":5},"title":"Heat Pump","author":"Mark Bartosik","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Stage Heat Pump For Both Heating And Cooling Consideration for Two Stage Heat Pumps Two speed heat pumps are great. Typically they work at 66% of rates capacity and 100% of rated capacity. The stages are controlled by a solenoid valve on the side of the compressor which controls\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PXL_20210407_184234769-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PXL_20210407_184234769-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PXL_20210407_184234769-rotated.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PXL_20210407_184234769-rotated.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":765,"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}