Comfort Tip-High Velocity Ducted System

There are several homes out there in which running ductwork just may not be practical. Every year we see several of these types of homes with limited or no space at all for our ductwork, yet the builder, homeowner or architect expects us to perform a miracle and just keep that nasty looking metal ductwork out of sight and out of mind. I have even seen several sets of house plans in which the heating and cooling is not even considered in the plans, this is a sad problem since most homes are uncomfortable and one of the most common complaints that a homeowner has with their new home is the temperature problems. Some of the issues that we run into is that there is no space or place to run the large rectangle ducts or our customer may insist that there can be no ductwork below the floor joist or no soffits built to conceal our ductwork. When this happens we do a lot of head scratching and try to come up with a logical solution without jeopardizing the homeowners comfort.

One of the solutions that we have available is to install a High Velocity Ducted System. With this type of ducted system we actual install several small pipes in the home instead of the commonly seen large ductwork. This type of system works really well for homes that are already built and the homeowner wants to add air conditioning but has limited space. It also works really well when we look at a new construction home with a large open floor plan. The open floor plans are becoming more and more popular due to advances in trusses and joist designs. With the open floor plans there are little to no interior walls in which we can run our ducts so the High Velocity makes a lot of sense.

Check out our You Tube Video in which we installed a High Velocity System for more information, or just give me a call at 913-268-6700.

Thanks

James Gallet

Envirotech Heating and Cooling

913-268-6700

Energy Tip- How "Cool" Is Your Ductwork

It is not "Cool" to have leaky ductwork in a home or office; however the ductwork is often an overlooked item even though it is a key component to your comfort system. Leaky ductwork in a heating and cooling system can waste hundreds of dollars every year and also cause a home or building to be uncomfortable. Your air distribution system is made up of two main pieces of ductwork or trunk line. One trunk "blows" the cool air in the summer and warm air in the winter to different rooms and areas, commonly called the supply duct. You also have another trunk that "sucks" air back to your furnace or fan coil to be reconditioned, commonly called the return duct. This cycle continues over and over again until the thermostat tells the system "I am good, you can stop running now".

Ducts naturally leak by the way they are constructed or installed, each connection point from one piece of duct to another is a potential source for air leakage because the ductwork will expand and shrink as the temperature of the air within the duct changes. Air can leak both in and out of your ductwork and this will cause your heating and cooling equipment to work harder and less efficient.

Your Comfort can be at stake if you have "leaky ducts" in your attic, crawl space or basement. Leaky return air ducts will allow unconditioned air to be returned back to the furnace or air handler instead of pulling air from the main living space. Leaky supply ductwork will not allow certain parts of a home to get the proper airflow; therefore rooms will be too hot or too cold.

Another key issue is Higher Utility Bills; think about it, if you are dumping cold air in the summer into your attic instead of where it needs to be then the air conditioner will have to run longer in order to get the home comfortable. This longer run cycles will cost you more in utilities. Another scenario could be if the return air duct is pulling warm (120 degree) air from an attic or crawl space during the summer instead of the air within the home (72 degrees). This 120 degree air is now mixing with the 72 degree return air and causing the air conditioner to work harder in order to get cold air coming out of your vents.

Leaky ductwork can also cause a Dusty Home, a typical home contains around 180 linear feet of ductwork and your ducts can accumulate more than 40lbs of household dust each year. Leaky ductwork will spread this dusty air throughout the home, while sealed ducts deliver cleaner, filtered air.

So what can you do? Well one thing that you can do is to have your ductwork sealed. This can be done by using the metal duct tape (not regular duct tape) or a mastic duct caulk; both can be found at most hardware stores. We also offer duct sealing as one of our services, so if you don't want to mess with it give us a call.

Please give us a call if you have any questions or comments about leaky ductwork anytime. You can also access a free brouchure on duct leakage and what to do by clicking in the following link: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/heat_cool/ducts/DuctSealingBrochure04.pdf?9bdc-34b6

James Gallet
913-268-6700
http://www.envirotechks.com/

Energy Tip-Air Filtration

Typically, during the winter months, we spend a lot more time indoors than we do outdoors. This is also when people tend to be sick more often, maybe it is the lack of sunlight or maybe it is the air within our homes. Who knows for sure, but we do know that the air inside our homes can be 5-Times more harmful to breathe than the air outside! Wow!

Choosing a good air filtration system is not only beneficial for you and your families health but it is also important in the protection of your homes heating and cooling system. There are several different types of air filters and systems on the market today for your home and business. Filtration systems are generally marketed towards protecting your personal health but like I said they also are important in protecting the well being of your heating and cooling system. So which one is right for you?

Well first of all lets discuss how they rate air filters. The common terminology used today to rate the effectiveness of air filters is their Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or "MERV" for short. The higher the MERV rating the more effective the air filter is at blocking and capturing indoor air particulates such as dust, dander, skin flakes, etc...

We recommend that you have at least a MERV 8 filter in your system. The Ultravation Systems that we install commonly is rated at a MERV 10. The 5" thick pleated filter needs to be replaced every six months and there are no mechanical parts to this system. Most filters that are sold at the hardware store for $3-$7 are no where near a MERV 8 and the cheaper filters that you buy at the hardware stores are rated somewhere in the MERV 1-2 range. There are a few 1" thick pleated filters on the market that are rated at a MERV 5, however you need to read between the lines. Some of the filter companies rate their filters after they are in use and not when they are brand new. So what this means is as the filter gets dirty its rating will increase.

So what do you do if you or someone in your family has severe allergies and the MERV 10 system just isn't good enough? One bit of advice is to have an Ultraviolet Light installed in your homes duct work. We can install a two bulb system that works very well. There is one UV light installed in the supply duct, just above your furnace that will kill any airborne allergen before they make their way to your vents and another installed in the return air duct above the air filter system, the unit in the return duct will kill anything before the filter and then the filter captures the airborne allergens.

Some people will require even a better system than a UV Light and Media Filter system. In that case we recommend a bypass type air filtration unit. This will be an externally mounted filtration system that will bypass air in your duct work and return the filtered air to the system. The reason that we cannot go with just a higher MERV rated filter system is due to airflow requirements once you get above a MERV 16 the airflow is really restrictive and can actually do damage to your homes heating system. The bypass unit still allows proper airflow to the system while allowing an additional amount of filtration.

For more information on the Ultravation products please visit http://www.envirotechks.com/indoor-air-quality if you have questions on the bypass models or anything else, then please feel free to give me a call.

Thanks

James Gallet

Energy Tip- Are Your Pigeons Warm On Your Roof?

Earlier this week we had a nice brisk morning and I was running a little early to my 8am sales call. I decided to drive around the neighborhood I was in to check out some of the homes roofs near my appointment. Why in the world would I want to look at a roof at 7:30am? Well, believe it or not you can tell a lot about the insulation of an attic, ventilation of an attic, air leaks and possibly discover some other issues within a home by checking out a roofs frost patterns.

The frost pattern or frost on a roof is different than the snow on a roof, so this little bit of advice wont do you much good with the snow on a roof. You see the air inside your attic is considered outside of your building envelope, or outside of your home, therefore the temperature in your attic should be at or close to the same temperature as the outdoor air temperature. This is only true, however, if your attic is properly insulated, vented and sealed off from your living space below. So in the early morning hours before the sun is out you should see no difference in the frost pattern across the roof. Once the sun hits the roof it is hard to see the trouble area since the frost will melt quickly.

There was a few homes in this neighborhood with some major issues. The biggest issue that I found was with the two story home to the right in my photo. As you can see, there are two large sections of frost on the shingles, but no frost at all towards the top of the roof line. This home has the same layout, or design, as the other two homes in the photo, so in reality they should all have a fully frosted roof. I am guessing that on the upper home, with the issues, the two sections with frost have rolled insulation in an attic or ceiling space and the bare spots are probably blown in insulation above a ceiling. This troubled home probably has several air leaks from the second floor into the attic such as can lights, bathroom exhaust, vent pipes and may have leaky ductwork in the attic as well. Whatever the case may be they are spending alot each year to not only heat their home but also to heat their roof.  

So the next time you look out your window, before the sun comes out and see frost on the ground, slip on your warm slippers and check out your roof to see what you may discover. You may find that just doing a little insulating or sealing can help save you some big bucks and keep your home more comfortable year round. Hey, don't worry about the pigeons, they can go to your neighbors roof to stay warm.

Thanks and have a great Holiday Season!

James Gallet

  

Energy Tip-No To Plastic/Solar Water Heating

So where in the world did October go? Well for me October was filled with lots of running around trying to get caught up or not get any further behind, one work trip to Lubbock, TX and then a nice week long vacation with my lovely bride to Maui.

I could go on and on about how beautiful Maui was, from the scenic hikes we took, to the snorkeling and so on, but instead I am going to tell you about some other bits of information about the island. I found it fascinating that the entire Island had no plastic bags on it! That meant when we went to the supermarket for some snacks, bought souvenirs or whatever the case you were not carrying out your stuff in plastic bags.

We visited a Walmart (imagine that, they had a Walmart there) and at the check outs they had the bag carousels but no plastic bags. When we bought items at small shops the items were put in paper bags and we were not given a paper or plastic option. It seems that the Island of Maui in January of this year took away all of their plastic bags so you either bring in your own recyclable bags or you just tote your shopping cart out to your car and unload the items one by one into the floor. I thought this was a pretty neat idea and wish the rest of the US would adapt this.

Another neat thing was that our hotel room had no liner in the trash cans and the room even had a separate trash container for recyclables. There were recycle containers located beside most trash containers in almost every public place and you could just tell that they people just had recycling and reusing as a way of life. 
 

So whats this solar stuff in my title? Well another thing that I found to be of interest was that solar water heating was huge over there. I saw more ads and advertising about solar products (mainly water heating) than I did for any other service. It was weird driving around and seeing a water heaters sitting outside of the homes but it was really cool to see all of the solar panels installed that were preheating the water that fed these water heaters.

Coincidentally enough the week that I returned from Maui I was already registered to attend a solar water heating class so I was anxious to learn more about the design and installation of these products. I learned that solar water heating is quite a bit more expensive to install than conventional and hybrid water heaters so it may not fit your budget, even with the big tax credits available. There is however a market for solar water heating, so it could be something to investigate if you are looking to save on fuel and plan on staying in your home for several years. The way that a solar water system typically will work is that the solar panels (generally located on a roof) will heat the water as it passes through the tubes. This preheated water then travels to a storage tank that can be a standard water heater or tankless type water heater and the hot water that you use in the home pulls from the storage device. If you need more hot water than the solar panels can provide for you then the storage tank or backup source will kick in and heat the water for you.

I can see several advantages and disadvantages in using solar to heat the water in a home. The main

advantage is that the sun energy is free, so the monthly energy cost will be lowered in a home. The main disadvantages are the initial cost is high and when most people use the biggest bulk of hot water in a home (morning and night) the sun is not out so you will be likely pulling from your backup source.

So if your in the market for a new water heater here is yet another option for you to consider, but I urge you to do some homework first and find a company that has installed several solar systems that can give you solid referrals if you go the solar route.

PS lets get the rest of the world on board with Maui and do away with these plastic bags, if you want I will send you a free reusable grocery bag to get this fad started. Just shoot me an email at jamesg@envirotechks.com with your mailing address and I will send one to you.

Until next month, thanks for reading have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

James Gallet

Energy Tip- "Give Your Water Heater a Blanket"

I was sitting in the kitchen this morning when my 8yr old came strolling in with a big blanket wrapped around her (I remember those days when I would eat breakfast with a warm blanket around me). For some reason this got me thinking of water heaters on my way into work. I am a big believer in the tankless or hybrid water heaters, however some homes and businesses are better off with a conventional tanked water heater as opposed to the tankless or hybrid models. So if your water heater is one that is a conventional tanked model then you need to give that "girl" a blanket.

Here in the Kansas City area most of our water heaters sit in a basement or garage. The water heaters are constantly losing heat to the air around them. Think of your water heater as a biog thermos with a built in heater, as the "big thermos" losses heat to the air around it the built in heater automatically heats it back up. This is why you always have hot water ready to go at your faucets. This lose heat then reheat cycle is repeated over and over again through the course of the water heaters life. Unfortunately it is even repeated when we are not using the water heater like over night and when we are away from our homes.

One big thing that you can do is to wrap your water heater with a insulation blanket specifically designed for water heaters. You can purchase them at nearly any hardware store and they cost around $25. They are easy to install and this $25 investment will end up getting recouped in utility savings over just a couple of months.

Here are a few other things that you can do to improve your water heaters efficiency and help cut back on your energy usage:

1. Turn down the heat setting a bit, do you really need it set as hot as you have it now?
2. Insulate your hot water pipes in addition to your heater itself, again you can get pipe insulation at most hardware stores.
3. Fix any leaky faucets, this one little drip can cause not only high water bills but also high gas or electric bills if it is on the hot water side.

4. Insulate the room the heater is in, most of the time the water heaters are located in a cold area or basement room possibly even a walk out basement.

5. Turn it off or use the vacation setting when you are out of town.

I hope that you found something in this article helpful. Please feel free to call or email me any suggestions, comments or questions. 

Thanks

James L. Gallet

Envirotech

Energy Tip- Light The Natural Way

In the past I have written about using CFL or LED lighting for your home. Well there is another solution to lighting your home and guess what, its free! Before the widespread use of electric lighting architecs and builders constructed buildings to take advantage of natural light. Well this way of thinking and building has gone by the wayside and in its place we want homes that are pretty and people seem to not worry so much about effeciency and lighting (at least until we open our utility bills anyway).

What can natural daylight do for you and your home? Natural lighting will not cost you anything in utility bills for one, but sunlight also help aid in relaxation and happiness and helps reduce seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as the winter blues. Natural daylight has also been proven to improve students test scores, double retail sales in stores, and boost factory workers productivity.

What will it do for our planet? If we all reduced our electric lighting in our homes by 25%, natural daylight could save enough energy to power 17 million homes a year. WOW!!!! 

Who do you call? Here in Kansas City we have one of the best daylighters in the business. Sam Kane with Solar Solutions can install a tubular skylight and bring in the natural daylight for you and your family. Sam and his crew have great knowledge and look at each home on an individual basis to determine where natural lighting would best be served. They can install one tube if you would like and build onto it from there. To get in contact with Sam visit their website at http://daylightkc.com/. They also have some other great products available.

Check out the two photos below of a before and after shot that Sam and his gang took on one of there jobs. Please feel free to pass this along to others and let me know if you have any energy or green tips to pass my way.

Thanks

James Gallet



Before Natural Daylight




After Natural Daylight