The Home Show

2011-10-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's been several weeks since we went to the Home Show at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. Among the myriad of products there was a duct sealing process called Aeroseal. It is being offered locally by Spot On Heating & Air Conditioning. The concept is simple, yet fascinating. It's similar to having a hole in your tire patched from the inside. Pressure from the air inside the tire helps keep the patch in place and, for the most part, this process generally works. There used to be a process for patching a hole in a tire called a "plug". For those of you who don't remember tire plugs, this was a much simpler process than a patch. With a plug the tire did not have to be removed from the rim. Firstly the tire would be taken off of the car. Then it would be slightly over inflated and dipped in a pan of water to find the hole.  Once the hole was found a rubber plug with glue was inserted where the leak was showing. The tire would be placed back in the water pan after a few minutes to be sure the leak was sealed. If all was well the tire went back on the car and you were headed down the road within about 10 minutes time. The problem with plugging a tire is that it was done from the outside. The pressure inside the tire could, and often did, eventually blow the plug out. At that point you were back where you started with a flat.

Aeroseal is much like a tire patch, in the respect that it is is done from inside the duct. When Aeroseal is installed a check is made to determine leakage in your duct work. To do this all of the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) ducts are sealed at the point of exit. The ducts are then pressurized and a computer monitors the pressure to check for leaks. Sealant is injected into the duct work to plug the leaks from the inside out. The sealant used adheres to itself which will reportedly plug leaks up to 5/8 of an inch.

Aeroseal boasts it will save you money bcause it will reduce air leaks by at least 85%, improve air quality, reduce wear and tear on your HVAC which is the result of running less to achieve the same degree of comfort, and give more even heating and cooling for the rooms of your home. For now, let's assume all of the above is true.

There is a downside to Aeroseal. It doesn't come cheap. You can, in some cases, do a duct seal job yourself, if you have access to your ducts in a basement. My parents house was built in 1958. All of the air ducts in that house are metal. The joints on the ducts were sealed at the time of install and I strongly suspect there would be very little leakage there. That low leakage would result partially because of the way they were installed and the fact they run through the basement and heavily insulated walls. Before my father passed away in 1994, they had a winterization done on the house and the air ducts where checked at that time. Very little leakage existed in that home and at that point it was nearly 40 years old.

Our home is considerably different. The first reason is location. My parents home is in Pennsylvania. Our home is in the dry and moderately hot climate of Southern Nevada. While the air ducts in my parents home are metal, ours are insulated flexible ducts (IFD). IFD is not know for it's longevity. It also is mostly inaccessible. It's located in the attic, where there is no walkway to get to it. Much of it is exposed to extreme attic temperatures which are excessively hot in the summer (115 degrees F + ) and cold in the winter. Those temperature variables are just the opposite of what the HVAC unit is trying to accomplish, which is cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.

If my ducts were easy to get to I would probably do the job myself at a fraction of the cost. However, that's not the case. My option is to continue to cool my attic in the summer and heat my attic in the winter or Aeroseal the ducts.

In much of its advertising literature Aeroseal points to an average of 30% leakage in air ducts. If that is true and you live in an extremely variable climate, assuming $200 per month (HVAC) utility bills, with 85% of the leaks sealed you could theoretically save $51 per month.  Just using a 10 month base, Aeroseal would pay for itself in less than 4 years. However, I've often found advertising literature is pie-in-the-sky dreaming.

When I do a home improvement project to save money, I look for a 7 year Return on Investment (ROI), or sooner. Until I'm proven wrong, I also shoot my assumptions on the low side. I'm assuming a 20% leakage in our air ducts, $120 per month (HVAC) utility bills, 85% seal rate and using a 10 month base puts me about on par with my 7 year ROI.  Aeroseal has a 10 year guarantee so if after 10 years it goes the way of a flat tire, I've had a 3 year run of savings. I find that totally acceptable.

I got a rate that I could afford to pay + a $200 rebate from NVEnergy.

The end game is this - Aeroseal will be installed in our home on October 21 of 2011.  Stay with this blog to find out how the process goes and how my monthly savings work out. Who knows, this may be a project for you to consider.

October 17, 2011

I would never recommend doing any type of energy saving project without 1 of the 2 following criteria being met: 1) You plan on keeping your home long enough to get the value of the project + 3 years beyond, so there is a profit in the project for your wallet. An example would be a project with a 7 year return would require you keeping the home 10 years. 2) If you do not plan on keeping the home as previously mentioned then you must be able to add the cost of the project + 3 years of anticipated savings to the sale price of your home.
If neither one of those 2 items can be achieved, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THE PROJECT.

October 18, 2011

Shameless plug time - - Please visit our weather site at http://www.weather89014.com/, check out www.gypsyguide.com/lasvegas & visit my solar energy blog at Journey to Sunland

Also please do not think this or my other blog on solar electric is a commercial for any company or business. It is not. This is an honest and unbiased evaluation of how these processes work and to determine if there is true money savings on either venture.

October 20, 2011

I contacted Aeroseal Corporate Office yesterday by email to make a suggestion. One of the concerns I have about doing this is that even though the product has a 10 year warranty, after they are finished with the install there are no further checks made to be sure the product is still in place and working as expected. My suggestion is as follows: Five years after installation, if the original person paying for it still owns the property, a free recheck is made for duct efficiency. In the event there is more than a 5% decrease in efficiency the product is resprayed for free. I think that's fair. Regardless, they have yet to get back with me.

Tomorrow is the big day. I'll be taking notes during the install and let you know how it goes. It will be kind of a play-by-play thing. Then for at least the next 12 months, I'll keep you updated on the amount of savings I get. By using my own weather center I can be sure I'm comparing relevant information and formulating the proper dollar value saved. After I get 12 months of data I will be able to give you a good idea as to the annual savings and ROI. After 24 months of data I will be able to give you a very accurate handle on ROI and total savings possible.   Stay tuned.

October 21, 2011

It's only 12:46 PM and the duo from Spot On Heating and Air Conditioning have completed the Aeroseal of our HVAC ducts. I now understand why the pricing seems a bit steep. This is a labor intensive process. It would probably be better if I broke it down for you by time frame.

8 AM The Spot On team arrived. The first thing Eric and Scott had to do was what you might call a "Site Survey." They needed to see all of the vents, intake and exhaust. Next was bringing in the equipment to do the job and there was quite a bit of it. Then there was sealing the vents and an initial test to check for leakage. After that it was time to remove the vent covers and plug the openings so the sealant could be applied. All of this took about 2 hours.

10 AM Sealing begins and it's fascinating to watch. You see this misty fog moving through a clear plastic inflated tube. You can watch minute-by-minute as the mist starts plugging the leaks. Eric even offered to drill a small hole in the metal duct so I could watch it seal. Scott monitored the process and watching them work you could see the professionalism. When the ducts were initially tested for leaks there was a leakage amounting to 117 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) which is the equivalent of a 22 inch square hole. That may not seem like much but it's just about the same as having 1 of my bathroom vents open and bleeding air to the outside. At the end of the sealing process my ducts were only leaking 3 CFM. That was a 98% reduction in leakage and the equivalent of having a 1 inch square hole. That's what I call a marked improvement. Imagine 1/2 of 1% leakage. This change is a 10% improvement in heating and cooling capacity.

11 AM Sealing completed it was time to tear down, pack up equipment, replace the vent openings and clean up any debris that fell from the vents when the covers were removed. All of this took a little more than an hour and a half.

I'm pleased with the process and the way it was done. I have a spread sheet with past energy bills both gas and electric. I've done come cursory running of potential savings and how long before I get an ROI. I estimated before that it would be about 7 years but I believe I may have over shot that by a year. It looks now like it will be 6 years and that does not factor in how much I might add to the savings because of price increases in both gas and electric.

Now for the fun part. I'll be watching my utility bills closely and monitoring the savings. My weather center gives me ways of correlating past weather data with energy bills for a very exact break-out of savings after the Aeroseal was applied. I will wait to the beginning of the next billing cycle before I start this. Generally the month of October gives me one of my smallest gas and electric bills of the year so I don't expect to see much in the way of savings until the weather gets colder like late November, December, January and February. May, June, July and August of next year should really produce some significant results. So, as the bills roll in, expect me to update this monthly.

October 22, 2011

I've devised several methods of calculating the actual savings derived from Aerosealing my duct work. This statistic I found most interesting.

If your home living area is 1200 square feet (which is very close to the size of our home) with an 8 foot ceiling you would be heating and cooling 9600 cubic feet. Now if your leakage was 117 CFM it would only take 1 hour, 22 minutes and 5 seconds to lose the entire 9600 CF of air. If your leakage was reduced to 3 CFM, it would take 2 days, 5 hours and 20 minutes to lose 9600 CF of air. Those are pretty powerful and staggering numbers. These numbers could be massaged and a determination could be made to come up with a cost of heating and cooling per minute but it would not be as precise as I want it to be. My determination will be through actual numbers over the next 24 months. Remember this fact - - individual results will vary because of climate and amount of leakage before the process along with the amount recovered after sealing.

November 8, 2011

Statistics and facts can be boring. They are. However boring, putting them out for human consumption is sometimes necessary. Often the bores are on the loose in the form of methodology. I'm going to make a somewhat feeble attempt to keep the methodology of determining the way I'm arriving at my energy savings less that a total yawner.

I'll try and keep it short. That should help somewhat. To determine energy savings I first must determine what has changed around my home's energy usage. Same appliances for more than 3 years running, that applies also to the air conditioner, furnace, television, water softener, pool pump, computers. I've been using a programmable thermostat on the same settings for 5 years now and haven't changed 'em. Say, this is getting simple. When the utility bills come in all I'll need to do is compare temperature ranges over the year, determine heating and cooling degree days, compare unit usage and unit price, do some math, and, voila, get to savings apparent.

So there you have the methodology. Now as the bills come in, I'll post the results. I mentioned earlier and I'll mention it again now. I don't expect to see any major savings this month. I haven't had the A.C. or heater on during more than 2-1/2 weeks this billing period and this is typically one of the 3 lowest energy months I get during a given 12 month period. If it is a major savings this month - I'll be very surprised and my savings will far exceed anything I could have anticipated from this. I don't plan on being surprised. After all, I'm not new at this type of thing.   More to follow.

In today's mail we got our 1st electric bill since having our HVAC ducts sealed. The sealing was done on October 21st and the meter was read on November 3rd. During that period we never ran either the air conditioner or the furnace. Zero savings for the two week period. Next month should be a different story because we started using the furnace on the 4th of November.   Stay tuned.

November 24, 2011 (Thanksgiving)

In Wednesday's mail we got our first full gas bill since our duct work sealing. I must admit, I'm happily amazed. Let me break this down for you. The average monthly temperature was 1 degree COOLER than the prior year. That means our gas usage should have been ever so slightly higher than the previous year. Surprise - - we actually used 8 therms less than the previous year for the same time period. I know this doesn't sound like much but this is one of our lower gas bills for heating throughout the fall and winter. That little 8 therm saving translates into $5.95 cents. That is a 21% savings which is much greater than I anticipated for this month. I recognize that is a meager dollar amount but as we get into some cold weather and our seriously hot weather of the summer, if these numbers hold true I'm going to be very impressed. Keep in mind this is one of two bills that are considered for savings. The other bill is the electric bill. When our next electric bill comes in I'll calculate the savings on it and post them here. I must admit, I'm very curious to see how that all shakes out. Stay with this blog for more information.

December 9, 2011

In today's mail we got our first full electric bill since our duct work sealing. The gas, of course is what heats the house and the electricity used in the winter on the furnace only runs the blower (fan). I knew that my heating savings would be on the gas side and cooling savings would be on the electrical side. I guessed my electric bill savings during the winter would tally in at very close 5% and I hit it dead on. My 5% electrical is $2.50 for a total savings in month one of both gas and electric of $8.45. This month and February are the lowest bills I have all year. June, July, and August will really tell the big story. I do have a feeling this will pay for itself in 7 years or less. If it does - - that will work. Stay tuned as we check out the future months. To be continued.......

December 23, 2011

Gas Bill #2 after duct sealing. The good news continues. This months average temperature was 3 degrees cooler than the previous year. Again, even with the lower temperature our gas bill was lower than the previous year. The shocker to me was the percentage drop was close to the same as the previous month. This month down 18%. We really haven't hit any seriously cold weather yet. This month, although still on the meager side, our savings is about $8.50 cents not counting additional electrical savings. Total savings of 2 gas bills and 1 electric bill = $16.95. My next electric bill should hit my mail around January 9, 2012. More to follow.

January 11, 2012

Full Electric Bill #2. This months calculation for NVEnergy is 4.8% to 5.2%. Once again I'll use 5% which gives me a savings of $2.65. Two months total savings is now at $19.60. I know that's pretty slim savings but the big numbers should hit this summer in air conditioning season. I anticipate next months gas and electric savings to bottom out and be at their respective lowest. Temperatures will warm next month and we should use less gas and electric. I'm expecting March to be about where we are now and by April we'll be starting A.C. season with a slight increase in savings. Just a reminder, this house is small in terms of square footage.   A bigger house may cost more to do but the savings should be more substantial. I'm looking at 1154 square feet here. My understanding is the cost of doing a bigger house is not that much more than mine. That being the case, you might expect a 6 year payback instead of 7. It's still way to early to make a final savings determination and the big story is in the summer months ahead. Stay with me on this and see how it all shakes out.

January 27, 2012

Gas bill #3 post duct sealing. This month was a little harder to calculate the savings for three reasons. I opened up the vent in a room which I normally don't heat. Fortunately for me, the date I opened it was at the very beginning of this billing cycle. This added an additional 800 cubic feet of heating space per day. My bill also had 2 additional days on the billing cycle. Finally the average monthly temperature was 3 degrees warmer than the previous month. The warmer temperature would normally have pushed the gas bill down, however those 2 extra billing days with 800 CF of space to heat pushed it up. I ended up having to calculate cost of heating per CF per day. I then multiplied that answer times the number of days and adjusted the figure for the temperature. Bottom line in all of this - - my calculated savings for this month is $6 in gas or slightly less than 10% of the total bill. That is a decrease in percentage of savings and perhaps a little shallow of what I expected. Regardless, it's still savings which is money in my pocket. It will be interesting to see how all of this translates onto my electric bill. Three months gas savings with 2 months electric savings now is a running total of $25.60. Electric bill #3 should hit here by mid February. More on the way at that time......

February 10, 2012

Electric Bill #3 post duct-sealing and the electrical savings seem very and not surprisingly consistent at the 5% level. Last months electric bill was a 33 day cycle while this month was only 27 days which lowered the electrical usage and, of course, the total bill. Total NVEnergy savings this month as $2.07, but for the sake of simplicity lets call it $2.00 even. Running three month total of energy savings is now at $27.60 sans 7 cents. March should be about the same and sometime in April I'm sure the air conditioning will be running. Keep in mind, the savings I'm seeing now does not take into account any increases in rates for gas or electric. Price increases in utilities will shorten the ROI. Based on what I've seen so far, I'm still under the belief of a 6 to 7 year return. Next up....gas bill #4.

Energy Savings through Duct Sealing with Aeroseal

The Home Show