When I bought my 10 year old house the previous owner said her electric bills were always around $300 a month. My first week, in the house, I went up in the attic and discovered half the house had four inches of blown in insulation and the other half had nothing at all. I added blown in insulation so there is a 12 inch layer throughout the attic. That was six years ago and I have not had an electric bill over $100.
Goes to show how bad the quality is on newer houses, they don't care just build them cheap and fast for max profit!! (its sad how common it is) to only put 1 coat of paint of these houses, and when other trades come in, (like me to pour concrete) I put tape and plastic up to not make a mess, when I take the tape off it peels away the paint. Honestly (sort of maybe not always) better off buying an older house. I also have seen a brand new house, with the back deck 2 inches out of square, the average person might not notice but if you stick your head down the side of the house it's ridiculous.
@@7.3powerstroke6 I fully agree. I am a general contractor so I am very well aware of how new houses are slapped together. I would much rather work on a hundered year old house, at least a stiff fart will not knock it over.
@NickMC As a general contractor that subs out the work to build the house, you need to take the time to find a crew that knows what they are doing. I’ve framed houses for quite some time, a lot of them are super insulated homes. There are procedures to follow when framing, caulking under wall plates, raised plate for the rafters, California outside corners of the house so they can be insulated, 2x6 walls, very well built homes. I built my own place with these same features and I don’t pay much more than $100 a month for heating a 2200 sq ft house in northern ohio, avg temp in the 20’s
To the electrician who replied to my now deleted comment- Thank you for taking the time to teach me. Your example of using #10 is what made things click.
Be prepared to buy and install an HRV if you are truly successful with stopping close to all the air leaks. As you build a tighter house you will end up with a much more fragile house. Its not as simple as stopping all air leaks as that will cause other serious moisture problems in a cold environment, If you don't have mechanically controlled air.
Didn't know what HRV stood for so after looking it up, I thought I'd post it here for anyone else that didn't know: Heat Recovery Ventilator - a device that continuously replaces stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air to help make your house healthier, cleaner, and more comfortable.
I appreciate Richard talking about attic insulation-Matt Risinger and Dr Joseph Lstiburek have great information on this topic, which I don’t feel like is talked about enough, and I believe you will see a building paradigm shift from vented attic to conditioning attic with insulated roof deck.
At 6:15 when they are talking about air infiltration the kraft faced fiberglass batt insulation is installed backwards. The treated paper side of the fiberglass batt should be installed with the paper facing the warm side of the wall. We should be looking at the pink side of the batt. 👍
You guys are the best! We are slowly getting our house up to speed. FINALLY, had solar installed! Thanks for always bringing us new information, and reminders on how we can do it ourselves.
@@semajd5995 yes, but we knew it would be. Federal government has a tax incentive for Solor through 2022, that is a plus. Our state does not have any incentives for solar or any other upgrades for a more efficient home.
I just love what you guys do , I work at a home improvement store and love watching you guys . I feel like I learn something everyday I watch your videos! I wish I would’ve done the carpentry and plumbing, when I was younger. I love how you guys bring in young blood . #TOH. #ATOH
Heat bridging is another thing most people are not aware of for example a door knob can act like a heat sync to the outside part of the door. The ceiling joists in the attic not covered in insulation act as a bridge for heat from the ceiling transferring it to the joists and then it's released into the cold attic.
thermal bridging through the studs into the house. Putting a layer of rigid insulation outside of the sheathing will help or prevent this if thick enough. That is what Zip-R is made for. I couldn't afford it though so just did the rigid insulation.
I saw a concrete basement house with plumbing through a bulkhead. The bulkhead was insulated, but the pipes froze and burst. Insulation stops the flow of heat. If it blocks the heat while outside air gets in, which was the case here, you have to redo the work.
My house was built in 1897. When it was built, you fired up the coal furnace when it got cold out, and if it got too warm in the house, you simply opened the windows. Thermal insulation was never even a consideration. I'm getting my single pane, bay windows replaced this year, next year blown insulation. Hopefully it takes my heating bill from the upper 300's to something more manageable.
Mines an old Iowa farm house built in 1903. Windows are on my to do list, in the meantime I just roll out the heat-shrink plastic covering when it starts getting chilly out. What made a huge difference for my place was having the "retro foam" stuff blown into the walls. There's about 3 feet of fiberglass insulation laid out on the attic floor that was there when I moved in, but the walls were empty. I have a big cast iron wood burner in the basement that I'd fire up on really cold days to help keep the furnace from running nonstop. Prior to the insulation install the wood burner kept it a comfortable 68ish upstairs when it was around zero outside, after the insulation install the wood burner is no longer necessary as it had my upstairs like 83-84 on the couple occasions I fired it up since. The house is definitely holding in heat waaaaaaaay better then it did before. Still like to have the occasional small fire since it keeps the family amused cooking s'mores and hotdogs while trapped inside on bitterly cold days, also seems wise to keep it in working order as a backup since furnaces never pick a very convenient time to crap out on ya.
Our Off-Grid home has a conditioned attic space. Planned it that way so the HVAC and duct work is all inside the space. Made everything super super easy when running ducts and return. In fact the returns don't even have duct work. They just suck air through the space below through vents into the attic space then to the unit. Videos on our Channel.
In many locations where there is an historic building code, that interior plastic sheet is actually what they do. In some cases, there is a permanent inner storm window pane!
They keep talking about sealing the attic/roof, but they don't seem to be talking about all the vents to release moisture and prevent mold. How do you balance that?
From the builders I know and the Off-Grid home we're building I think us Americans are finally getting it. Plus the code is make many change if they like it or not. A good thing in my opinion.
Yeah, and what's often forgotten in America is that insulation works both ways. It doesn't just reduce the need for heating in the winter, it reduces the need for cooling in the summer.
When buying a new 93% efficient furnace for the home I made sure it had a DC blower motor, cheaper to run and has a feature to have continuous operation, a very low speed to continuously move the air, filters it nicely and hardly any dusting needed (so says the wife ) 😀 And my electric bill actually went down $3 a month compared to the older furnace
There are 100,000s of house's that have absolutely horrible insulation values to them in both hot and cold weather climate areas. It should be a requirement before sale of a house to have an energy audit completed.
Ridge Rot is an issue in tight houses since any heat and moister can get stuck in the ridge of the house and rot it out over time. I spray foamed our attic making it a conditioned space then put three mini-split units up there with open return air ducts. This pulls air from the house up through the attic to the units and keeps the air moving. I also installed some wireless temp/humidity sensors just below the ridge. I can check them at any time on my phone and set an alarm if the temp or humidity gets outside the threshold I set. So far the system is working great. Should be some videos on our channel.
Good thinking, I'm from Europe so not sure how you guys do it over their. But here we do it as follows. (From inside to outside). Put a foil which will not let trough moisture, than put the insolation, than a foil which will let out moisture (you don't want moisture trapped in you insolation). That's how we do it over here. Than some mechanical airflow to divert trapped air at the attic, to outside.
I'd like to see more products on air quality. In this video you're mentioning lots of sealing but homes require about 15 CFM of air per person to maintain air-freshness. For some reason leaf burning is still popular here so I may even try a MERV-12, to HEPA, through an inline-dehumidifier, & a carbon filter to maintain the air exchange when using the vent hood or clothes dryer.
HRV or ERV (what I installed) solves that issue. I'm sure they've done a video on it before. I think we have a video or two on our channel from when I installed ours.
@@Off-Grid ... when doing upgrades on air filters for your heating system you may wind up with too much restriction and therefore not enough heat in the home. Yes, they filter at a higher rate (smaller particle size) but that's a possible problem if you go too extreme. It was always the first place I would look when a customer called up to complain about a house not being warm enough.
@@rupe53 i agree, the MERV filters are good but restricted a lot of air flow. We ended uo just using the washable screen. The ERV has a better filter to keep outside are filtered so allergens keep out.
Even with trying to seal up a house as tight as you can with just minimum code, you will still get all the fresh air your house needs. Unless you go above and beyond, you will still have way over a 2" hole in your house leaking air....
@@michaelfranks341 ... about the only way you can get too little air exchange is to build a new home from scratch and spray foam it. Even then, the typical family of four will likely open doors and do laundry or run the kitchen exhaust fan enough to keep things moving.
Hello sir I really blessed to watch your explain about bad smells with well water so our new home has well but the water was mudy and has bad smells too. We did filtration and the mudy disappeared but hot water has very bad smells also some time the water be mudy again.. Could you please advise me..God bless you
Great video - Love the thermal image - would love to see if there is any difference if they put in a double or triple pane window. Maybe not but that would be great to see or put a thermometer touching a double pane and single pane in the same room. Again - would love to see that same thermal with the electrical before and after the calk is applied.
A double or triple pane window will help where the glass is, not necessarily around the edges of the moveable parts of the window which is what they were show cases.
Boys, Love the show but a few things do get left out . For example - this video on insulating the roof of your house. I would be interested to know, that when the floor up there has no attic and the joists are open bay, plus the only access in this house is a ceiling hatch in a closet that is about 12 inches wide by 18 inches long, Just how exactly do you get yourself into the attic, what do you step on, how do you get large insulation material up thru that hatch? This is not a old farm house with a full attic, a floor, and a staircase into the attic. So are these people out of luck. Looking forward to your response to this. Thanks much. Bob
Instead of putting heating equipment out of heated envelope just by putting all equipment all design like in early days have heating and air conditioning equipment in the heated envelope air seal properly installed insulation properly ! No heat ducts in attic no equipment ! You could be saving up to 25% with this design !
In the mountains they always run the dryer vent into a bucket of water. The lint gets stuck in the water and the hot bubbles of air help to put humidity into the house, which is needed in the mountains since it is so darn dry.
We spray foam the roof deck in our attic so it is the same temperature as the house. This way the hvac doesn't have to work as hard to heat and cool the house.
this video is how i realized ross is richards son. i was shocked cause ross is a really great addition to the show and explains high tech things very well. very impressive cause typically the stars son is gonna be a moron who only gets hired cause of his family connection.
Good day I have an old house that I am trying to get all the air leaks closed off. From the sill and the exterior walls. My question is if I only do the sill from my crawl space inside do I still do the outside as well? The exterior walls are a dead giveaway so I know I have to go outside for that. Please let me know and have a great day from Wasilla Alaska!!
The inside of my external walls always feel cold to the touch. Its a brick house with only a couple of inches between the brick and the paster/chicken wire walls with no insulation.
@@dinobravo23 ... make a few phone calls. Most foam goes in by the square foot, but that's only for accessible spaces. I saw an older structure where they spray foamed the fieldstone walls in the basement and up to the rim joists. That sealed up every single crack and crevice to the point where it was 65 degrees all winter without any heating equipment in the space.
Hi guys, I’m in the process of having a bathroom remodel. There is a steam radiator that I’m looking to replace with baseboard heating. Is this possible?
Can the walls be insulated? I've insulated the attic and windows (that I'm redoing) bit can you get walls insulated for an already existing house to prevent air coming in l inside?
What's the solution for improving insulation in a ground-floor condo bedroom that's half-underground and the only window is north-facing and never gets direct sun? my toes freeze even in summer.
There is a video Tom Silva did on TOH where he placed paper face insulation down toward a room and in the attic insulation perpendicular with paper face torn off. Your saying not to do this.
Thanks for the useful video . Who does the thermal imaging of the house ? And can u also show if there is any video about the heat exchanger broke and how to fix it ?
The major issue I'm having is air leakage at the point between the foundation and frame. There's a gap in the siding and I don't know what to do about it.
So if you have no drywall in spare upstairs room , it just has insulation, do you put same insulation in floor too or just the ceiling with no drywall ??
that would depend on if you want to heat/cool that space or not and if air can find another path through around the insulation either in the floor or the ceiling. If it is a room you don't plan to use then I'd insulate the floor.
@@Off-Grid ok it has never been finished just insulation.on peaked roof. Flooring was only on middle but then rest put down on sides couple years ago but don't know of it has insulation under it since its nailed down. But I think not cause the living room below always feels like cold air is coming down at you when sitting in it. So I'm thinking coming from spare room above. But if I take,floor up can I put insulation in it since ceiling just has insulation no drywall?
Most sliders have a fixed window which is sealed good. Then all you have to do is seal up the sliding door. They typically have felt at the top and bottom that the door brushes against, which can be replaced. You can then put foam strips where the door meets the jamb. The last seal is where the back of the door meets the fixed door.
@@MotherClucker1 not here in Canada he can not legally raise the rent for doing upgrades unless it's a new tenant but not us existing tenants. I'd pay for it myself if I could afford it but my disability income doesn't pay enough to even get me my own place and have to be in a student rental. I've already paid for tons of things sacrificing food just to do things that he should be doing. His wife already said I've been their best tenant and went above and beyond anyone. I used to work my butt off but now trying to teach these students to actually live on their own. I grew up with This Old House and was hooked on it from a little girl and went into the business of doing the work until I became injured and permanently disabled and chronically ill. I'm the one telling roommates to close the door and keep the thermostat at a min legally allowed was taught to put layers on to be warm instead of wasting money on heating. It literally would cost him less than one months heating bill to put in weather stripping on the 2 doors in the house.
I like how they always reference the fact the insulation is never always placed correctly. Lol more then often it is never done right. Even brand new houses 😂😂😂
I appreciate Kevin always playing like he knows less than he actually knows so that the audience feels like they've got a buddy to learn with. :)
It becomes even more evident when he adds additional tips, facts or new information (eg. 3:25), lol
like the assistant on an infomercial
He's the everyman.
He's a really good host. Good choice after Bob & Steve honestly.
So true
There's a reason this show will be on for decades, just great stuff we can all use.
When I bought my 10 year old house the previous owner said her electric bills were always around $300 a month. My first week, in the house, I went up in the attic and discovered half the house had four inches of blown in insulation and the other half had nothing at all. I added blown in insulation so there is a 12 inch layer throughout the attic. That was six years ago and I have not had an electric bill over $100.
Wow didn't know it would make that much of a difference!
@@nofurtherwest3474 It was money well spent.
Goes to show how bad the quality is on newer houses, they don't care just build them cheap and fast for max profit!! (its sad how common it is) to only put 1 coat of paint of these houses, and when other trades come in, (like me to pour concrete) I put tape and plastic up to not make a mess, when I take the tape off it peels away the paint. Honestly (sort of maybe not always) better off buying an older house. I also have seen a brand new house, with the back deck 2 inches out of square, the average person might not notice but if you stick your head down the side of the house it's ridiculous.
@@7.3powerstroke6 I fully agree. I am a general contractor so I am very well aware of how new houses are slapped together. I would much rather work on a hundered year old house, at least a stiff fart will not knock it over.
@NickMC
As a general contractor that subs out the work to build the house, you need to take the time to find a crew that knows what they are doing. I’ve framed houses for quite some time, a lot of them are super insulated homes. There are procedures to follow when framing, caulking under wall plates, raised plate for the rafters, California outside corners of the house so they can be insulated, 2x6 walls, very well built homes. I built my own place with these same features and I don’t pay much more than $100 a month for heating a 2200 sq ft house in northern ohio, avg temp in the 20’s
The best tips ever. I love these guys. My IQ always goes up just listening to all of them. What a great team.
Have been watching TOH for as long as I can remember. Always good stuff!
I love that they reuse that little wood frame model for different segments. Last seen with Tommy, demonstrating how to identify load-bearing walls.
To the electrician who replied to my now deleted comment- Thank you for taking the time to teach me. Your example of using #10 is what made things click.
I love nerding out with Richard and his son about insulation and air sealing. By proxy, not in person.
Have to say that these are my favorite clips to watch on UA-cam for home repairs and brain filling knowledge 👌 🙌 👍
Be prepared to buy and install an HRV if you are truly successful with stopping close to all the air leaks. As you build a tighter house you will end up with a much more fragile house. Its not as simple as stopping all air leaks as that will cause other serious moisture problems in a cold environment, If you don't have mechanically controlled air.
Didn't know what HRV stood for so after looking it up, I thought I'd post it here for anyone else that didn't know:
Heat Recovery Ventilator - a device that continuously replaces stale indoor air with fresh outdoor air to help make your house healthier, cleaner, and more comfortable.
I appreciate Richard talking about attic insulation-Matt Risinger and Dr Joseph Lstiburek have great information on this topic, which I don’t feel like is talked about enough, and I believe you will see a building paradigm shift from vented attic to conditioning attic with insulated roof deck.
At 6:15 when they are talking about air infiltration the kraft faced fiberglass batt insulation is installed backwards. The treated paper side of the fiberglass batt should be installed with the paper facing the warm side of the wall. We should be looking at the pink side of the batt. 👍
You guys are the best!
We are slowly getting our house up to speed.
FINALLY, had solar installed! Thanks for always bringing us new information, and reminders on how we can do it ourselves.
Was it expensive?
@@semajd5995 yes, but we knew it would be. Federal government has a tax incentive for Solor through 2022, that is a plus. Our state does not have any incentives for solar or any other upgrades for a more efficient home.
@@dianeangelo2227 that’s great that you got it installed. I am a first time home buyer in the process of buying now and would love to add solar
I just love what you guys do , I work at a home improvement store and love watching you guys . I feel like I learn something everyday I watch your videos! I wish I would’ve done the carpentry and plumbing, when I was younger. I love how you guys bring in young blood . #TOH. #ATOH
Youth is desperately needed in trades. Glad they are helping in that area.
Heat bridging is another thing most people are not aware of for example a door knob can act like a heat sync to the outside part of the door. The ceiling joists in the attic not covered in insulation act as a bridge for heat from the ceiling transferring it to the joists and then it's released into the cold attic.
You mean conduction or the 1st law of thermodynamics?
thermal bridging through the studs into the house. Putting a layer of rigid insulation outside of the sheathing will help or prevent this if thick enough. That is what Zip-R is made for. I couldn't afford it though so just did the rigid insulation.
@@Bremend 1st law of thermodynamics is basically the relationship between heat and work.....
This is a good video. It's going to be very popular very soon as energy bills in the UK and Europe are about to go sky-high
I saw a concrete basement house with plumbing through a bulkhead. The bulkhead was insulated, but the pipes froze and burst. Insulation stops the flow of heat. If it blocks the heat while outside air gets in, which was the case here, you have to redo the work.
My house was built in 1897. When it was built, you fired up the coal furnace when it got cold out, and if it got too warm in the house, you simply opened the windows. Thermal insulation was never even a consideration.
I'm getting my single pane, bay windows replaced this year, next year blown insulation. Hopefully it takes my heating bill from the upper 300's to something more manageable.
Mines an old Iowa farm house built in 1903. Windows are on my to do list, in the meantime I just roll out the heat-shrink plastic covering when it starts getting chilly out. What made a huge difference for my place was having the "retro foam" stuff blown into the walls. There's about 3 feet of fiberglass insulation laid out on the attic floor that was there when I moved in, but the walls were empty. I have a big cast iron wood burner in the basement that I'd fire up on really cold days to help keep the furnace from running nonstop. Prior to the insulation install the wood burner kept it a comfortable 68ish upstairs when it was around zero outside, after the insulation install the wood burner is no longer necessary as it had my upstairs like 83-84 on the couple occasions I fired it up since. The house is definitely holding in heat waaaaaaaay better then it did before. Still like to have the occasional small fire since it keeps the family amused cooking s'mores and hotdogs while trapped inside on bitterly cold days, also seems wise to keep it in working order as a backup since furnaces never pick a very convenient time to crap out on ya.
@@_Frank_the_Tank
I'm doing the walls next year. Mine are hollow as well. Good call keeping the backup heat on tap😉
u can get foam 'pads' for exterior wall outlets and light switches.
a GREAT investment even if the wall is properly insulated.!!
And use child protective plugs in any unused outlet.
The best savings I found for reducing heating was moving to Florida
Terrific advice and very timely here in the northeast right now. I love these guys.
I like to tackle these issues off season so I'm mostly prepared when weather hits
Best to do it he fall or spring
Boston is currently getting 1-2 feet of snow. An even better insulator. lol
@@donc-m4900 doing it Eskimo style up there huh!
foam outlet sealers work great
Literally addressed the issues I’m dealing with right now . Thanks so much
My furnace is in the attic and there is no roof insulation. Definitely addressing that
Great information. Thanks
Our Off-Grid home has a conditioned attic space. Planned it that way so the HVAC and duct work is all inside the space. Made everything super super easy when running ducts and return. In fact the returns don't even have duct work. They just suck air through the space below through vents into the attic space then to the unit. Videos on our Channel.
Great info as always! Glad to see father and son team at work 👍🏽
They're related?
@@Off-Grid Yup. Rich and Ross Trethewey
@@nymentor1 that's cool.
In many locations where there is an historic building code, that interior plastic sheet is actually what they do. In some cases, there is a permanent inner storm window pane!
They keep talking about sealing the attic/roof, but they don't seem to be talking about all the vents to release moisture and prevent mold. How do you balance that?
The attic would be conditioned to remove moisture
This was right on time. Thank you for this. Texas getting ready for our second freeze this week
GOOD TO SEE THE REAL CREW ON THIS ONE... :) WELCOME BACK
Ha, my entire 70 year old house would be brighter than the sun on that infra red scan.
lol, I bet it would be!
70 years young house, that’s it? Mine is 110.
Your recently built 70 year old house would be much better insulated in Europe
Mine too :p haha
Mt house is 121 years old and a disaster. Have and will work on it for ever.
Your engineers are right. And in general, Americans have long needed to pay attention to how houses are built and insulated in Europe
From the builders I know and the Off-Grid home we're building I think us Americans are finally getting it. Plus the code is make many change if they like it or not. A good thing in my opinion.
Yeah, and what's often forgotten in America is that insulation works both ways. It doesn't just reduce the need for heating in the winter, it reduces the need for cooling in the summer.
Yes, I always shut down the east wing of my house in winter. Haven’t been there in months.
Ha that made me think of my first house.....lol.
Lol
You can put a sterling engine fan on your furnace to help push the warm air around the place to better heat your home :)
When buying a new 93% efficient furnace for the home I made sure it had a DC blower motor, cheaper to run and has a feature to have continuous operation, a very low speed to continuously move the air, filters it nicely and hardly any dusting needed (so says the wife ) 😀
And my electric bill actually went down $3 a month compared to the older furnace
There are 100,000s of house's that have absolutely horrible insulation values to them in both hot and cold weather climate areas. It should be a requirement before sale of a house to have an energy audit completed.
Great presentation. Thank you for your time and effort to make this video and share your knowledge and experience with us. Greetings from Croatia.
good timing on this video, we have had an extreme cold warning basically last two weeks
So helpful TOH crew!! Some good ideas for our very old windows. Thank you!
I'm keen to insulate my roof rafters, but I'm a little worried about trapping moisture. Any tips
Ridge Rot is an issue in tight houses since any heat and moister can get stuck in the ridge of the house and rot it out over time. I spray foamed our attic making it a conditioned space then put three mini-split units up there with open return air ducts. This pulls air from the house up through the attic to the units and keeps the air moving. I also installed some wireless temp/humidity sensors just below the ridge. I can check them at any time on my phone and set an alarm if the temp or humidity gets outside the threshold I set. So far the system is working great. Should be some videos on our channel.
Good thinking, I'm from Europe so not sure how you guys do it over their. But here we do it as follows. (From inside to outside). Put a foil which will not let trough moisture, than put the insolation, than a foil which will let out moisture (you don't want moisture trapped in you insolation). That's how we do it over here. Than some mechanical airflow to divert trapped air at the attic, to outside.
Check out the Spray Jones channel. He specializes with spray foam installation and he covers the moisture issue and venting very well.
@@thezfunk I've watched him. He even answered some questions I had.
Love your programs. What are your recommendations for DIY insulating basement block open cores? Thanks
Then after they seal up your house like a ziplock bag you have to add a fresh air intake to your HVAC system to make up for their ziplockyness
I like old drafty houses
I'd like to see more products on air quality. In this video you're mentioning lots of sealing but homes require about 15 CFM of air per person to maintain air-freshness. For some reason leaf burning is still popular here so I may even try a MERV-12, to HEPA, through an inline-dehumidifier, & a carbon filter to maintain the air exchange when using the vent hood or clothes dryer.
HRV or ERV (what I installed) solves that issue. I'm sure they've done a video on it before. I think we have a video or two on our channel from when I installed ours.
@@Off-Grid ... when doing upgrades on air filters for your heating system you may wind up with too much restriction and therefore not enough heat in the home. Yes, they filter at a higher rate (smaller particle size) but that's a possible problem if you go too extreme. It was always the first place I would look when a customer called up to complain about a house not being warm enough.
@@rupe53 i agree, the MERV filters are good but restricted a lot of air flow. We ended uo just using the washable screen. The ERV has a better filter to keep outside are filtered so allergens keep out.
Even with trying to seal up a house as tight as you can with just minimum code, you will still get all the fresh air your house needs. Unless you go above and beyond, you will still have way over a 2" hole in your house leaking air....
@@michaelfranks341 ... about the only way you can get too little air exchange is to build a new home from scratch and spray foam it. Even then, the typical family of four will likely open doors and do laundry or run the kitchen exhaust fan enough to keep things moving.
Hello sir I really blessed to watch your explain about bad smells with well water so our new home has well but the water was mudy and has bad smells too.
We did filtration and the mudy disappeared but hot water has very bad smells also some time the water be mudy again..
Could you please advise me..God bless you
Thanks for sharing
Great video - Love the thermal image - would love to see if there is any difference if they put in a double or triple pane window. Maybe not but that would be great to see or put a thermometer touching a double pane and single pane in the same room. Again - would love to see that same thermal with the electrical before and after the calk is applied.
A double or triple pane window will help where the glass is, not necessarily around the edges of the moveable parts of the window which is what they were show cases.
Good info, ty.
Super timely! Just got the Dec-Jan gas bill 🙃
ouch!
The attic crawlspace access is in my bedroom closet and once you're in there, *maybe* there's enough room to crawl.
Excellent, informative video!
another amazing job!!
Boys,
Love the show but a few things do get left out .
For example - this video on insulating the roof of your house.
I would be interested to know, that when the floor up there has no attic and the joists are open bay, plus the only access in this house is a ceiling hatch in a closet that is about 12 inches wide by 18 inches long, Just how exactly do you get yourself into the attic, what do you step on, how do you get large insulation material up thru that hatch?
This is not a old farm house with a full attic, a floor, and a staircase into the attic. So are these people out of luck.
Looking forward to your response to this.
Thanks much.
Bob
Wish you had shown the after heat measurement of the plastic window kit.
Question. Can I do the attic floor and the underside of the roof?
I can feel cold air through the side jamb of my door opposite of the hinges. How would I best seal that?
Turn heat off
Instead of putting heating equipment out of heated envelope just by putting all equipment all design like in early days have heating and air conditioning equipment in the heated envelope air seal properly installed insulation properly ! No heat ducts in attic no equipment ! You could be saving up to 25% with this design !
Good job you guys as all ways
Ross and Rich!
No outlet foam covers? Odd
Use electric clothes dryer to heat the house. Reroute the exhaust to a filtered register. Just remember to clean the filter/lint trap.
Yep , putting an old pair of pantyhose on the outlet of the dryer pipe.
We know you have holes in ya pantyhose Allen be safe!
@@chrisreynolds2410 lets more heat through lol.
In the mountains they always run the dryer vent into a bucket of water. The lint gets stuck in the water and the hot bubbles of air help to put humidity into the house, which is needed in the mountains since it is so darn dry.
Yep. The key word is _electric_ ! A _gas_ dryer must always exhaust to the outside to vent the carbon dioxide combustion product.
Til people have hvac stuff in the attic and not in the basement. I've never thought about how places without basements work.
We spray foam the roof deck in our attic so it is the same temperature as the house. This way the hvac doesn't have to work as hard to heat and cool the house.
The first thing I ask you is what is your insulation like before I sell you solar. Some companies could care less.
Had no idea they were father and son, so cool!
me either. crazy!
Two Tretheweys
They have gaskets that cover the electrical outlets
You can make them too tight also
this video is how i realized ross is richards son. i was shocked cause ross is a really great addition to the show and explains high tech things very well. very impressive cause typically the stars son is gonna be a moron who only gets hired cause of his family connection.
Good day I have an old house that I am trying to get all the air leaks closed off. From the sill and the exterior walls. My question is if I only do the sill from my crawl space inside do I still do the outside as well? The exterior walls are a dead giveaway so I know I have to go outside for that. Please let me know and have a great day from Wasilla Alaska!!
The inside of my external walls always feel cold to the touch. Its a brick house with only a couple of inches between the brick and the paster/chicken wire walls with no insulation.
You could blow insulation into the walls as long as you don't have knob and tube wiring.
Ugh. I need to insulate my attic in Wisconsin, but it's a mess up there. Lots of loose insulation. Hoping someday to tackle it.
Spray foam the roof deck could be an option. We did that in our off-grid home.
Spray foaming entire attics is great energy saver but is CRAZY expensive!!!
@@keithbrown8814 true but so is heating bills.
@@keithbrown8814 What would it cost? Curious.
@@dinobravo23 ... make a few phone calls. Most foam goes in by the square foot, but that's only for accessible spaces. I saw an older structure where they spray foamed the fieldstone walls in the basement and up to the rim joists. That sealed up every single crack and crevice to the point where it was 65 degrees all winter without any heating equipment in the space.
He had some eye work done.....
Are the floor joists in a crawl space suppose to be insulated? Or just around the foundation.? We have had multiple different answers.
Hi guys, I’m in the process of having a bathroom remodel. There is a steam radiator that I’m looking to replace with baseboard heating. Is this possible?
do you need to insulate pex pipe like you do copper?
Can the walls be insulated? I've insulated the attic and windows (that I'm redoing) bit can you get walls insulated for an already existing house to prevent air coming in l inside?
🤣🤣he said keep your camera away from my house
Kevin looks like Owen Hunt from Greys Anatomy
What's the solution for improving insulation in a ground-floor condo bedroom that's half-underground and the only window is north-facing and never gets direct sun? my toes freeze even in summer.
There is a video Tom Silva did on TOH where he placed paper face insulation down toward a room and in the attic insulation perpendicular with paper face torn off. Your saying not to do this.
Thanks for the useful video . Who does the thermal imaging of the house ?
And can u also show if there is any video about the heat exchanger broke and how to fix it ?
Some insulation companies do free estimates, and use them 😉
Do an episode on how to cool the house next time.
It wouldn’t be all that different. Insulation is insulation, hot or cold.
Missed opportunity to explain the chimney effect to drive home how air sealing can be even more of a factor in indoor comfort than insulation
My only take away from this video is that I need an infrared camera ASAP
W VIDEO
Option B. I just snuggle with my kittens.
The major issue I'm having is air leakage at the point between the foundation and frame. There's a gap in the siding and I don't know what to do about it.
Try to caulk and tape the gap from the inside. Or some sort of exterior sealer.
Move into a mid century house
I'd hate to live where its actually cold.
My gas bills already $200 a month for heat and I live in southern california.
Home owners, lot to think lot to take care.
Today I learned these guys are related.
Same! Kinda crazy!!
Kinda funny because I knew right away just by looking at them.
Wat about cold air literally coming through the outlet itself? That's a current issue here.
So if you have no drywall in spare upstairs room , it
just has insulation,
do you put same insulation in floor too or just the ceiling with no drywall ??
that would depend on if you want to heat/cool that space or not and if air can find another path through around the insulation either in the floor or the ceiling. If it is a room you don't plan to use then I'd insulate the floor.
@@Off-Grid ok it has never been finished just insulation.on peaked roof. Flooring was only on middle but then rest put down on sides couple years ago but don't know of it has insulation under it since its nailed down. But I think not cause the living room below always feels like cold air is coming down at you when sitting in it. So I'm thinking coming from spare room above. But if I take,floor up can I put insulation in it since ceiling just has insulation no drywall?
There's no discontent in Georgia. 🤣
It's been 60+
Wow, I never knew that was his son!
Every one of these I’ve seen goes over doors, and windows, and air gaps, but I have yet to see one to help with a sliding glass door
Most sliders have a fixed window which is sealed good. Then all you have to do is seal up the sliding door. They typically have felt at the top and bottom that the door brushes against, which can be replaced. You can then put foam strips where the door meets the jamb. The last seal is where the back of the door meets the fixed door.
many of those sealing kits will work if you leave the door closed all winter. Heck, you could use Saran Wrap and packing tape on a sliding door.
@@rupe53 problem then is taking it off in the spring and the tape leaves a residue. That stuff can be hard to get off.
@@Off-Grid ... yes, that's true. With some research there is probably something that would work and cost less than those window kits.
Well, I save my farts 💨 and when winter 🥶 comes around I inject that gas into my furnace to warm my house 🏠🤨
Now if only my landlord would do these things we'd be warmer/cooler and he'd save money on heating and cooling
you should offer to pay for upgrades. If he does it, he'd be justified in raising your rent!
@@MotherClucker1 not here in Canada he can not legally raise the rent for doing upgrades unless it's a new tenant but not us existing tenants. I'd pay for it myself if I could afford it but my disability income doesn't pay enough to even get me my own place and have to be in a student rental. I've already paid for tons of things sacrificing food just to do things that he should be doing. His wife already said I've been their best tenant and went above and beyond anyone. I used to work my butt off but now trying to teach these students to actually live on their own. I grew up with This Old House and was hooked on it from a little girl and went into the business of doing the work until I became injured and permanently disabled and chronically ill. I'm the one telling roommates to close the door and keep the thermostat at a min legally allowed was taught to put layers on to be warm instead of wasting money on heating. It literally would cost him less than one months heating bill to put in weather stripping on the 2 doors in the house.
Electrical outlets. That's where I was losing tons of heat. I used the great stuff in a gun with small tip and careful trigger finger. 🤘
Also use foam gaskets behind the outlet covers with child protective plugs in unused outlets.
I like how they always reference the fact the insulation is never always placed correctly. Lol more then often it is never done right. Even brand new houses 😂😂😂
I’m surprised this video is appropriate for the season! Typically you are posting gardening or air conditioning videos during the middle of winter. ;)