The Visual Handbook of Energy Conservation. A Comprehensive Guide to Reducing Energy Use at Home

386 Pages·2013·14.156 MB·English

by  Charlie G. Wing

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Materials and Systems for Every Part of Your Home
to Reducing Energy Use at Home

CHARLIE WING
CHARLIE WING
Author of HOW YOUR HOUSE WORKS
V I S U A L
Th e
HA N DBOOK

Energy Conservation
of
A Comprehensive Guide
to Reducing Energy Use at Home

CHARLIE WING
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© 2013 by Charlie Wing
All rights reserved.
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The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506
email: [email protected]
Editor: Christina Glennon
Copy editor: Seth Reichgott
Indexer: Jim Curtis
Cover design: Jean-Marc Troadec
Cover and interior illustrator: Charlie Wing
Interior design: Nick Anderson
Layout: Charlie Wing
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wing, Charles, 1939-
The visual handbook of energy conservation : a comprehensive guide to reducing energy use at home / Charlie Wing.
pages cm
Includes index.
E-Book ISBN 978-1-62710-339-8
1. Dwellings--Energy conservation--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
TJ163.5.D86W575 2013
690.028’6--dc23
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The following names/manufacturers appearing in the Visual Handbook of Energy Conservation are trademarks: BoilerMate™, Energy Star®,
Home Energy Saver™, Kill A Watt®, Mickey Mouse™, Minnie Mouse™, TJI®, Tyvek®, West System®
Homebuilding is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring safety practices can lead to permanent injury or
even death. Don’t try to perform operations you learn about here (or elsewhere) unless you’re certain they are safe for you. If something
about an operation doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Look for another way. We want you to enjoy building, so please keep safety foremost in
your mind whenever you’re working.
For Paul Kando and Beth McPherson
Friends of the Earth—they walk the walk
Acknowledgments
Although I take credit for devoting a year of solitary days to creating this book, I must acknowledge
certain people without whom it never would have come to be. First, my best friend, Wid, for staying
the course and sustaining my life in spite of my neglect. Second, my faithful agent, Ray Wolf, for
browbeating the finest building and remodeling publisher into taking a chance on my idea. Third,
the staff at Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine for allowing me the chance to create and deliver
much of this material in the form of weatherization training to hundreds of their volunteers. Finally,
a diverse group of energy educators, auditors, and enthusiasts for contributing more than they will
ever know: Doug Fox of Unity College, Jeffrey Granger of Granger Technologies, and Paul Kando,
Topher Belknap, and Guy Marsden of Maine’s Midcoast Green Collaborative.
Contents
1. About Energy 1
The Three Faces of Energy • Temperature • Specific and Latent Heats • Heat Transfer
• Unit Conversions • How Big Is a Btu?
2. Energy Fuels 11
Fuel Prices • Heating Equipment Efficiencies • Energy Content of Fuels
• Calculating Cost per MBtu • Graphical Cost per MBtu
3. Climate 23
Heating Degree Days • Cooling Degree Days • Average and Design Temperatures
• Relative Humidities • Precipitation • Solar Radiation Received on Windows • Radiation
on South-Facing Surfaces • First and Last Frost Dates • Trees for Shade and Shelter
• Shelterbelt Design • Microclimates
4. Heating 49
Building Heat Loads • Thermostats and Setback Savings • Gas Furnaces • Gas Boilers
• Oil Furnaces • Oil Boilers • Air-Source Heat Pumps • Ground-Source Heat Pumps
• Gas Stoves • Wood Stoves • Pellet Stoves • Warm Air Distribution • Hydronic
Distribution • Radiant Heating • Free Convection
5. Cooling 73
Comfort • Capturing Natural Breezes • Using the Stack Effect • Utilizing a Building’s
Thermal Mass • Creating a Breeze with a Box Fan • Cooling with a Ceiling Fan
• Evaporative Cooling • Air-Conditioning • Clock Thermostat Savings
6. Hot Water 97
Using Less Hot Water • Gas Storage Water Heater • Electric Storage Water Heater
• Gas Tankless Water Heater • Electric Tankless Water Heater • BoilerMate Indirect
Water Heater • Solar Water Heater • Lowering the Water Heater Thermostat
• Low-Flow Showerheads and Aerators • Drainwater Heat Recovery • Pipe Insulation
• Heat Traps • Cooking with Less Energy
7. Insulation and R-Value 117
Heat Transfer and R-Value • R-Values of Insulation Products • R-Values of Surfaces
and Air Spaces • R-Values of Building Materials • Calculating Effective R-Values
• Effective R-Values of Typical Constructions
8. Recommended R-Values 145
Where to Insulate: The Thermal Envelope • Determination of Recommended R-Values
• Recommended R-Values for New Construction • IECC R-Values for New Construction
• Recommended R-Values for Existing Houses
9. Best Insulating Practices 171
Insulating Attics and Cathedral Ceilings • Insulating Walls • Insulating Slab Foundations
• Insulating Crawl Spaces • Insulating Full Basements • Retrofitting Full Basements
10. Windows and Exterior Doors 223
Windows with Clear Glazings • Thermal Conductance (U) • Visible Transmittance (VT)
• Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) • Window Energy Performance Labels
• Low-E Windows • Matching Low-E Windows to Climate • Improving Existing
Windows • Weatherstripping Windows • Adding Glazings • Measuring for Window
Insert Panels • Shrink-Wrapped Insert Panels • Screen-Splined Insert Panels
• Exterior Doors • Weatherstripping Exterior Doors
11. Air Sealing the Envelope 277
A Field Guide to Air Leaks • Professional Leak Detection • Low-Tech Homeowner
Leak Detection • Sealing Attic Air Leaks • Sealing Basement Air Leaks • Sealing
Interior Air Leaks • Sealing Exterior Air Leaks
12. Moisture and Air Quality 297
Moisture and Air Quality • Optimum Humidity for Health • Signs of Excess Moisture
• Moisture Sources in the Home • Capping the Big One: Basement Moisture
• Behavior of Water Vapor in Air • Moisture Transport by Air Pressure • Moisture
Transport by Diffusion • Preventing Building Cavity Condensation • Ventilation
13. Lighting 313
Edison’s Incandescent Lamp • Halogen Incandescent Lamps • Compact Fluorescent
Lamps • Light-Emitting Diode Lamps • Lamp Efficacy and Expected Life
• Lighting Life-Cycle Costs • Motion Detection Switches • Replacement Priorities
14. Appliance Efficiency 325
Room Air Conditioners • Dishwashers • Clothes Washers, Old and New • Refrigerators
• Reading Appliance Energy Guides • Measuring Appliance Electrical Usage • Reducing
Phantom Electrical Loads
15. Solar Tempering 337
Solar Possibilities • Determining Solar Access and Shading • Sun Path Charts • Glazing
Orientation and Tilt • Shading the Summer Sun • Storing Excess Solar Gain
• A Design Procedure for Solar Tempering • Thermal Mass Patterns

Appendices 359
Units and Conversion Factors 360
Glossary 362
Additional Resources 366
Index 368
Introduction
Long, long ago, in 1972, I conducted a seminar at At Shelter, I refined the Bowdoin seminar into a
Bowdoin College which treated “the house” as a sub- 45-hour course. Over the next three years I conducted
ject in physics: building loads, strength of materials, the course some thirty times to students, not only
structural analysis, heat flow by conduction, convec- from Maine but also from all over the United States.
tion, and radiation, ventilation by natural convection, It was gratifying to provide something people thought
passive solar heating, electrical circuits, and acoustics. worthy of serious money, three weeks of precious
A sort of “Physics for Poets,” the seminar time, and thousands of miles. Increasingly, however,
proved immensely popular—at least with the stu- I was bothered by the tiny percentage of people I was
dents. They lovingly called the seminar “Hammer able to reach. What about those who couldn’t get
and Nails.” The rest of the faculty was somewhat three weeks off from jobs, or who had children to care
less enthusiastic. Before offering the seminar a sec- for, or who simply couldn’t afford the course? That is
ond time, I was advised by the Dean of the Faculty when I decided a book could spread my words more
to change its title to “The Art of the House,” in efficiently.
order to counter faculty sentiment that the course Actually, I wasn’t the one who decided I should
was “too practical.” Too practical? That was exactly turn my course into a book. It was John Cole, edi-
the point! If my seminar was deemed too practical, tor of the alternative weekly Maine Times. John was
then how would one characterize most of the other author of a half-dozen books and the self-appointed
Bowdoin courses? spokesman for what he termed “the post-industrial
As I said, the seminar proved popular with the age.” I was dubious, having been told by every high
students, but that proved to be the lesser gratifica- school and college English instructor that I couldn’t
tion. As the seminar progressed, word spread among write. Not all put it in so many words, but my poor
Maine’s back-to-the-land community. This was the grades seemed a clear message.
1970s, and throngs of young, idealistic, war-protest ing But John was insistent. “If Wing can’t do it, I will
couples were flocking to Maine to homestead. One write it for him,” I heard him tell the Editor in Chief
by one, then by twos, these bright-faced energetic of Atlantic Monthly Books. In the end, John and I
couples appeared, asking if they might just sit in the wrote From the Ground Up together. Fifteen chapters
back of the room and listen. When the 90-minute based on my fifteen lectures interspersed with fifteen
sessions ended, the Bowdoin students retired to marvelous chapter introductions by John—a little
their card games, or to a hockey game, or to their sugar to make the medicine go down. John’s instincts
rooms, but the homesteaders wouldn’t leave. They proved right: I could write (at least about a subject I
pressed to the front with question after question. loved), and the book sold 75,000 copies.
They wanted to know, they needed to know—not Forty years and thirty books later, I am finally
for a grade or for a degree—but for life. ready to tackle a subject I have too long put off. The
That is when I discovered my purpose in life: to homesteaders have built their homes, raised their
share my understanding of how things work with children, and many gone to Florida. Post and beam
people who truly want to understand. That is when is in, and organic farming is going commercial. One
I left my teaching position at Bowdoin to co-found problem, however, remains. Like prodigal children,
Shelter Institute, the first owner-builder school in we are burning through our inheritance. For millions
the nation. of years the earth deposited carbon compounds in a
vast savings account. Then, less than 200 years ago (a home of valuable heat; if you understand how an
blink of the eye in the vast scale of time), someone electric heat pump can provide heat for even less
cracked the safe. Since then we have been spending cost than oil or gas; if you understand that an
that inheritance without consideration of the earth improvement having a five-year payback is exactly
or of future generations. We all complain about fuel the same as a bank account paying 20% inter-
prices, but most of us still live in drafty, poorly insu- est, then I believe you will take control of your
lated homes. home and take responsibility for what you are
In 1977, at the time of the first energy crisis, doing to the earth. As a bonus, you will also feel
Jimmy Carter went on the radio to pronounce more secure, be more comfortable, and have more
energy conservation “the moral equivalent of war.” money in your pocket.
In the decades since, the U.S. government has spent I have tried to make this book informative yet a
hundreds of millions of dollars trying to reform pleasure to read. It contains physics, but you won’t
our spendthrift ways—trying to get us to insulate know it. I further believe the saying, “A picture is
and tighten our homes, trying to get us to use less worth a thousand words,” to be an understatement,
hot water, trying to get us to give up shamefully so I have striven to deliver understanding through
inefficient incandescent light bulbs, trying to con- illustration.
vince us to purchase more expensive but far more Whether a frustrated homeowner struggling to
efficient appliances. Yet little has changed. Do we pay your utility bills, a young person studying to be a
not care? I do not believe that to be the case. carpenter or architect, an energy auditor looking for
I believe it is simply a matter of understanding. ways to explain conservation to your clients, or just
I think it is as if we were being told to repair our own someone who likes to understand how things work, I
automobiles. Sure, we know how to drive; we know hope you find in these pages something worthwhile.
how to turn the engine on; we even know how to I will be gratified if you do.
refill the fuel tank. But repair a sputtering engine?
It is the same with our homes. We think of Charlie Wing
them mostly in architectural terms, as beautiful New Limerick, Maine
spaces in which to live and entertain. Sure, we know
how to open and close the doors and windows, turn
lights on and off, adjust the thermostat, even replace
burned-out light bulbs. But, like our automobiles,
our houses are actually complex systems: structure,
sheathing, cladding, insulation, ventilation, wiring,
plumbing, heating, and cooling. These elements are
intertwined. You cannot modify one without con-
sidering the others.
I have come to believe that understanding is
the key to action. If you understand why your
basement is damp, even moldy; if you understand
how and where hidden air leaks are robbing your
Introduction

0 1 2 3 4 5
1
About Energy
W
hat exactly is energy? We know it is something we can buy; we know it The Three Faces of Energy 2
has something to do with heat; we also know it sometimes has something
Temperature 4
to do with motion. To answer this question, we first examine the three
Specific and Latent Heats 5
faces of energy.
Heat Transfer 6
We also know that temperature is, in some way, a measure of energy.
Unit Conversions 7
But why does the temperature of boiling water not continue to rise as we
continue to heat it? The answer lies in the difference between specific and How Big Is a Btu? 8
latent heats.
The primary focus of this book, however, is heat loss and heat gain.
Real understanding of these phenomena requires a solid understanding of
the nature of heat transfer.
The United States is one of only three countries yet to completely
replace the old English (foot, pound) System with the Metric System.
We still calculate our heat energy in British Thermal Units (Btus).
Unfortunately, most scientific and engineering information, in both print
and on the web, is in metric units. We therefore have listed a comprehen-
sive table of unit conversions between the two systems.
Finally, to give you a better “feel” for the quantities of energy we will
be dealing with, we present an amusing and enlightening illustration titled
“How Big Is a Btu?”.
1