ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONTRACTING

Any contractor can save you money by adding insulation to your attic or replacing your windows, but only the pros at Atlas Home Energy Solutions can guarantee that you get the most out of your energy investment!

Getting the most out of your energy improvements requires approaching the project with an understanding of how energy is used throughout the whole house. This means knowing where to install thermal, air, and vapor barriers to effectively seal in the expensived conditioned air from your air conditioners and furnaces and maximize your energy savings.

The services which we offer are:

Air Sealing

Performing air sealing work on your home is often one of the most cost effective ways to reduce your utility bills. Air leaks can only be effectively identified using a blower door and infrared camera system. Very leaky homes often have uncomfortable drafts, very cold rooms above garages or on the lower levels, and have high heating and cooling bills. Suprisingly, the costliest air leaks in your home are rarely caused by windows.

Once air leakage points have been determined, they can be sealed with the proper application of air barrier and insulation products.

Leakage points vary from home to home but some typical examples include:

General Whole House Air Sealing

General leakage points throughout the home can range from exposed brick walls, to poorly sealed doors and windows, to missing sections of drywall in utility rooms.

Full and half dormers are often a significant source of air leakage. This dormer closet was air sealed using a rigid foam board to help reduce wasted energy and to remedy an uncomfortably cold 2nd floor.

Attic Air Sealing

The major force driving air infiltration in homes in the winter is the "stack effect" which forces the warm furnace air from the lower levels in your home up through the holes, gaps, and cracks into your attic. Creating an effective air barrier to prevent this movement can help keep the lower levels of your home warmer in the winter and lower your heating bills.

Some of the common leakage points in an attic are:

• Recessed "Can" lighting
• Gaps and voids where the drywall meets the top framing member or "top plate" in your attic
• Penetrations for electrical wires, plumbing pipes, flue pipes, and radon systems that run into your attic
• Gaps around ceiling registers from an attic Air Conditioner or Heat Pump
• Dropped ceilings above kitchen cabinets or in closets

Rim/Band Joist Air Sealing

Often the Rim/Band Area of a home is a major point of air leakage. The rim/band area is where floor joists terminate at the exterior walls and is often visible in unfinished basements, utility rooms or laundry rooms. This area is especially leaky in old brick homes. Sealing Rim/Band Joist requires the use of an insulative air barrier such as a foam board that is sealed to the exterior wall and to all joist penetrations.

Insulation

Building practices and codes have evolved significantly over the years as people have become more conscious of energy usage and occupant comfort. As a result, today, higher levels of insulation are recommended in attics, crawl spaces, floors and walls than were installed in older homes. If your home was built more than 20 years ago and the insulation has not been upgraded in these areas than significant savings can likely be found by improving your insulation levels.

Each area of your home that requires insulation needs different materials and installation techniques. Atlas can insulate any area in your home, but for more information on some of the most common areas please refer to the information below:

Attic Insulation

**Before adding insulation to your attic, Make sure it is properly Air Sealed!**

Attic insulation can be made of fiberglass (aka "the pink stuff"), cellulose (recylced newspaper), spray foam, or rock wool in older homes. It can be installed in the form of rolled out batts or blown in as seen in the picture on the left. Do you want to upgrade the insulation in your attic but don't want to lose the storage space? Ask us how you can do this!

Wall Insulation

Many homes built during or before the 1970's do not have any insulation in the wall cavities. This is especially true for brick framed homes with plaster walls, and it causes cold rooms and high utility bills. Often, the most cost effective way to add insulation in these cases is to use a blown in material like cellulose, or spray foam that fills all of the gaps and holes inside the wall.

Another common problem area is where interior walls ajoin an attic on split level homes. Insulation installed on these walls can fall down over time and leave upstairs bedroom walls exposed to the extreme cold or heat of your attic.

Crawl Space Insulation

**Before insulating your crawl space be sure all of the electrical, plumbing, and duct penetrations are air sealed!**

Large crawl spaces are common in split-level homes or underneath overhung additions and are often the same temperature as the outdoors. We recommend sealing off all crawl space vents, install a plastic vapor barrier sheet along the floor to keep moisture out, and to insulate the walls and floor joists of the crawl space. In addition, all ductwork running through the crawl space should be sealed and insulated to prevent hot air from the furance or cold air from the air conditioned from escaping into the crawl space.

The other major benefit of sealing and properly insulating a crawl space is to prevent the growth of mold and mildew by eliminating pathways for moisture infiltration.

Floor Insulation

Often 2nd floor bedrooms above a garage or overhanging the side of the house have cold floors in the winter time because the floor joist area is not properly sealed and insulated. These floor joists can be insulated with fiberglass batt insulation if the garage ceiling is not drywalled, or cellulose insulation can be blown in if drywall is present. Other common floor areas which require insulation are where a 2nd floor room overhangs 1 or 2 feet beyond the floor below.

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