...a requirement that ultimately amounted to (at the time) about $20,000-$25,000 of insulation (material+labor) being included in the renovation. My house, upon completion, needed to be at a relatively low HERS rating (look it up if you don't know what that is), and in order to reach the rating, I needed that much insulation.
The PSA:
During this process, and beyond, I've done a lot of studying, pondering, and analyzing regarding thermodynamics and fluid dynamics as they apply to minimizing heat transfer in a home. I always wanted to live in a home that wasn't at all "drafty," didn't have hot and cold spots throughout (in the winter or summer), and just felt really comfortable even when it was cold outside.
In the end, I put a lot of extra effort into air sealing my home, and actually installed a little more insulation than what was required.
And none of this was about "efficiency" per se, nor was it at all about "reducing heating/cooling costs" - Break-even is so far out, if the financials were a considerable part of the analysis, I would never do it. This was all about comfort and "quality" of the finished product (house).
Two weeks ago, we had a few consecutive days where it didn't get above 0F at the warmest point in the day, and overnight lows were double digits in the NEGATIVE.
Let me tell you... I didn't feel a draft anywhere. No cold spots. No warm spots. I never even turned the heat on in the new second level. And even though the furnace was still the same furnace sized for only the first level of my house, it was off more than it was on while maintaining the 69F temperature set on the thermostat (I keep my house somewhere between 68-70 24/7/365). It was glorious. Not only did the house feel great, but there was some personal satisfaction with the confirmation that all this effort/thought/consideration/money provided the result I wanted/hoped.
And Finally, A Broader Point:
All this energy (no pun intended) that the leftist/globalist spend trying to guilt/shame/force people into living a particular way, why not try to sell/explain ideas based on virtues realized today? Why not try to explain to people how they personally benefit from doing X, rather than a paradigm of shaming, driving wedges, and indirectly forcing people to do X on the basis of some future, hypothetical collective benefit? When it's done that way, it really does make you question the motivation of those who are shaming, driving wedges, and indirectly forcing others to live a particular way.
The PSA:
During this process, and beyond, I've done a lot of studying, pondering, and analyzing regarding thermodynamics and fluid dynamics as they apply to minimizing heat transfer in a home. I always wanted to live in a home that wasn't at all "drafty," didn't have hot and cold spots throughout (in the winter or summer), and just felt really comfortable even when it was cold outside.
In the end, I put a lot of extra effort into air sealing my home, and actually installed a little more insulation than what was required.
And none of this was about "efficiency" per se, nor was it at all about "reducing heating/cooling costs" - Break-even is so far out, if the financials were a considerable part of the analysis, I would never do it. This was all about comfort and "quality" of the finished product (house).
Two weeks ago, we had a few consecutive days where it didn't get above 0F at the warmest point in the day, and overnight lows were double digits in the NEGATIVE.
Let me tell you... I didn't feel a draft anywhere. No cold spots. No warm spots. I never even turned the heat on in the new second level. And even though the furnace was still the same furnace sized for only the first level of my house, it was off more than it was on while maintaining the 69F temperature set on the thermostat (I keep my house somewhere between 68-70 24/7/365). It was glorious. Not only did the house feel great, but there was some personal satisfaction with the confirmation that all this effort/thought/consideration/money provided the result I wanted/hoped.
And Finally, A Broader Point:
All this energy (no pun intended) that the leftist/globalist spend trying to guilt/shame/force people into living a particular way, why not try to sell/explain ideas based on virtues realized today? Why not try to explain to people how they personally benefit from doing X, rather than a paradigm of shaming, driving wedges, and indirectly forcing people to do X on the basis of some future, hypothetical collective benefit? When it's done that way, it really does make you question the motivation of those who are shaming, driving wedges, and indirectly forcing others to live a particular way.
