| Vol. 8 | No. 3 | Summer 2006 |
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Home Efficient Home |
Stephen Young, Washington representative and senior analyst in the UCS Global Security Program, describes how he renovated his home to consume less energy.
Two passions guide my life: reducing the chance that the world will be destroyed by nuclear weapons, and reducing my environmental impact. The latter inspired me to renovate my 1860s-era row house in Washington, DC. The first (and easiest) step was to prevent energy from escaping by insulating the whole house, including walls and ceilings. I also replaced every window to finish creating a tight thermal blanket. And yet, I would need to make other major changes to achieve even more dramatic results.
A Plan for All Seasons
My decades-old, inefficient boiler generated monthly heating bills that could reach $500 even with the thermostat set at 59 degrees during the mild Washington winters. My new boiler cost perhaps one-quarter more than other models, but with an efficiency rating of 92.5 percent, it should pay for itself in fuel savings within three to four years.
I decided to go even further and replace my bulky radiators with radiant floor heating, a more efficient and comfortable way of providing heat. Hot water circulating through pipes under the floor essentially makes your entire floor one large radiator, heating the house gently and evenly. Installation is fairly simple, somewhat like assembling a large jigsaw puzzle: on top of a new subfloor, my contractor laid out a pattern of grooved wood panels with a thin aluminum backing (to spread the heat), then inserted long loops of plastic pipe into the grooves. We covered that with as much of the original pine flooring as we could save, and filled in the rest with beautiful 100-year-old salvaged pine boards.
To address the stifling heat and humidity of Washington summers in the most energy-efficient manner, I installed an advanced central air conditioning system supplemented with passive cooling strategies. This system moves air at high velocity through narrow insulated tubes that are much more efficient than the large, leaky ducts used in traditional central air systems. In my opinion, this is a great product for any renovation because it is much easier to install, draws more moisture out of the air, and, depending on the installation, can cost roughly the same as traditional systems.
To use the air conditioning as little as possible, I increased the house’s capacity for passive cooling, which relies on the thermodynamic principle that hot air rises. Ceiling fans installed in every room will get the air moving, and new transoms (hinged windows) above all the upstairs doors will work in combination with a venting skylight to allow hot air to flow out of the house.
Saving Energy and Money
This past winter was the first test for my new heating system, and the results were outstanding. I set the thermostat at a much more comfortable 69 degrees and still managed to use about 60 percent less gas than before the renovation. With summer fast approaching, I’m looking forward to seeing how well my cooling system performs. With the money I save on heating and cooling, my next big investment may be solar panels for the roof—but that’s a whole other story.
Also in this issue of Earthwise:
Dialogue
Could the fact than chickens in China have been treated for bird flu with human drugs affect human health?
