Retrofits
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Characteristics of a Good Home for Retrofitting - - -
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- Construction Characteristics
- Built Pre-1950
- Often made of higher quality materials that will last longer. Also built with fewer chemicals used in materials and during the construction process, making these homes safer for residents. These homes also often include generous extra spaces, such a pantries and larders, that are useful for storage and can be re-purposed for other uses.
- Built Post-1950
- These homes are sometimes made of very cheap material that will either degrade quickly, are hazardous to human health, or both. However, these homes also may have better insulation, larger windows, and other good qualities.
- Materials to Look For
- Thick walls, solid-wood floors/wallboards/doors, ceramic tile, cork, stone, or brick.
- Materials to Avoid
- Materials to avoid are particleboard, hollow-core doors, thin stud walls, asbestos, vinyl tiles, plastic surfaces, and foam backed synthetic carpet. Find out as much as you can about the chemical history of the house. Is it made with treated wood, what is used as insulation, is there lead paint, etc. Also avoid houses that have (or had) oil storage close to or inside the home.
- Spaces to Look For
- Attics, basements, pantries, outbuildings, gardens (or potential sunny garden locations), roof/balcony space for plants in apartments.
- Built Pre-1950
- Location / Orientation of the Home
- Sun Exposure
- Sun exposure is very important consideration for a good retrofit candidate. Most households could provide all their energy needs by fully harnessing sunlight landing on just 1/3 of their roof. However, if your house is heavily shaded, or is not oriented with the long side of the house towards South, it will be much more difficult to supplement grid energy with solar energy.
- It’s best to have the back of the house facing south, as gardens and sunrooms in the front of the house may be against neighborhood/city permitting codes in some areas.
- Surfaces up to 30 degrees from true south will still receive 90% of the potential solar gain [1]. PV arrays require 5.6x the surface area and 7x more money as thermal solar for the same kWh/day output. [2] However, some regions are too cloudy for solar thermal to work well, and it is usually only useful for heating hot water or radiant floor heating.
- Sun Exposure
- Landscape and Yard
- Existing Flora
- Evergreens on the north side of the house will act as a windbreak from cold northern winds all winter, reducing heating costs
- Plants at property edges, especially hedges, will provide a significant noise break from roads and other nuisances. Plants will also help to reduce pollution entering your property from road run off by filtering some of the incoming groundwater.
- Greater Landscape
- Although the average American spends 90% of their time indoors, the quality of the outdoor environment, particularly water and air quality, is a very import consideration. If the inside of your home is very clean of indoor toxins and pollutants, but you’re living next to a coal plant, then the outdoor air pollution will continue to add more toxins to the house environment. Also, if the air is full of pollutants, that is probably not a good indicator for the cleanliness of rainwater that you may want to collect for gardening.
- The history of the yard is especially important if you plan on growing food. You should definitely avoid a place that has had a history of old cars or other junk sitting in the front lawn, as these may have been leaking toxins into the soil for decades, and you don’t want to take the chance of toxins ending up in your food.
- Existing Flora
Retrofits - - -
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- HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning)
- Turn thermostats down in the winter, up in the summer, reducing runtime of heating/cooling equipment
- Purchase and use a programmable thermostat to use less energy during workdays and overnight
- Use individual radiator thermostats, zone room temperature based on the primary activity in that room
- Put reflective foil behind radiators on outside walls
- Put wide windowsills over radiators to deflect heat into rooms.
- Insulate heating ducts, especially the portions running through cold basements
- Update old furnaces or A/C units to more efficient models (not bigger models)
- Install heat recovery/exchange devices to mechanical ventilation systems and waste hot water pipes
- Building Envelope
- Draught proof doors, windows, skirtings, floorboards, unused fireplaces, ducts, and electrical switches/power outlets (especially those on the outside of the house) with caulk or removable rope caulk
- Replace old/leaky windows and doors
- Double or triple glazed windows
- Add insulation to walls, attics, lofts, and basements
- Fit heavy drapes or insulating blinds/shutters to all windows to keep out summer sun and keep in heat during the winter. Use pelmets at the top of window frames and fix curtain sides to seal them.
- Add internal lobbies or external enclosed porches to outside doors.
- Add metal roofing to reduce summer solar heating of attics and catch rain water.
- Appliances
- General Appliances
- Plug electronics into a power strip and turn off the power strip when not in use, as most electronic equipment continues to use electricity when “off” (especially anything with a standby mode)
- Unplug battery chargers after disconnecting rechargeable batteries (chargers drain power even when not charging batteries)
- Hot Water Heater
- Insulate hot water tank
- Insulate hot water pipes
- Install an on/off switch for your heater
- Change thermostat to 120ºF down from the common factory setting of 140ºF (110ºF is a comfortable hot water temp out of the faucet or shower)
- Update to more efficient model, or switch to on-demand hot water system
- Refrigerator
- Keep fridge set between 36-40ºF, freezer between 0-5ºF
- Adding a locking clasp to the door of your fridge will help to stop air leaks
- Use a chest freezer with an external thermostat (better insulation than regular freezer, cold air doesn’t “fall out” every time you open the door)
- Add external insulation to your refrigerator
- Fridges use 8% of the entire household’s energy consumption, and adding external insulation can reduce refrigeration energy by half, which would save most people 4% off of their entire electricity budget for the house [3].
- Adding external insulation also makes fridges last longer because the compressor that cools the air will not have to work as hard or as often to maintain the correct temperature.
- Replace with a higher efficiency fridge (make sure overall consumption is also lower – i.e. don’t buy a larger fridge just because it’s more efficient)
- Refrigerator Alternatives
- Root cellar
- A cold box converted from a window on the north side of the house can provide refrigeration for many months in some regions. [4]
- Evaporative cooling box
- Clothes Washer
- Use cold water washes, as up to 90% of energy used in clothes washing is from heating water [5].
- Switch from a top loader to a high efficiency front loader model, front loaders use about ¼ of the water as top loaders, use less energy in spin cycles, break down less often, and spin out more water (so less time on a clothes line or less work for a dryer).
- Clothes Dryer
- Use passive methods (no electricity) to dry clothes, or as a pre-dry before putting them in the dryer (reducing dryer times).
- Indoor and outdoor drying racks
- Retractable clothes lines
- Electric dryers of use about 6,000 watts, and are the most consumptive appliance in the house while running. [6]
- Gas dryers use about 720 watts in addition to the energy and cost of the gas. [6]
- Oven and Stovetop
- Replace old stoves (10% savings), and go for convection ovens (10% savings) [10]
- Glass doors on ovens lets you check food without having to let the heat out
- Oven and Stove alternatives
- Solar Cookers reach up to 300 degrees F, are cheap to construct, portable, and work anywhere with sun. However, they are more limited (weather dependent) and slower than stovetop cooking. [7]
- Biomass Cookers
- Rocket stoves are super efficient at converting biomass into heat energy, as they burn hotter and more completely than traditional wood fired ovens. These, along with masonry stoves, can be tied into thermal mass to store heat generated from cooking and release it slowly back into living spaces.
- Masonry stoves use a very hot fire and send exhaust through a winding flue surrounded by masonry, which captures the heat fire in its thermal mass and then radiates this heat into living spaces over 12-24 hours. Along with Aga cookers, these stoves are more expensive than traditional ovens.
- Cob ovens
- Aga is a brand and style of cooker that uses a small heat source combined with heat storage to heat cooking rings on top and several different ovens on the bottom. Originally designed by the Nobel Prize winner Dr Gustaf Dalen, these cookers have heat instantly available and carefully controlled using a minimum of fuel. They can be powered by gas, oil, solid fuels, or electricity. It is also possible to tie in hot water and radiant heating systems to Aga cookers with a little work. They are more expensive than standard ovens, but last longer and have high economy and performance, as well as replacing toasters and microwaves. Many owners also use their Aga for pressing clothes and drying wet clothes in the winter. Learn more about the Aga at their website. aga-ranges.com
- Hay box cooking is a method that takes more time, but uses far less energy. It works with foods like stews, casseroles, pasta and veggie dishes, rice, and anything else that cooks at a boiling temperature over time. Bring the food to a boil, and then pack the cooking pots into a thickly insulated container (like a box filled with hay) to finish cooking over several hours, or overnight, depending upon the food.
- Computer
- Place in standby mode, or even better, hibernate mode, when not in use for short periods. Turn computers off if not being used for long periods. Also good to note, screensavers do not save energy at all.
- Toilet
- Put bricks or other objects in toilets to reduce flush volume
- General Appliances
- Lighting
- Switch incandescent bulbs to CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) or LEDs (light emitting diodes)
- Use task lighting instead of overhead lighting
- Use natural daylight instead of turning on electric lights
- Avoid placing objects directly in front of windows
- Use light colored paint for walls and/or light colored carpets and furniture
- Use light colors around the exterior of windows as well to reflect more light inside
Conservation Strategies - - -
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- Passive Airflow Management
- Thermal chimneys
- Wind scoops
- Water Conservation
- Fix all leaky faucets and faulty toilet tanks
- Use low flush toilet tanks or dual flush toilets
- Showers use less water than baths (especially with a low-flow shower head)
- Handwash dishes in bowls instead of running water
- Use washing machines with full loads on economy cycle
- Collect rainwater and use it for garden and lawn watering
- Water gardens and wash cars with buckets instead of hoses
- Cover soil with mulch to reduce evaporation and need for watering
- Use xeriscaping (landscaping with draught-resistant flora)
- Savings in the Kitchen
- Use saucepans wider than the burner/ring and cover pans with a lid to keep the heat in
- Don’t boil more water than you need
- On electric rings use saucepans with flat, thick bases for better heat transfer
- Stream vegetables over boiling potatoes or other foods
- Use a pressure cooker. They cook food much faster than conventional methods, and have much better flavor and nutrition than microwaved foods.
- Try using and Aga or hay box for super efficient cooking (see Appliances > Oven and Stovetop > Oven and Stove alternatives)
- Waste Reduction
- Stop buying over packaged goods (“don’t choose what you can’t reuse”)
- Grow fruit and vegetables or buy them fresh and loose rather than frozen, canned, or plastic wrapped. Farmers markets are great for fresh produce at low cost. These foods also have much better nutritional content than packaged or older produce.
- Buy fresh meats and cheese from the deli
- Buy bulk dry goods – these are often lower cost as well as being less waste
- Buy glass instead of plastic bottles
- Avoid toxic oven and drain cleaners, bleach, ammonia products, or aerosols
- If you buy packaged goods, try to buy items with cardboard, cellophane, or paper packaging
- Sort trash and recycle as much as you can
- Reuse everything possible
- Compost
- Dispose of old equipment through trade or a scrap dealer
- Dispose of toxins and chemicals at the proper facility, not the down the drain
Land Management (still under development) - - -
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- Home Temperature Regulation
- Remove winter shading from landscape to increase solar gain
- Use plantings or earth cover/mounds, especially on the north side, to shelter buildings from winter wind
- Use deciduous plantings on the south side of the house to shelter against hot summer sun
- Water Management
- Greywater systems use water from only mildly dirty sources (shower water, water from laundry, etc.) that would normally be disposed of at an energy intensive water treatment plant and instead reuses it to provide for gardens and/or lawns.
- Laundry greywater systems
- Greywater systems use water from only mildly dirty sources (shower water, water from laundry, etc.) that would normally be disposed of at an energy intensive water treatment plant and instead reuses it to provide for gardens and/or lawns.
- Matter Cycling Management
- Composting
