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Sheeps Wool

Have you ever thought about using sheep’s wool for your home insulation?   Here’s a few pros/cons:

–Sheeps wool will retain it’s insulating properties when wet!  Traditional fiberglass insulation loses it’s capacity to insulate when exposed to moisture.  Obviously we don’t want to have leaks in our attics or through the siding, but this is a nice benefit for a wet climate.

–Sheeps wool is a non-irritating substance.  It can be installed without using protective clothing or gloves — which can be a big plus when navigating already cramped attics.

–Given that it is a raw material, there is very little energy consumed in the production process.

–The wool does not settle over time, so there is no decrease in performance as the material ages.

–Most wool is treated with borate to prevent pest intrusion, mold,  and increase the fire resistance.   Repeated wetting and drying can leach out the borate treatment, decreasing pest/fire resistance.

–It is more sound absorbent than fiberglass insulation due to it’s density.

Mineral Wool

This is another great product that features many of the same benefits as sheeps wool, but uses a waste material called Slag.  As per wikipedia : slag is a byproduct of the metal refining process that is largely limestone or dolomite which has absorbed phosphate from the molten iron.  Most of my study here is on a substance called Roxul, which is produced in Canada and not yet for use in the United States.   Apparently it is pretty common there, and can be found at Home Depot (canadian).  Some of the pros/cons:

–Mineral Wool is made from a waste material, which diverts materials from the landfills

–Since it is made of rock, it is very fire retardant.  This product does not burn unless subjected to temperatures over 2150 degrees fahrenheit.

–Like sheep’s wool, it does not lose it’s insulating properties when wet.  Additionally you do not have to worry about repeated moisture leaching out the pest/fire retardant properties (as in wool).

–It has a higher density than fiberglass, allowing for better soundproofing of your home.

–A potential downside is that it does irritate your skin like fiberglass insulation, so protection must be used during install.

Bottom line:  Both are good products and have an increased cost over traditional fiberglass insulation.  I find myself attracted to the advent of  sheep’s wool due to the non-irritating properties.  Particularly for the exposed attic areas!  Remember these types of upgrades can help in the future marketing of your home.   I hope you found this helpful, and that you have a good start to your week.

Brian

I stumbled across two  tools to help you analyze your home’s energy consumption!  One is Microsoft’s Hohm project, and the other being Google’s Powermeter project.   Tonight I started with the Hohm project.  Colorful homepage, simple looking interface, and all you need is a Windows Live  ID or a Hotmail address.  All free info, which I appreciate.   At first I was thinking that Microsoft is getting the user interface design down.  Wrong!   : )   Actually it’s not that bad, but I was a bit perplexed when you drill down into the “advanced home profile”.   The basic profile makes a lot assumptions for you, but the advanced side………..well it get’s advanced in true microsoft fashion.  Almost obtuse for the general homeowner.  Perhaps just good to avoid.   Back to the basics — one nice thing Microsoft’s Hohm project has accomplished is to connect with partner utilties like Seattle City Light.   An upcoming connection to Puget Sound Energy should be arriving soon (which means for now you are left to manually input data).    I did not see anything in the related article regarding timelines for the PSE connection.   Bottom line —-  after fiddling with the site for awhile it aggregated my city light data, compiled the manually input pse data, offered some basic graphs on energy consumption, compared against larger demographic stats, and offered suggestions on energy savings.  Not really the most mind blowing, but if you haven’t really looked at your energy consumption it is a good place to start.  One thing I appreciated about the recommendation section was that they showed you the DIY costs vs Contracted Costs and the projected energy savings for the year.  Helpful data indeed.

Personally I am hoping the Google Powermeter project hooks up with Seattle Utilities in the near future.  At the moment there is no partnerships with local utilities in the works.  You would have to use a device such as the TED 5000 to record and analyze data.   It is a powerful device, but if you are looking for simple analysis, a $200 device might not be in the cards.

So perhaps Hohm is the place to start, then if you like what you see powermeter could be the next step.   That’s it for me.  Let me know if you try either out, and how you liked it!

Here’s a few examples of how a whole house fan could work for your Seattle home:

1)  Install a direct-vent whole house fan such as the HV1000 from Tamarack Technologies.  To install these units, you will cut a hole in the ceiling of a central hallway/staircase (in this example about 14×22 inches).   After hole is cut and debris/insulation removed, you create a box from 2×6 or 2×8 timber (whatever matches your existing joists).  It will look something like this:

At which point you can drop in the fan unit — looking something like the picture below:

Next wire up the unit, and run a switch to a convenient location within your home to turn unit on/off.   You will also want to examine venting within the attic to ensure that it conforms with the device’s needs.

Here’s a link to a good DIY article on fan install.

Here’s a link to the install guide for this particular unit:  HV1000 install guide.

Bottom line:

These units will provide you with a cost efficient way of cooling your home with low energy consumption.  This unit uses the same amount of energy as two incandescent light bulbs!   Another benefit is to use it as an air exchanger, to help keep the air fresh and healthy in your home.   I hope you find this info helpful!

Brian

Hello Friends-

I wanted to share with you a cost effective upgrade for your house!  First thing you may think during this time of the year is that it never gets that hot in Seattle……….but for those people that have a decent exposure we have a few warm months here.   Add to that the fact that many of the properties are without air conditioning and are multiple stories, you will always get a few rooms that are pretty dang hot.   For those of you with a few grand just lying around, perhaps you have thought of an A/C.  For those of you that like to save that money for a trip to Hawaii during the February grey, you might want to examine the option of a whole house fan.

The classic way that an exhaust fan works is to draw hot air out of the attic space and out through the roof, letting cooler air coming in through the windows.  Of course this only works if the air outside the house is cooler than what is inside.   But if you think about it, most of the time the air is cooler outside.  Especially on those days the sun is beating down on your house and turning it into a pressure cooker.  Here’s an image that helps demonstrate:

In the coming days I will give you a couple different scenarios on how this can play out.  Ducted vs. Direct, Solar vs. Powered.   Bottom line is that it is something that can increase the value of your home, and since they are not entirely commonplace it makes your home stand out in the marketplace (should you be selling in the near future!).  A great cost-effective Green feature for your Seattle home.