Sitting in my living room, thinking about what I had just read, I look over the walls and ceilings, noticing cracks. I know of one problem with my foundation ( the left side is slightly lower due to moisture in the ground), but these cracks were new, and they had nothing to do with my foundation. I wondered what another home inspector would state if they saw those cracks. If the inspector was paying attention, he would make a statement concerning movement. In a way,movement is the culprit; however, I know the specific cause, and it was my weight.
   To improve my home, I had been working in the attic late spring and early summer. The cracks corresponded to positions that I had taken when repairing ducts or installing equipment. Could another home inspector figure out the source of the cracks? Maybe with consideration, but the determination of movement is generally correct. These cracks would not continue to expand, since my work is done. Other movement factors may effect these cracks, but since the source has been removed (my weight), the cracks are likely to remain as they are. The other fault which I noticed due to my efforts were nail pops.  If I make repairs, the cracks will not come back.
    This month has seen more re-inspections than new inspections. Re-inspections often happen before the homeowners move into their new home. Seeing problems is easier; however, an occupied home is not so bad.  One owner did not realize that they had to light their water heater, so they thought I had not noticed that the water heater was not working. In fact, a few owners are not prepared for their new home. I did observe new problems in the homes due to bringing in belongings. Attics are being used as storage space, and extra weight up there causes the same problem as my weight did, but the cracks can continue, because of the constant weight. Attics should not be deemed storage spaces really. Pests can use your boxes as homes. The boxes and stored goods will dry out in the attic, making good kindling for fires. Finally, the weight of the goods and your weight going to up there to get the stored good will help cause issues.
    In another case, the older appliances in the attic were  replaced. Appliances like water heaters and the components of the HVAC system are installed in new homes before the wall coverings go up. When replacing appliances, workers have to go through the home to the attic opening. Once in the attic, they are handling this weight. This process will cause its own cracks in wall coverings. We also seem to go with bigger appliances. This is not always necessary, but technicians make more money.
    I think that we have trained buyers to look for cracks, and to associate them with the foundation. There is so much dross across the web, yet the web is better informing consumers. Even though homeowners may not think about everything that needs to be done when moving into the home, they are asking better questions about safety issues or about possible issues. Cracks may mean any number of things, and they can be caused by different things, so the foundation is not always the culprit.

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How I would love not to have to crawl around my attic, adding insulation, repairing ducts, or dealing with the equipment up there. We know that running ducts in a conditioned space can be more energy efficient, as can having the AC unit in a conditioned space. Water heaters tend to be more efficient when placed in the attic in Houston. You really should not use the attic as a storage space, because this can be a fire hazard. (I have seen attics so filled with items on my home inspections that I could hardly move through the attic space). In a way, you could think of the attic as wasted space inside your building envelope, so why do we need one.
    I have noticed energy efficiency problems with homes that do not have attics, which can be fixed. Here is the scenario: the framing for the roof is made with a 2×6, and it has a duct running between the rafters to deliver conditioned air to the space below. The roof faces east at a forty five degree angle. The shingles are black. Houston, we have a problem (alright, figure me that line; I am in Houston after all). The duct is about six inches itself, so there can be little insulation on it. The shingles are perfect for catching the heat of the sun. Plus, I failed to mention that there are lights in this space too. I should include that the roof sheathing has no radiant film on the underside as well. Sounds like I am making up the perfect scenario for failure doe it not. I am describing a town home that I inspected. What annoys me is the fact that this scenario is not out of the ordinary.
    So how do we make a home without an attic? I know this may not be practical from all design styles, but we need to avoid running and placing any appliances or ducts in the little space that we have. We also need to consider making the most of the space under the roof. Depending on your climate, choose the best roof material to achieve efficiency. Hotter climates like Houston should have lighter colored roofs or roofs with a reflective coating element in them. If you are in Toronto, you will want a darker color roof. Sticking with Houston, you want the radiant barrier under the roof. The best option is to have the sheathing with the foil on the underside, because we need to make use of every inch of space. Under the sheathing, we will need to run baffles from the soffit to the ridge of the roof. The air flow will help with energy usage, but we need this air flow to deal with moisture. No matter how good your roof is now, you will have to deal with moisture penetration at some point. This means we need vents at the soffit and the ridge. Now we have five inches left (most baffles are about one inch thick and the rafter is six inches (2×6).  Each inch of insulated space may give us an R3 insulating factor. (Since I discovered mentioning R factors was not commonly understood, I give this basic definition: R-factor is a measure of resistance to heat transfer). With five inches, we will be obtaining an R15. Not really great in our climate. Other homes have 2×8 rafters, which would give us an R21. We may also want to be concerned with thermal bridging (heat will transfer through the wood of the rafters past your insulation, but wood itself has an R-factor, which varies with wood species). The most common solution is to use spray foam insulation. You could add firring strips to increase the size of the rafters to create a deeper space for the insulation. It would be great to achieve at least an R30, which means having a space that is eleven inches deep. There are films that can go over the insulation to help stop thermal bridging. In Houston, this film should not be a moisture barrier due to our humidity problem. Finally, we can put on our ceiling covering (drywall).
    If I am not suppose to run the wires and ducts in that space, where do they go? Create utility chases for the ducts under the ceiling covering or along the walls. These chases can be created for wiring too. Instead of recessed lights in the ceiling, consider track lighting or floor lamps. The wiring chases can be hidden in architectural elements in the ceiling. Here again, we have to consider the home decor and style. Many cathedral ceilings have not attic above them. On these ceilings, I typically see a decorative feature made to look like wood beams. I have not seen this done often (hardly at all), but I have seen designers create pattern with sheetrock to create an interesting ceiling scape.Other designers create a raised ceiling by making a lower ceiling along the edges of the room. These lower ceilings would make great chases for the ducts, wiring, recessed lights. 
    You have to plan carefully; however, eliminating the attic might be anenergy efficient solution. The real problem is determining how to meet other needs when we do not have use of that space. I would not run a metal conduit tube along a wall or ceiling to a fixture. I would not run the duct without a covering to hide it. I have seen both of these things done, and this detracts from the appearance of the home.

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Maybe I have been writing a bit too focusedly on attic insulation lately; however, a couple of home inspections over the last week have made me consider how we build our homes. There are times that I think that I should take a gymnastics class to help me better move through attics. One danger is a shaft going down into the home from the attic. You may have one in your home. Metal fireplace flues, air conditioning systems in a closet, and lower ceiling spaces are the main culprits. These shafts are framed out to allow for the flues or lower ceiling, but frequently the walls in the shaft are not insulated, and insulation cannot be placed over the gap. Gaps in the insulation are great for allowing the heat or cold passage into your home.
    This concern first developed while I was dangling over a large shaft for a metal flue in a two story building. A wide shaft was created because the flue angled at 45 degrees to meet up with a brick chimney to exit the home. Finding footings so I could jump across to the other side was not easy. With feet and hands occupied, I held my flashlight in my mouth, then I looked down. This large gap went down to the first floor. The gap was 5′ by 4′ by 20′. I did not think about falling; I thought about 360 square feet of uninsulated walls. Insulation has to be kept away from the flue itself due to that situation being a fire hazard, but the walls could be insulated. I have never seen a builder insulate this space.
    In another home, I spotted an unusual shaft coming down from the attic, which caught me off guard. There was a closet in one room, but the back wall of the closet did not quite meet up with the wall from the room next to it. This was a family room with an angled wall to create a more dramatic space below. This led to a gap of 1′ by 4′ by 3′. Not as large of a space as for the flue, but still a problem for energy efficiency. Typically I see shafts above lower ceilings for showers or in kitchens, and sometimes people remember to insulate these spaces, particularly if they are large. Smaller lower spaces, like this closet, are not insulated. The builder could have placed insulation over this and similar gaps, but this does not always happen.
    A common shaft occurs when the air conditioning system is placed in a closet in the home. Actually this set up could be highly efficient. If the AC system is in a conditioned space, it has to work less. In this case, the gas furnace for the heater needs air for combustion, and it has a flue for the exhaust gas. With the flue, we have the same problem as with the fireplace flue: keep insulation away from the flue due to fire concerns. This poses more of a problem if we wish to create a really efficient system. Insulating the shaft as mentioned for the fireplace flue is easy, but then we loose the efficiency of having the system to work less. If we close off the opening in the attic, we loose the air supply for the burner. (An electric heater would resolve this concern, but gas heaters are preferred by the consumer). If we install an air supply tube to the burner, while bringing the flue through a ceiling in a similar way as we would with a water heater inside the home, we can create a better insulation situation. This is not done. Again, builders do not think about this efficiency issue.
    Alright, I mention that builders do not do these steps, but this does not mean that current builders are not concerned about these issues. Currently built homes by most builders do have “green” features. I say “green”, because this term really is a catch-all for several items. Most builders focus on energy efficiency, but few give thought to sustainable or water conservation. However, we still have a way to go. I am really worried about older homes. The building industry has concentrated on new construction when considering eco-buildings. We need a program detailing best practices for green remodeling. Hopefully, home inspectors will be included in the conversation, since we see what happens to homes over time. Home inspectors need to really speak up on this matter though. Architects, builders, engineers, and others will not listen to us, until we make our voice heard; the industry will have a great loss, if they do not tap into our knowledge.

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Weather stripping is a simple step to improving energy efficiency of your home. On my home inspections, I find that the weather stripping is damaged or coming off of the door frames after five years of use, so a wise homeowner will inspect their door frames every so often to maintain their home. Weather stripping is such a simple product to install, and such a low cost, that you should be able to do all of your exterior doors in an hour.
    Note: you should consider attic doors as exterior doors. Older homes hardly ever have these doors insulated, and rarely do I see them with an insulating weather strip. With the attic doors that drop down from the ceiling, you will want a thin strip (1/8″), because you could be preventing the door from closing.


Step 1: if the door frame has weather stripping which needs to be removed, you can use a sharp knife to cut between the stripping and the wood frame of the door frame. If any area still has some remnants of stripping left, you can use a light sandpaper (fine grit) to clean it off.

Step2: Find the right size weather stripping for your door at the home supply center or hardware store. Weather stripping comes in various sizes, so you need to plan here. When it is too thick, your door will not close. If it is too thin, you will have no effectiveness in the insulation value. Matching to the old product that was on the door is the best solution. If you had no weather stripping, buy a couple of different thicknesses. 3/8″ is fairly typical for doors.

Step 3: These strips have glue strips on the back. Peel backing layer off, while laying the insulation down onto the frame. Start in the top left corner, go down the right side, then along the bottom in one continuous strip. The left side of the frame is where the hinges are located. You can try placing insulation here if the door is not sitting flush against the frame. Frequently though, placing insulation here can prevent the door from closing properly.

Step 4: press the insulating strip in place with your fingers to ensure that it has good contact with the door frame.

Done. Sliding glass doors need a little more planning. Look at the spots where you have gaps, then find an appropriate weather stripping for that gap.

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One of my pet peeves has been over active versus passive systems when it comes to developing green options for the home. Active systems are great, but they still require energy to operate them; whereas passive systems are design options, which function without any energy input. Attic spaces are particularly troubling in Houston, because for much of the year their temperature can be well over 120F, which reduces the efficiency of the air conditioning system. I was looking into different options for dealing with my own attic, when I simple solution popped into my head.

   Let us go over some attic basics first. Case studies are showing that Houston homes would be more energy efficient without attics. They trap the heat and the cold which in turn effects out air conditioning units. (The temperature in the attic causes air passing through the system to rise or fall before and after it is conditioned). Radiant barriers and insulation do help regulate the temperature. We also need air flow to remove moisture and also to help with temperature regulation. The formula to calculate how much ventilation is needed is square footage of the attic (typically the same square footage as your foundation/first floor) divided by 150. The number produced is the amount of vent space needed in the home. A passive system relies on natural air flow. An active system will include a fan.

    My first step was to add a radiant barrier under the sheathing for my roof, and to add more insulation to my ducts. My attic has already been well insulated. Sealing and insulating the ducts helps keep the air travelling through them at a constant temperature. However, I have the unit in my attic, where conditioned air is still exposed to a higher or lower temperature than I want, depending on the time of year. The plenums (the big boxes for the return duct and register ducts) do have some insulation in a typical construction. Since I have a gas furnace, I am faced with an additional problem: fiber insulation can easily burn. I decided to give my unit a covering made from a radiant barrier. I cut pieces of the radiant barrier to fit over the housing, keeping it away from the openings for the burner compartment and the duct for that compartment. It might not be a conditioned space, but it does regulate the temperature better.

    My second step involved adding additional vent space. Vents are not always placed on the front portions of homes, because they may not look good. I painted some vents from my builders supply to match my house color, and I placed them over holes that I cut into the soffit. Most people never notice them. I did have enough vent square footage, but I did not have air flow through all of the attic. What would be nice here is to have a system to open vents in the summer to force heat out, and to close them in the winter to keep heat in. I met a home inspector once who said he did this with gable vents, but I think this may be harder with my soffit vents.

    My third step invovled planning what kind of mechanical attic fan I should add. I looked for solar powered in keeping with my green goal. I have two choices at this point: a fan that sits above a hole in the roof drawing air out; or a fan that sits in the attic pushing air through existing vents.My home’s footprint is U-shaped, so I would need at least two units. For an in the roof model, I was looking at roughly $300. For the inside the attic unit, I was looking at roughly $250. I would install them myself, so I would save installation fees.The prices were not unreasonable; however, I did start thinking about a problem after I had completed an inspection: mechanical units break down eventually. I thought about this fact, and I realized that a good number of attic fans that I encountered were not functioning for one reason or another. Although I thought that the units that I was looking at were good, I could not escape my nagging feeling that they may be a waste of money.

    Problem: how can I create additional air flow in my attic to help regulate the temperature? Moreover, could that air be at a constant temperature to help the attic maintain a constant temperture year long? I decided that this system had to be passive- no parts to fix, no energy needed, and it would continue to operate no matter what happens. I first considered different venting options. Air flow would be improved, and most of my criteria would be met, except for the constant temperature bit. Where could I get air at a constant temperature year long? Well, everyone probably knows that once you go below the frost line (two feet is standard in Texas, but it is not really that deep in Houston), you will have the earth at a constant temperature. This idea helps with the concept of earth thermal storage. If I could take outside air down into the ground to pick up that constant temperature, then bring that out to the attic, I would have my criterias met. I did this drawing when considering what to do.



    Design considerations for this system:

1) I have to prevent rain from coming into the air inlet. Meaning that some type of covering should be in place.

2) I do not want this to be an access point for pests into my attic. Window screening over the opening would suffice. I may also want a screen at the outlet in the attic.

3) I do not want flooding to be an issue. Inlet should be a foot above ground to cover any possible issues around the parts of my home.
4) I do not want the tube going up to be too unsightly. For other service conduits, I have painted them a color that matches the home color. I would also need to pick strategic spots.

5) I need this constant temperature air delivered to different parts of the attic. This means several underground tubes at various locations around the home.

6) I need to dig deep enough, but I may run into other undergound services. We consider our frost depth to be two feet in Texas based upon the Pan Handle’s temperatures. I might get away with the top of the tube below six inches for Houston, but still, deeper would be better. Pipes for gas, water, or even underground electrical cables become an issue. Call 811 to find out where the gas pipes are. For water supply, look where the meter is to where the water enters your home. For waste water, this will be harder, but draw a line from your athrooms to the street to find the possible location. Electrical can be harder, but this should be handled when they come out to check for the gas pipes. Harder I say, because they may be checking for the service entrance cables, but there may be a cable to the garage or shed that was not considered.

    I have not undertaken this project yet, but when I researched my idea, I was happy to see that a similar idea had been implemented in homes without power for the living spaces, so it convinced me that I might be on to something. I think that my cost may be in the area of $300, but my labor time will be more. I do not mind that. I am thinking that I could use a plastic pipe, so tools needed would be a saw, tape measure, shovel, and a drill (to fasten the pipe with clamps to the home, I would need holes for anchors). PVC pipe is easy to join with the pvc cement.

    Of course, passive systems do not always work as well as active systems. Could I heat and cool my home in Houston with only a passive system? Not my current home. However, I think my passive system for the attic has more advantages over the mechanical for the reasons stated in the post. For that reason, I will start working on the system to see how it performs.

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Back to the contents page for the home inspection photos

First,
your attic needs air flowing through it to prevent problems with
moisture and heat. Here are two types of soffit vents and one gable
vent. Gable end vents act both as an intake and an egress for air;
they also happen to be a great access point for birds, bats, and
rodents. Looking for chew marks on the soffit vent on the left for
evidence of rodents.

The
air has to have a means to escape, so vents like these are installed.
These two types do not use any power, which I like since they save on energy, and they are easier to repair. The one on the left relies on
wind to propel the fins to help create air flow. The most common
problems that I have seen with them is either rust causing it not to
turn or damage to the unit which dents it preventing rotation. Still
since it is placed near the top of the roof, the hot air will continue to rise through it. The picture on the right is a ridge vent. You can see that there is a thick shadow line under the
shingles at the top of the roof (the ridge). A plastic piece with
many vent holes is placed over a gap of the sheathing for the roof.
The hot air rises through it.

The
most common problem on the roof has to do with debris. In the photo
on the right, the tree branches are rubbing against the shingles
causing damage, but the leaves help keep moisture and insects on
those shingles to help further damage. I have found so many different things in gutters that I have stopped wondering how they get there.
This gutter was so full that it no longer functioned. Having a way to
move water away from the building is important, so clean gutter are
vital.

If
you do not clean them, this can happen. Water spilled down the back
of the gutter, causing the wood of the fascia to rot out.

Here
is the vent pipe for a water heater. You can see this by the fact
that it sits higher from the roof, and has its own spark arrester.
Most other tubes coming through the roof are from vents for the
plumbing system, and they can sit lower to the home. In the case of
this vent, the foundation work on the home lifted the pipes, so now
it is not sitting properly on the roof.

The
next most common problem on a roof has to do with nails. On the left,
the homeowner resolved a leak by nailing into the shingles. On the
right, nail heads holding flashing in place are starting to rust.
When these nails rust, they allow water to seep into the building.
The solution is to caulk the heads with roofing caulk.

This
was on the roof of the house next door to the one that I was on, and
this may be hard to see in the picture, but this is a common problem
with dish installations. Bolts are used to hold the support frame on
to the roof, and they are not caulked. These can also leak water into the home like nails. On another home I saw the cable running down the roof to the interior, and its nails should have been caulked too.

Going
into the attic, you will want to check for insulation. The homeowner
discovered that there was no insulation in much of the attic (just
around the entrance), so he put these batts of insulation up there.
If you notice, they have a plastic sheathing which makes them easier
to work with. On the left, you can see some white/grey staining on
one of the beams. This is where you can see past leaks, but if the
sheathing does not have a stain, then you are probably looking at an
older stain that has been repaired. On the right, you can see some
cables coming down from the ridge holding the duct work for the air
conditioning system. Ducts should not rest on the insulation, and
they should allow air to flow freely to the vents in the rooms.

Not all cracks are severe, but they do indicate that this stud has been under a great deal of stress. Other studs were put in place near this one to relieve it.

From the same house as the previous photo, the weight of the roof caused this stud to bend.

The homeowner created his own bracing methods in this house to deal with the roof. This brace will not suffice.

Here a contractor added a large beam to the attic structure over the attic entrance. I used my gymnastic skills to enter this space. I am not sure about the thinking behind this addition. The attic had space for extra rooms, but there also appeared to be a problem with the support for the roof. My concern is was this the proper way to deal with this situation. When faced with the need of new roof support and adding several rooms in an attic, you may want to consult with a structural engineer. The weight from the new framing can cause other issues in the home.

This is a picture from the same home as above. The darker brown wood is the original framing. You are looking up at the framing under the roof. Rafters run under this sheathing then there is a brace attaching the rafters from the rear and front roof. The lighter brown beams running right to left in the photo have been added to provide more support to the rafters. Again, this may be too much. On interior and exterior walls of the home, I noticed cracks happening near these supports.

This is a roof truss. We often see framing for an attic which involves joists, rafter, and purlins. A roof truss is engineered to distribute the weight along its length to the wall framing. A roof truss can create more space below. What is the problem with this truss? It has been sitting out in the rain and sun long that it is quite weathered. The integrity of the truss may be compromised.

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Have you had a moment of epiphany? You look at something and say, oh, yes that makes sense. I had such a revelation recently when I was in a meeting with other home inspectors. We were discussing factors that make a home green, construction methods of such homes, and the current programs that define a green home. Most of these discussions revolved around the upcoming code, the ANSI 700, which will help define many of these ideas. We were also looking at the Green Home Verifier program for home builders, which can be a good business opportunity for home inspectors. At one point, our talk dealt with the idea of the building envelope and how it effects energy use. This led to a focused consideration of attached garages.

My home has an attached garage, about half the homes in my neighborhood have this arrangement. I was inspecting a home in a subdivision where all of the houses had attached garages. It is a great convenience. The space can be converted into another room. I use one bay as a play area for the kids when the weather turns wet. However, I have seen people create family rooms from their garages, since they leave their cars outside. Storage is a big deal for many. I have at times taken jobs organizing garages for people. With the remodeling of my home, my space is filling up with old furniture that we will eventually be sending to family in Mexico. Sometimes it becomes a work area. I have a ’64 Beetle that I am restoring in the other bay. Mainly, I think most of us use this area in our home as a catch-all for everything that cannot fit in the home proper.

When this space is being built, it is not treated like other rooms inside the walls of the building (the envelope). The attic above is not insulated. Rarely is natural light used. Then we have the doors to allow the cars to enter that also allow the cold wind to blow into that area. During a Houston summer, the garage becomes unbearably hot, because there is no air movement through it. During the winters, the garage can feel colder than the exterior, with no sun to warm the surfaces there. Yesterday morning, as I was taking the trash out, I stopped to look around the space. I had not turned on the lights. Around the side door I could see streams of light. The garage doors allowed a good deal of light to flow through. I felt the chill from the night’s near freezing temperatures linger. Now consider what is happening to your home.

Imagine a cooler that you use for your picnics. If you have placed an item from the refrigerator inside of it, and you have kept the lid closed, the interior of the cooler stays quite cool for a good while. This is the idea behind insulating your home. Super insulated homes can be heated or cooled with little energy. Now cut out a corner of this cooler. Place a cardboard box into that space. You have broken the envelope of the cooler, but you do have a wall between the cooler area inside the chest. Warm air in the cardboard box does eventually move into the chest, which causes more energy to maintain the temperature in the cooler. This is the same principle behind the attached garage breaking into your envelope.

Taking steps to prevent this energy loss is not too difficult. If your house is like mine, you will have attic space above this space. Insulate this area like you would the other areas of your home. My favorite insulation for a do it yourself project is batts sheathed in plastic made by Johns Manville. Loose insulation is great for certain areas, but to achieve good coverage, you need to blow it in. Other types of batts work perfectly well; however, the exposed insulation will be exposed to your skin. The batts covered in a sheath help reduce this discomfort. Covering the area in the attic is not too bad, even in a low roof like mine. The garage door presents another problem though.

There are two steps to dealing with the door. First, the easier procedure is installing a door seal around the sides of the door. This is a gasket material which can be tacked into place with nails. A lip of the seal fits against the door when closed preventing drafts. It took me about forty-five minutes to seal two doors. Here is the fun part. Like many people, I have a metal door with two foot wide panels. They are four inches deep. I do not want to add too much weight, and I am looking for a product that is readily available. I have seen insulation that would fit, but most home centers have batts that would fit in a sixteen inch stud space, which leaves eight inches to fill my bay. These are the batts that are R13 in value. Any larger than this number, and the batts are too heavy. You do not want to add much more weight, because this will cause problems with the system that allows you to open the door.

Since I wanted to have the R13, I went with batts, cutting pieces to fit into the extra space. I used wire to hold the pieces into place. If I did not want to go this route, I did have other options. There are 4×8 feet sheets of insulation that you can cut to fit into the spaces. These sheets are about an inch thick, and they equate to an R3. Do you use one of those insulating covers for your car’s front window to reduce heat? Well, that product is made for the home. It is mainly used in the attic, but placing it on garage doors gives you about an R8. It is also simple to cut, and you could glue it into place. To be honest, I think that these last two options are best for most people. They add less weight, and they are faster to install.

I am considering adding a window to this space. I like the idea of not having to turn on a light when I am just passing through this space to the side exit door, or if I am getting something that is stored there. Placing a window in the garage door would not be hard. I could cut out part of a panel to be replaced with plexiglass. Another option would be to add a window into the side door. Going through the wall takes more effort. You have to remove the exterior wall; expose the framing on the interior, so you can reframe that area for a window. Not a simple diy project. Looking at the side door, I realized that most of these doors do not have weather stripping or insulation strips around them. The peel and stick thin insulation strips are the easiest for this task.

Lastly, you may have created an insulated space, but I would still treat the walls inside your home proper which butt up to the garage as exterior walls. In a previous post about insulating to be green, I mentioned the foam insulation pieces that can be used behind outlet covers. If you just used these on the exterior walls, you may have skipped the walls adjacent to the garage. I did. The garage space is still not conditioned, so try to isolate it from the home with this action.

In all, I spent under two hundred dollars on this project for a two car garage. What will be the benefit to my energy costs? I have not exactly calculated that amount. I think that it could equal the savings that would be achieved by installing CFLs in your house. In a few years, the energy cost savings will pay for the project.

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I was performing a home inspection on the West side of Houston when I came across a method of creating air flow in rooms that was a bit unusual. I thought that I would share it with you as a continuation of part 3 of this series, but I am not sure that it really works too well. My simple test did not show much air going through it.

I noticed that there were a lot of return vents when walking through the rooms then in the hallway. Pictured below is two large returns in the hall, and then below that is a picture of a room. On the ceiling of the room, you will notice two vents that use a cover typical for registers. One is a register, while the other is meant to be a return.

Great, I thought. They have no ceiling fans in this house, so they are trying to get the air to flow by using ducts attached to the return plenum in each room. I noticed that one of the hall returns did not have a filter in it, and this should have been my first clue to its true purpose. I then go up into the attic. While wandering around, taking in the sights, I find two plenums above the returns in the hall ceiling, but something looked off.

I checked the duct work to see that the ducts from one return were going to the return plenum on the HVAC system, but the other plenum had ducts going to the returns in each room. I wondered if this could work. The drawing below is demonstrating what was meant to be happening.

The air goes through the returns in each room to the vent in the hallway. When the return in the hallway draws air, it is meant to suck air from this vent connected to the room returns. They could have hooked those ducts up to the plenum created for the return air since it was right there.

I took some tissue paper to the returns in the rooms to see if there was any air movement when the air conditioning came on. There may have been a little, but the tissue was not pulled by any suction, like it was at the actual return. This method may cause some air to move, but I doubt that it helps much. I would just take the fake return ducts, and attach them to the return plenum.

Note: Shortly after being told that this system was to improve energy efficiency, I found the actual intention of this design. It is not for air flow back to the unit, but rather to equalize pressures in different parts of the house. It is called a jump drive.>/p>

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After turning off my air conditioning after some cool weather, I find that today was quite warm. I did not want to turn my AC back on, so I opened windows to allow the cool breezes through the home. This would have been great if my home was designed with the idea of using this passive means of cooling, but I had to make due.

Houston, it is said, would not exist without its air conditioning. We are the most heavily air conditioned city in the world, but people did live here before the advent of this mechanical means to cool themselves, so how did they do it. (Granted the first settlement here was called Germantown, and we Germans may just be a bit nuts thinking we could live here). The traditional home in Texas was the dog trot (drawing below). The rectangle in the drawing represents the roof line, which provided shade for the two rooms below. Each room had a window directly opposite. The area between the rooms was a porch. The house was situated so that the prevailing breezes blew through the porch and windows. Coupled with the shade of the roof made for a cool spot to sit and work. One room was the kitchen/work room while the other was the bedroom. The attic may have contained beds, but it was also frequently used for attics. The air flow through the home was good. Another feature of later homes was to increase the height of a room. Since heat rises, many ceilings in older homes were much higher than our current homes allowing the summer heat to rise above the living area.

Modern home design was freed from this reliance on placing the home on sight to allow air to flow smoothly through it by air conditioning. In the drawing below, you see a section of my home. The house is not situated to catch the breezes, and the window placement does not prove conducive to allowing air to flow through all of the rooms. I do open my windows, but an entirely passive arrangement is not possible. Let me explain the term passive here: if I do not need mechanical means (like a ceiling fan or air conditioner to cool my home), then I can cool it without any energy; that is what I mean by passive. My solution would be to create window spaces to catch the breezes, but to be honest this is not possible in my home’s design. I do open the windows, but then I rely on ceiling fans set on low to help move the air about.

Consider your home. Can you add windows to catch the breezes? If not, ceiling fans coupled with open windows can be an alternative for most modern home designs. This is the most practical solution when considering the design of most homes from the fifties to the present. I will do one more post on this topic, where I will indulge in a bit of fantasy about how we could possibly improve upon on our home’s design, for little cost.

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