I keep hearing people talk about their high energy bills or condensation on their AC registers, the hot spots in the summer and cold spots in the winter, and of course, the dust and allergens that are prevalent here in Hilton Head and the Southeast. With these problems though, an owner's first thoughts are to call the installers of the products: HVAC, window sales people, insulation contractors, etc... They are not far off, but these subcontractors are probably going to focus on their products and not care how they work together with the rest of the systems. Most HVAC contractors are NOT focused on system peformance and are based in refrigerant charges, amp verification and new compressors. There is more to a home and more to HVAC as they are both systems.

At  the seminar, there was one person who talked about real problems and wasn’t just selling a magic product and that was Paul, a local energy auditor and certified professional. He spoke about airflow and why the airtightness of a house matters. He touched on the diagnostic tools and the process of finding out where you are before you start fixing things, and was excellent in talking about the specifics of infiltration. What bothered me though was the fact that all of the rest of the panel pushed their product and that is what most people heard! We are no doubt a society who craves the quick fix and want fast solutions without having to participate or change!! This type of non-participation is what allows the vultures to feast.

A little deeper understanding of the seminar was gained the next day though, when it was discovered that the builder who put on the seminar actually has interest in the spray foam company. This builder himself stated that his energy bills were cut in half (YES 50%) from his previous home to his new house due to spray foam. People heard that and I know left thinking this was what they had to do (Paul’s conversations confirmed that this was true). The builder did not once represent that he had a stake in the company and owned the franchise, which in my mind was a little covert. He also never talked about his old 8 SEER unit vs. his 15 SEER unit now (or whatever). Or more importantly his properly sized unit and great ductwork!! He didn’t talk about his high efficiency windows vs. the old single pane aluminum windows (or whatever he had previously). He didn’t talk about his new water heater, appliances, CFL’s, etc…. basically all slices of the pie that make up our utility bill and could weigh apples to apples. This was clear a day later, that he had a mission and that was to sell foam and I think he probably did a good job. What I am getting at here is yes, his bills may have been 50% less at his new house, but it definitely is not from just spray foam, it is due to the system!!

The problem I had is this is not the kind of primer course people need on energy efficiency. A lot of people think cutting their lights off will help them the most, or changing out their light bulbs is all they need to do to save money. Although personal habits matter, there is so much more to energy efficiency than just those actions or a single product. Energy efficiency is really fairly simple and all of the “magic” products do have a place in the system, and an important one at that, but they all need to be balanced and considered to make the system perform its best. Each of these products need to be orchestrated properly instead of getting the cart before the horse.

 * Climatewash photo via blog by Jess Steinitz