A Green Blog (by DeBass Recycling)

On a sunny summer day, solar energy is absorbed by a roof - heating the roof sheathing. The heat from the roof is then transferred into the attic. A well-insulated attic will trap anywhere from 80% to 95% of that heat and prevent it from getting transferred to the rest of your house. Studies show that 94% of the heat gain in your home is from the sun’s radiant energy. Here’s where radiant barriers come in.

A radiant barrier is a sophisticated, aluminum-based barrier that when placed directly underneath the roofing material reflects the heat back away from the roof. This means less heat in your attic and therefore less heat that can seep into your home and cause your AC unit to work harder.

But while radiant barriers are very effective, they’re also very expensive. In fact, most professional experts advise only purchasing a radiant barrier if you plan on being in your home 8 to 12 years. It would take that long to earn enough from energy savings to make up for the expense of a radiant barrier. Another thing is that radiant barriers aren’t effective against the heat that enters your attic from the rest of the home – so you will still need insulation. Please note that radiant barriers are not meant to be a replacement for proper insulation.

THE SOLUTION:

In this case, there really isn’t a solution; it’s totally up to you. Something to consider is this: According to the Department of Energy, the average cost of a radiant barrier installed is $0.30 per square foot space of your total home size. The projected savings you can get from installing a radiant barrier is roughly $0.08 per square foot space of your total home size. Proper insulation (that is - insulation that meets the recommended minimum R-Value) can provide on average $0.57 per square foot of your total home size. Using this information, radiant barriers only provide added value AFTER you have ensured you have the right amount of insulation in your home.

Another consideration is whether or not you share attic space with someone else. Radiant barriers can only reflect heat where they are installed. So, for example, if you own a condo or town home that shares attic space with the condo or town home tenant next to you, then installing a radiant barrier would only be effective if your neighbor did also. Otherwise, the heat your neighbor absorbs from the sun in their attic will simply make its way into your attic as well – defeating the purpose of that radiant barrier you just purchased.

Finally, consider this - all of that heat your roof is absorbing from the sun is also energy. Consider installing solar panels on your roof and making that heat work for you instead of against you. Check out my blog on solar panels for more information.

The Cost: $1200 - $1500

If you’re like me, at some point you’ve probably considered having a solar panel system installed in your home but for one reason or another just got out of the notion. Well, here’s one more thing to consider before you make up your mind…

It’s estimated that we’re currently only using 1% of the sun’s energy. That’s right! In fact, if we took all the energy from all the fossil fuels in and on the earth today, it would only equal the amount of energy that comes from the sun in just 20 days. Sadly enough though, instead of tapping into this FREE resource, we’re emitting 10,500 lbs of CO2 per household, per year into the atmosphere.

Convinced to buy a solar panel system now?

Well most likely, the next question that comes to mind is, ‘how much would a solar panel system cost?’ The short answer is – ‘it depends’. What’s important to note is that the size of your house is NOT a factor. However, what does matter is how much sun you get per day and how much energy you use. Below is a simple method for estimating what a solar panel system would cost you.

STEP 1. Take the number of KwH shown on your last energy bill

STEP 2. Divide that number by 30

STEP 3. Divide that number by the average hours of full sun you get per day (see Chart at the bottom of this blog to find the number of hours for your state.)

STEP 4: Multiply it by 1.15 to calculate how many watts you will need.

STEP 5: Contact your local solar panel company to determine their rates per watt.  (NOTE:  For Texas, the average cost is $7,000 per watt which includes the solar panel, installation and all other extra fees.  This will likely vary by state.)

This is roughly how much it would cost you to have a solar panel installed in your home. But before you start making solar panel plans with this number, here are a few more costs to consider.

a) This calculation only includes the cost of the panels, inverters, wire, mounts, and other hardware. It does NOT include anything else you might need to pay for, like inspections or extra watt meters by the electric company. Check with your city for any specific regulations they might have regarding solar panels.

b) This calculation is only for standard solar systems. If you choose a battery-based system, increase this estimate by 20% - 30%.

c) This calculation assumes that you will install a standard solar panel system which means that your solar system will not store energy back ups like battery-based systems.  The impact is that you will still have to rely on your energy company to meet your energy needs in the evening and on overcast days.  These additional energy costs should be included in your calculations as well.

The Cost: For perspective, you can expect to pay between $10,000 and $15,000. Given that the average person spends between $3,000 and $4,000 per year on energy bills, you can estimate that it would take 3 to 5 years for you to recoup your investment.

However, some states, the federal government, and even some energy companies, offer special rebates and tax incentives for solar panel installation. Currently, the federal government is offering a 30% rebate on the cost and installation of solar panels. Visit http://www.dsireusa.org to find savings that could apply to you.

CHART: Average Hours of Full Sun Per Day by State

7.5 hours per day: Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California and Southern Nevada

5.5 hours per day: Northern California, Northern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, West Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina

*All other states not previously listed average 4.5 hours of sun per day.

I’ll be the first to admit that I never thought much about insulation until now – that is until I got my first $500 energy bill. I immediately contacted an energy auditor to figure out exactly where was I wasting energy in my home and what could I do about it. The main culprits turned out to be my attic insulation and the air leaks in my home. So 3 assessment contractor quotes and hours of Internet research later, here’s what I’ve found.

1. Insulation is Important.

I know it seems a bit of a no-brainer, but here’s why. Did you know that anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 of your energy bill is energy you didn’t use? That’s right. The average US home has so many draft spaces and lacks the proper insulation that up to 2/3 of our energy bill is energy that actually seeped out of the home and never got used or energy spent as a result of an air-conditioning or heating unit working over-time to heat and cool a home that’s not properly insulated. Talk about throwing money out of the window – literally.

2. Fiberglass insulation does not cause cancer.

According to the American Lung Association, fiberglass insulation is safe when correctly installed. However, they also noted that for those installing the insulation, “direct contact with fiberglass materials or exposure to airborne fiberglass dust may irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat. Fiberglass can cause itching due to mechanical irritation from the fibers … Breathing fibers may irritate the airways resulting in coughing and a scratchy throat.”

Additionally, while there are studies that date back to 1994 with animals that showed long-term exposure to fiberglass caused cancer in animals, it has been repeatedly stated, most recently by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) fiberglass is NOT classifiable as a human carcinogen and that there is not enough evidence to link fiberglass to cancer risk.

3. Most fiberglass insulation is made with formaldehyde (but then so are a ton of other things!).

Who knew? Fiberglass insulation is made up primarily of tiny rocks (like sand). The sand is heated and stretched into tiny glass fibers. In some cases, manufacturers bypass the sand, and simply use recycled materials like bottles and window glass to create the tiny glass fibers. Because of its base material makeup, fiberglass insulation can take a lot of heat – which is a good thing. What’s not so great is that formaldehyde is used to bind the tiny fibers together. When fiberglass insulation is discarded, the formaldehyde-binding agent begins to break down, releasing toxic fumes into the air. While there is no proven risk for inhaling formaldehyde, it is worth noting that it takes half as much formaldehyde to embalm a dead body today than it did 20 years ago. That’s because today, we have twice as much formaldehyde in our bodies. In fact, formaldehyde is all around us keeping us ‘pickled and preserved’. Here’s just a short list of items we use from day to day that contain formaldehyde: cosmetics, paper, wood, clothes, nail polish, mouthwash, hairspray, perfume, wax, shampoo, toothpaste, spray starch, deodorant, air fresheners, and floor polish.

4. Removing Fiberglass Insulation is Not Worth the Cost (or Risk)

The thing to note here is that in spite of its formaldehyde content, and the possible irritation that could result from inhaling fiberglass particles during installation, most researchers don’t believe that fiberglass insulation presents enough of a problem to warrant removal. In fact, in most (if not all) proper installations, the insulation will stay where it is placed in the attic, walls or floor and will cause no problems. And the tighter the house is constructed, the less likely that any glass fibers or formaldehyde fumes will migrate into your living space.

However, if health problems are suspected to be related to insulation, a reputable firm should test the air in the house. Removal of the insulation should only be attempted as a last resort because it is messy, costly, and could result in greater contamination of the house. A better solution would be to caulk and tape shut the pathways through which the insulation is entering the living space.

SOLUTION:

With all of this information, figuring out how to best keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer can still seem a bit convoluted. Here’s what I’ve found to help you simplify.

STEP 1: Beef up your insulation

Fiberglass Insulation presents a very low risk threat. Given that removal can be expensive, unless you feel really strongly about the potential risk of a formaldehyde leak, I say leave it be. Instead, I’d focus on the R-value of your insulation to ensure you’re not making that HVAC unit work to hard to heat and cool your house.

An R-value is a common way of measuring the effectiveness of the insulation in your home. Exactly how its calculated is a bit confusing (the best I could gather is that its based on thickness of insulation, type of insulation, and how much air is in the space of insulation), but the net you need to know is this - the US standard for insulation is an R-Value of 30, and Energy Star recommends that to be truly efficient you should aim to have an R-Value of 49. The best way to figure out what your R-value is to have an insulation expert installer provide you with a free assessment.

If you choose to leave your fiberglass insulation in place, but want a more eco-friendly addition to it, you can also choose to beef up your insulation with vegetable oil-based, polyurethane foam insulation. This foam spray contains no formaldehyde and is praised for its ability to provide airtight sealing in small crevices where regular fiberglass insulation can’t fit. When sprayed, the foam insulation expands to 100 times its original size and forms millions of tiny bubbles that trap air.

The Cost: On average a professional insulation job can run between $300 and $1,500+ depending on how much additional insulation is needed.

STEP 2: Weatherize or Weatherproof Your Home

Ensuring proper insulation in your attic and your basement (if you have one) is the first big step to improving the heating and cooling efficiency of your home. The second big step is something called weatherization or weatherproofing. Weatherization is the practice of blocking drafts within a home. As I mentioned before, anywhere from 1/3 to 2/3 of your energy bill is energy you don’t even use. Draft spaces and poor insulation account for that lost energy. In fact, according to the US Department of Energy, families whose homes are weatherized are expected to save $358 on their first year’s utility bills.

The Cost: On average a professional weatherization job can run between $100 and $300.

Cashmere comes from the wool of thousands of goats raised in NE China in Mongolia on the edge of the Gobi.  It’s 100% natural and cruelty free but the demand for cashmere has increased and as a result so have the number of goats to keep up with the demand.  But these goats are big eaters and they are so ravenous that they’ve turned a lot of the large chinese grasslands in Mongolia into deserts and as a result have unleashed some of the worst dust storms on record – choking the residents of Beijing and blocking out the sun.

SOLUTION:

You can help by reducing the demand for wool by buying alternate materials or by buying wool from Alpaca goats.

Cows create almost 20% of the world’s greenhouse gases.  That’s more than trains, planes and automobiles combined!  Other livestock contribute as well, but when you measure gas emissions, cow flatulence heats up the earth like nothing else.  In fact, the methane that cows discharge has 23 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.

Consider that one cow releases about 10 lbs of methane per month and there are 100 million cows just in the US.  That’s 12 billion pounds of methane emitted into the atmosphere every year.

SOLUTION:

1.  Well, if you’re a rancher - change what your cows eat.  Feeding them garlic neutralizes the bacteria in their stomachs and cuts their emissions in half.

2. As an individual, reduce your intake of red meat.  A University of Chicago study found that each beef eating America contributes to pumping an extra 1.5 tons of CO2 into the air every year.  Almost all of that emission is created by raising cattle and processing beef.  It’s equivalent to driving an extra 5,000 miles every year.