ductwork Archives - Michaels Energy

Jul 08

Summertime Energy Use and Your Abode

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant One Comment

Now that winter, followed by a couple months of flooding rains have passed, at least for a few days, summer is here, and this brings about some energy saving tips, rumors, bologna, and truths about summertime energy use around the house.First, allow me to destroy the inappropriate and overused term “humidity”. When someone complains about 90% humidity, it would be entirely wrong in most instances. For demonstration, see the chart nearby. Each curve represents relative humidity (RH) over a 24 hour period. Which represented day is more comfortable from a RH perspective? The correct answer - I can’t tell because…

Jun 10

Love0

Duct Leakage Chaff

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant 3 Comments

Due to duct leakage, only 57% of heat generated in a home furnace is delivered to conditioned spaces. OMG! Run for your lives. Big deal. I have overheard conversations at conferences and other networking gigs that include statements like, “We are so focused on envelope tightness, insulation, energy-saving windows, and efficient appliances, but meanwhile we are wasting almost half the heat produced in an energy efficient furnace.” Not so fast. In mechanical engineering, we have the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The first law is like a change machine – conservation of money. Put a piece of cotton-infused paper…