JustAbout

Good grief. Crown molding is a waste of money in some minds, and it isn't cheap! Most of you seem to be located where you are trying to keep warm, moist air _in_ the house. I am located where we want to do the opposite. Making blanket statements about the effectiveness of low-E, R/U values, vinyl, etc., is very unhelpful.

In these parts, proper installation of low-emisivity coatings in the Attic, in my experience, provide by far the quickest payback for any of the generally available energy related improvements. At least where it is hot in the summer.

I have made some surprising discoveries recently, quite unintentionally. All of this in Houston, Texas, a mostly warm, almost always humid climate:

1) Ceiling insulation can have a very low payback: If the attic has properly installed low-emisivity coating on the underside of the roof decking, the attic is properly vented, and the cooled air inside the house is not being "stirred".

In other words, if one is not cooling with a forced-air central AC with attic ducting which tends to stir room air, cool air tends to pool in the lower half of a room, where people live, effectively reducing the convective and conductive heat flow to the attic. (Heat flows as the square of the difference in temperature.) The higher the ceiling, the more important this fact. The difference in temperature between the floor and the ceiling can be very significant (30 or more degrees F). If there is no place for this cool air to escape, it tends to stay in place

I am not recommending against attic insulation, I'm just reporting what I have found, as it completely runs against all of the information I am reading. I am studying this, and would love to have some serious discussion.

2) Removal of humidity is vastly more important than adding cold air for comfort. Even in a room with stratified air (pretty much every room everywhere), removal of humidity dries all of the air, even the hot air at the ceiling, without air movement. Humidity seems to move independent of the air!

3) Two 5,000 BTU window A/C units, $100 each, running constantly (3.1 Amps each constant draw at 118 volts) has reduced the humidity (from 90+%) to under 50% in a 1700 sq. ft. home in about 3 days and have kept it in that range for some time. Additional A/C units can be used to provide additional cold air when needed. This with no loss from duct work. (An amazingly small amount of electricity, and a total of $600 to purchase A/C units compared to $12,000 for a 2-stage central unit does not compute in my mind. Perhaps the difference is in longevity and perhaps efficiency, but at this rate I can replace the units each year and come out even.)

Here is the idea: multistage units provide, say 1 1/2 ton at low-speed and 3 ton at high speed. Low speed runs long to remove as much humidity as possible. High speed comes on to reduce heat. I accomplished the same thing with my window A/C to test out the theory before I spent the $12,000. Well, the concept works, but now I am wondering why I need to spend the money!

4) Replacing windows has been effective for me because I am forced, due to the way the original aluminum sashes were installed and trimmed in this all-brick 1960 ranch, to reframe the window opening (otherwise there is nothing to attach the new window to!) The result is that the replacement window is tight, and convective air loss is substantially reduced. Low-E2 coatings also add considerably to the efficiency of the new window. When the widows in a given room are replaced, the room is far more comfortable and peak temperatures are noticeably reduced.

I suspect that removing weight casings in old wooden windows would have a similarly positive effect without requiring the replacement of the wooden sash. There are plenty of kits that add counterbalance to wood sashes. I installed them many times when I was a young man and they were far better than weights. These kits also reduced air infiltration dramatically. And they were pretty simple to install! Back when I was "all-thumbs" I completed at least 2 windows a day.

As for vinyl versus wood, aluminum, etc.:

I am a wood-guy, and love wooden sashes. I have used Anderson sashes with vinyl outer wrap, one light per sash. They look excellent from the outside, but they do not look better than a quality all-vinyl sash. From the inside the wood beats vinyl in looks.

Pella, for one premium window manufacturer, makes all vinyl windows. They look and work great, both inside and out (especially in the one-light-per-sash configuration), and I would use them instead of the vinyl-wrapped wood Anderson in subsequent remodels of 1960 homes:

1) The difference in looks from the inside is quite subtle. Most window interiors are covered, which makes this subtle difference completely invisible.

2) Vinyl can be painted pretty much any color you want. Just ask the paint store for the right stuff.

3) Vinyl seems to last longer or at least as long as anodized aluminum in this environment, which eats metals.

4) Plain wood window exteriors will make it about 10 years in this environment.

Now, folks, help me out. Why am I discovering these things and not reading about them in FHB? How do I apply what I am learning?

Until now, I would avoid access holes whenever possible! This takes less than 15 minutes to open and close! If you are painting, no sweat! Part of the trick is the round hole, it seems to me. Thank you!

I build in the shop in this order: carcase in units, face frames in separate units, shelves, drawers, then doors and drawer fronts. If bead is included in the design, it is installed in shop. I usually dry fit everything in shop, especially for the really picky design details. For really large units this is has to be done in sections.

Stain and finish is applied in shop, including white or black lacquer. Paint is usually applied after construction is complete, although I have sometimes applied primer and first coat and sanded it in the shop, and this makes for a much better paint job, especially if I'm not painting the finished product, which always makes for an extra trip after the painter is finished to install the doors, drawer fronts, and hardware.

Final assembly is in place: Hanging units first, then wiring, trim (cut in as necessary), and crown, then doors. Then base (if separate), level, install units, then face frames, and then top (if wood). Upper bookshelves or display units stack on next, followed by crown. I use jigs to install drawer glides, drawer fronts, and doors. Love the Kreg jig system. Last is hardware pulls. Integrated pulls are part of the door or drawer front and are made in shop.

Note that I like to get crown up as soon as possible so that I am not working over things that are expensive to damage.

Most of my work is in existing houses, while folks are living there, so speed of installation and cleanliness are very important.

Energy efficient home design must vary according to local conditions. Just as most of the energy efficiency labels as currently mandated are fiction, so would be a label designed by government for a house.

Rain incursion may be the largest water problem in New England. It is also a problem here on the Gulf Coast. Here, solar heat gain and humidity play havoc with energy efficient designs ideal for the Northeast coast. An ideal design in Missouri differs from these. Southern California has completely different problems to solve.

On the Gulf coast, 2-foot overhangs are great in some cases, but don't replace low-e2 windows and a properly vented roof with a radiant heat block coating. Heat exchangers for replacement air are designed to swap heat, when we need to swap water vapor. A number of "energy efficient" design features used up north of here actually cause early house failure due to rot.

Raising the evaporator temperature on central AC systems, a goverment encouraged energy saving plan of a few years ago, was a disaster here, causing a huge waste of energy as people struggled to make their homes comfortable. Matters were made even worse with improperly sized units in many homes.

I do applaud an increase of information for home buyers. I recommend that all new homes include a regular inspection plan during construction by an independent engineering firm, with the full report provided to the buyer, and a contact in the engineering firm that can discuss the report with mere mortals.

Ultimately, it is the buyer's responsibility to choose. And it is certainly the buyer's responsibility to maintain the completed house properly. And the buyer still has the freedom to determine what that means, thankfully.