I sprung for Paul Hayden’s e-book:
Paul Hayden – Practical Energy Cost Reduction
In my opinion: This book might be fine for home owners who aren’t very familiar with home energy consuption issues or for someone just starting into the trades who wants to use it as a primer. For many of the people who frequent this forum, it would probably be a waste of money.
Hayden makes lots of assumptions, among them:
1. That humidty is a big problem and cost (it’s not where I live).
2. That the reader will have air conditioning (I don’t. I do have evap cooling, but he doesn’t address it.)
3. That the reader will have forced air heating (I do, but won’t next year).
4. That the reader will probably have ductwork in the attic.
Hayden does stress careful insulating, careful sealing of possible air leaks, etc.
He also recommends vinyl siding, vinyl windows, and various other things that may not be directly associated with energy issues but are more associated with basic home maintenance, some of which would certainly be controversial here at BT!
This book strikes me as written by someone who carefully researched available material for his own use, applied it to his own situation, and then decided to write it all down for others who could benefit from going through the process he went through. In that regard I’d grade the book with a B+.
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.