The Freverts moved to Overland Park in the middle of the housing boom in the late 1990′s. Like many families they were forced to take what home builders were selling at that time. You might call it a spec house. Not that spec houses are all bad, they are just built to code minimums with few upgrades.
So, the Freverts lived in and dealt with the issues that came with that reality for around 10 years. Maybe these sound familiar. The upstairs was either too hot or too cold depending on the season. In-laws and friends didn’t want to come visit in the summer because they felt like they were sleeping in a sauna. Their great room was not so great. It is a beautiful room with windows and 15 foot ceilings. It was never at the temperature that they wanted and was rarely comfortable. They were doing their best to be energy-conscious with their thermostat settings and this often meant extra blankets and fans and space heaters. In May, they had enough and decided to deal with some of their house’s “quirks.” During the audit it was discovered that their attic and knee-wall insulation levels were at the minimum or less and there was not evidence of any attempt to air seal penetrations such as can lights.
- Recessed lights are a major culprit in air leakage.
These contributed to high air infiltration and were major factors in the discomfort and high energy usage. It was also discovered that the condensing unit that the builder installed was too small.
The Hayes Company used a combination of spray foam insulation and cellulose to get the attic spaces insulated and air sealed. This resulted in a more than 20% reduction in their air infiltration! This resulted in one of their kids remarking “I’m actually hot” while relaxing in the great room on a very chilly day. The Frevert’s let us know that since they had the work done in July their home is more comfortable and confirmed that they have already seen a reduction in energy cost when they comparing their 2011 utility bills to their 2010 utility bills.