Willowside Rd., Day 29

Yesterday, John Doe called and said he was ready to discuss options.  Great.

This morning, Daniel from Zero Energy Associates and I sat down at their dining room.  John had examined how much the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) would finance. SCEIP has a couple of limitations – not over x% of Loan to Value, or .  The limit SCEIP would finance on his property, less the cost of his proposed solar electric system, was $20,000.  Since I'd already modeled the proposed improvements we were considering to his home in EnergyPro and found a possible 50% improvement, I knew the Energy Upgrade California (EUC) program would send him a rebate of at least $3500 so his real total that he could spend on energy improvements was more like $23,500.  OK.  That was my target.  Now how much could I fit in that amount?  That's basically the question he asked me to answer.

Let's see, the definite items are:

Air sealing walls and ceiling, doors and weatherstripping:  $1600

Replacing the 9 recessed fixtures in the kitchen w/ ICAT  CFLs:  $900

Tidy up the R19 attic insulation and blow more to end up with R38:  $3000

Replace FAU with 95% direct vent unit with all new ductwork:  $9900

Replace AC heat pump with SEER 15 unit:  $3700

Test in, test out, SCEIP paperwork, EUC application:  $1400

Weatherstripping and properly venting the DHW closet:  $450

Repairing the floor where existing floor registers are removed:  $1200

Total:  $22000

OK, there's $1500  left.  Here's the options:

Air seal the subfloor from the crawlspace:  $400

Insulate the floor with batts to R19 (joists 48”OC):  $4000

Insulate the floor with closed cell foam to R10 (less $400 because I don't have to air seal the subfloor:  $6900

Replace the water heater with a 95% direct vent:  $4200

Move the washer/dryer into the garage:  $1500-2000

Ditch, drain, sump pump, and vapor seal the crawlspace & monitor:  $TBA

If he chooses to insulate the floor with batts, I will have to air seal the subfloor; the upcharge to use spray foam under the subfloor is 6900 less 4000 or $2900.  If he chooses to replace the DHW, I don’t have to do as much work on the closet so the DHW is 4200 less 200 or $4000.

If John is willing to go a bit over his $23,500 limit, which do YOU think is the best choice, considering both energy savings and indoor comfort?

Willowside Project, Day 22

John Doe wants my part of the work scope proposal included in the audit report to be broken out and summed up so he can see the blocks of money that the various parts of this energy efficiency project require and prorate them in terms of loading order and importance.  The first parts - air sealing and insulation - add up to $7500, a State or AOSmith condensing water heater with direct vent through the roof is $4300 and the full HVAC system with all new balanced ducts, 2.5 ton AC instead of the old existing 5 ton,etc., is just under $10K.  So we're over $20K without even touching the lighting or washer/dryer moving to the garage, nor any crawlspace remediation, which it *really* needs.  Grand total will approach $30K if all measures are addressed.

The modeled improvement in EnergyPro is 53%, which qualifies for an Energy Upgrade California rebate of $3500 but it's still a chunk of change.  It will, however, - and I keep coming back to this with them - greatly increase their indoor comfort and remove the vast majority of their indoor air quality issues: combustion byproducts from the HVAC closet, moisture and smells from the washer/dryer, crawlspace air drawn in through the floor, and more.

I hope they go for all of it, partly for the work that my company gets out of it, but more so because of how much better their home will function when they're done.