“Hands On” with Showcase Participant, Robert S.
Robert decided to take the DIY approach with home upgrade recommendations from CCI’s home energy audit. Here is a self-reported account of Robert’s projects to date.
Air Seal & Insulate Attic
During October — December, 2019 I spent a fair amount of time in the attic, placing plastic sheeting over the knee walls and adding insulation to places on the knee walls where there wasn’t any at all. In addition I added a door seal on the bottom of the attic door (and also filled some rafter space that didn’t have insulation). As part of this project I also took the opportunity to organize the attic contents and clean up the cobwebs and dust that were present. As our attic was walk-in, I was able to set up a workbench for the lumber work. Most of the materials used for these projects were ones that I already had purchased, so there was no additional expense, but there were some purchases that were made. As I live in Mt. Lebanon the go-to place for me is Rollier’s Hardware.
Materials
- Plastic Sheeting
- 1” Plastic Cap Roofing Nails ($6)
- 2” Rigid Foam Insulation
- Unfaced fiberglass insulation
- 1 ½” Common Nails
- ½” Plywood
- Scrap 2x4 lumber
- Scrap 1x4 lumber
- Clear Packing Tape
- Door Seal ($30)
- 2 1/2” Common Nails ($6)
Tools
- Scissors
- Exacto Knife
- Hammer
- Shop-Vac
- Sabre Saw ($80)
- Hand Saw
- Measuring Tape
- Extension Cord
- Power Strip
- Clamp Light
- Broom
- Breathing Masks
In the above lists, the items in bold were purchased specifically for this project, and those costs are included in the total listed below. The other items were available around the house (prior purchases for other projects). See pictures on the following two pages.
Total Cost: $122
Total Time: ~24 Hrs
Air Seal & Insulate Attic
Program Your Thermostat
Based on feedback from the plan, the temperatures for our Nest thermostat have been adjusted as shown in the following table. This happened during December, 2019.
Cool
Heat and Cool
Heat
Total Cost: $0
Total Time: ~30 Min
Seal Air Leaks — Chimney Damper
Earlier this year we needed to have the top of our chimney redone as the bricks were spalding. During that time the mason was able to fix our chimney damper (it had gotten out of its grooves) so it is functional again, and did not charge us for it. As a result, we no longer need to get a top-mounted damper.
Total Cost: $0
Total Time: ~30 Min
