It certainly has gotten cold here. As I write this, it is 17 degrees outside and the high for tomorrow is in the 30s. This sudden change in weather has certainly hit me hard. I hope you are staying warm. Speaking of staying warm, is your house comfortable? Do you have enough of the right kind of attic insulation in the right places?
Over the years I have been in a LOT of attics and most of them do not have the right kind of insulation and certainly not enough of it. Even worse, there is often duct work running in the space on the wrong side of the attic insulation, the cold side, with very little insulation around the ducts. Code says you need R-38 insulation in the attic as a minimum. I would say that is about half what you should have for your attic in our climate if you are using fiberglass insulation or cellulose. Think of it as adding a second blanket to your entire house.
In areas where duct work penetrates the conditioned space at the supply points, there is no insulation. Having the duct work inside the thermal envelope would fix this problem. So if you have the chance, insulation on the underside of the roof sheathing, open cell spray foam, is certainly a better solution than fiberglass or cellulose on the floor of the attic (when duct work is in the space). Spray foam is air tight and when installed in the appropriate places will make your homeboth comfortable and energy-efficient.
Other holes that exist in the insulation envelope can be can lights and eave ventilation that does not have baffles. These holes and air leaks from improper sealing of the thermal envelope all combine to diminish the effectiveness of your installed insulation. Finding ways to stop air leakage and installing the proper amount of attic insulation will help on these cold days.
If you have fiberglass insulation, add more to achieve R-72. If you have cellulose, add more to achieve R-72. However, if you want to get it right insulate with an air tight solution, open cell spray foam is the easiest method to create a home that will be comfortable and energy-efficient for many years.
2015 was a year of growth for The Gaines Group, PLC in both Harrisonburg and Charlottesville. As the economy came back stronger than it has been in the last eight years, we saw tremendous growth in both number and diversity of projects. It was a great year all around.
I started with the firm in 1999. This marks my 15th year working with Ray and Roger taking away my graduate school time. Many things have changed over the years. Roger and I are partners, our firm name moved from Raymond E. Gaines, Architect to The Gaines Group, PLC. We have grown to include two offices and 10 people. Our depth and skill with over 100 years of combined experience is better than it has ever been before. We have seen talented and amazing designers come and go over the past 17 years. However, I believe right now we have the best team that we have ever had. As we move into our 30th year in business we have some big plans. I look forward to sharing the news with you as things are finalized. Thank you for your support on social media and in the community as a whole. I am looking forward to 2016 and expect big things.
It has been an amazing year here at the Harrisonburg Gaines Group office. We grew adding Hannah Jackson to our team. Deborah and I stayed very busy all year with a huge variety of projects. We were able to provide healthy, energy-efficient, and durable design to more than 35 different clients out of our valley office (more than double the previous year). The year was good both in quality of projects and economics of projects – what more could I ask for as a business owner in the valley. This success is all because of you giving us opportunities. Whether you hired us to do design, viewed a blog post, liked a facebook post, told someone about our company, or wrote a review of our work online – you helped us sustain, grow, and thrive here in the valley – so Thank You. Thank you for allowing me to help others, to do something I enjoy as a career, to survive here in the valley. Thank you.
My Christmas wish for you is for you to find peace, comfort, and love during this wonderful season. I wish for you to have family and friends by your side to help you through any obstacle you face. I wish for you a Merry and Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Well it is December 23rd, so probably time for you guys to finish your Christmas shopping. Ok, who are we fooling, it is time for some of you guys to start your Christmas shopping. I know it is hard to figure out what she is dreaming of, so I am here to help. Every girl I know LOVES getting energy efficiency tools that will help lower electric bills and save the planet. Here are some ideas:
LED Bulbs
Solar Panels – who does not love a good solar panel?
Spray Foam – girls LOVE spray foam
An Energy Audit (call me and I might be able to provide a basic one for free)
Energy audits are an inspection that looks at energy flow in a building. The objective of an audit is to identify things that can be modified to reduce energy usage and increase comfort and safety for the occupants of the building.
Thank you all so much for your support and reading my blog. We are now closing in on 80,000 views – not bad for a small architectural firm locating in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Here are the top 10 blogs that have been viewed in 2015.
It certainly has gotten cold here. As I write this, it is 17 degrees outside and the high for tomorrow is in the 30s. This sudden change in weather has certainly hit me hard. I hope you are staying warm. Speaking of staying warm, is your house comfortable? Do you have enough of the right kind of attic insulation in the right places?
Other holes that exist in the insulation envelope can be can lights and eave ventilation that does not have baffles. These holes and air leaks from improper sealing of the thermal envelope all combine to diminish the effectiveness of your installed insulation. Finding ways to stop air leakage and installing the proper amount of attic insulation will help on these cold days.
If you have fiberglass insulation, add more to achieve R-72. If you have cellulose, add more to achieve R-72. However, if you want to get it right insulate with an air tight solution, open cell spray foam is the easiest method to create a home that will be comfortable and energy-efficient for many years.
