Why Doesn’t Frost Form in the Carport?
On Saturday morning as I was heading out for a run at the Chattahoochee River, I found my car in the condition you see in the photo above. Let's ignore the reason I was parked half in and half out…
The Energy Vanguard Blog
17 Steps to Better Duct Systems
If a 12 step program is good for helping people deal with addictive behaviors, then a 17 step program ought to be better, right? Or maybe it's just a random number that fits the number of tips that popped into…
The Perfect Weather for a Dehumidifier
That dehumidifier you see in the photo above is in the Energy Vanguard office here in Decatur, Georgia. The compressor doesn't come on often, but this past week I've heard it running quite a bit. Depending on where you're from,…
Is Negative Pressure Causing a Problem in Your Home?
Ever have the smell of your fireplace inside your home? It's not uncommon. Here's a question I got from a reader named Rob last month:We always have a smoke smell from our fireplace, more on some days than others. I…
Top 10 Articles in the Energy Vanguard Blog in 2019
It's been another good year in the Energy Vanguard. I've published 28 articles here in the blog this year (counting this one), which brings me to 902 since I began this little project back in 2010. Hard to believe it's…
Buildings Aren’t Permanent
The old shack above has been around a long time. It still looks good in its old age, but you'd probably have to pour a lot of money into that building to make it useful again.This home looks nice. It…
Busting a Myth About Low-Static Ducted Mini-Splits
I like mini-split heat pumps, especially of the ducted variety. And because I don't like to pay for a lot of excess power, I prefer to use ducted mini-splits with smaller blower motors operating at a low total external static…
Seizing an Air-Sealing and Insulating Opportunity
The number one thing you need to do to protect a building is control water. As the Canadian building scientist Gus Handegord said, "The three biggest problems in buildings are water, water, and water." So, with the 1961 house I…
Spray Foam Insulation at the Edge – A Forensic Analysis
An attic that's brought inside the building enclosure is a beautiful thing. This is most often done with spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation, either open-cell or closed-cell. Here in the southeastern US, open-cell is most often the spray foam of…
The #1 Reason to Have an All-Electric Home
Maybe you've heard the rumblings coming out of the environmental and building science crowd. Maybe not. But it's getting louder lately. The rumbling I'm alluding to is the move to switch from natural gas to electricity as the energy carrier…