I have been on a quest to cut our electric bill by at least 30% without us suffering. The steps for this are as follows:
1. DONE-Insulate garage doors
2. DONE-Place temp controlled exhaust fans in garage
3. DONE-Replace all screen with Solar Screen
4. DONE-Tint all windows that are not covered by Solar Screen
5. DONE-Place insulation inside of all electrical plates, covers.
6. Install attic gable vents (open the one I have in the front above my garage) (this will help with the new roof and ridge vents and will
also help to vent air from the Whole House Fan when installed)
7. Insulate over garage ceiling in attic
8. Install whole house fan in fall 2023
9. New AC in Spring 2024
Having done the garage doors, THAT made a huge difference in the temps of the garage. Not once last summer was it cooler in our garage then it was outside. This year, it has been. And when my wife pulls her car in, the exhaust fans are set to come on at a certain temp, and this quickly drops the temp in the garage by at least 4 to 6 degree's in about 20-30 minutes, depending on just how hot it is outside. The exhaust tubes are pointing to the ridge vents.
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I am still researching Whole House Fans, but I know that we do use the AC even during fall, winter and spring, way more then we should be. Of course, during hot and humid days, we will not be using it. Also, I am going to have to place some air filters in the windows that I do open up to get the air flow going due to my daughters allergies.
How many of you have any experience with or use a Whole House Fan? Would really appreciate your input. They are pricey, but in this instance, I do believe you get what you pay for.
Making sure your attic is properly vented is a huge overall help.
Some swear by putting reflecting insulation on the underneath side of your roof in the attic. Or if you are getting a new roof, insulation that reflects heat under the roofing can help.
A light colored roof can also help.
Insulating the ceiling in your garage will help A LOT in the garage. I would use Rock Wool insulation, it's a higher R value per inch. R19 would be the minimum.
You also want to make sure ALL openings from the conditioned space into the attic are sealed, such as over bulkheads in kitchens, around any pipe or wiring that goes into the attic. Pot lights in the ceiling should be rated air tight and sealed properly.
Myself, I think more energy is wasted through a whole house fan than it saves. And if your daughter has bad allergies, that will only make them worse. Regular filters on the windows won't cut it, they would need to be true HEPA filters.
The problem with the whole house fan is that you can't properly seal it or insulate it when it's turned off, it WILL leak some air unless you go to great lengths to seal it up. Which you would need to do each time you turned it off. And that air leaking will cause more allergens to be present in the house. Take a 1/8" gap around that fan, times the distance around the fan, and you could have the same as an 18" hole in the ceiling if the fan is 36"x36".
My son purchased a house once upon a time that had an existing whole house fan, and it was obvious pretty quickly how much heat and air leaked past it when it was off. In the Winter, ugh forgetaboutit.
After the first winter in the house, we took the fan out, and patched up the hole properly, insulated it well, and his overall utility bill went down significantly.
The sad truth is, that most contractors, even today, do a crap job of insulating and sealing up a house properly.
Stuffing insulation into your outlet box's won't stop air movement, you need to use something that actually seals, such as spray foam. Check to see if that is allowed by code.
Check your walls in the garage to see if they are actually insulated especially the ones that are adjoining living spaces.
When getting a new AC, the key is to find that correct dealer that knows what they are actually doing as far as sizing unit, the higher the SEER on the unit the better.
But the installation can make or break it.
The dealer that comes along and just blindly installs the same size unit as your old one, isn't doing you any favors. Ask them to do a proper "manual J'" heat load calculation to determine what is needed. Its important that they also "balance" the system properly at time of install. The duct work may need to be changed. If you have ducts in the attic, where they shouldn't be, make certain they are properly sealed and Insulted.
Good luck.
