With the rising cost of energy that could double in the next ten years, many home owners are deciding to upgrade their homes efficiency. Some of these upgrades include more insulation, energy star windows and doors, sealed crawl spaces, high efficiency heating systems, and energy star appliances.
These are all worth while investments that could continue to save you money in energy costs and improve on your investment if they were properly installed. Sure, energy star appliances will bring you a home run. But what makes the energy star windows, high efficiency heating systems, and sealed crawl space effective, is the installation.
In some cases the home owner is not getting what they paid for. A few months ago I started a bathroom remodel. The home owner had new energy star replacement windows installed buy another contractor a month prior to the remodel. The remodel was a total gut including the window trim the window installer installed. To my surprise the contractor did not insulate around the windows.. You could see daylight behind the trim. I was angry when I saw this. An energy star window is worthless if not installed properly. On a different project where I was doing some siding work, the customer previously hired another contractor to install a sealed crawl space. The crawl space was hardly sealed. They just laid plastic on the ground which did not cover all of the ground. A sealed crawl space should be exactly that. The crawl space is supposed to be covered with a heavy duty plastic with all seams overlapping and taped and the walls covered in foam board. Included is a drain system and a heating vent. The crawl space should be conditioned like the rest of the house.
If you want to make these upgrade to your home, you should hire a reputable contractor with references. The most important thing is to check their work. Someone once gave me some advice when I took a superintendent job for a condo project. He said trust every one but check them. One way to do this is to require a permit be pulled. Now, some contractors will tell you that you don't need a permit,and in the case of replacement windows and adding insulation technically you don't. That does not mean that you can't get one. If installing windows, the inspector will check if they are properly installed, the structure was not compromised and the windows were properly insulated. Another option is to hire an energy rater or general contractor to over see the project. This may cost more but a third and impartial party can insure the work was done properly.
