Your home is never too new for a tune-up–Green Tour Site 7

 

 

Site #7– 1090 NE Hobbs Ct, Bend. Energy and Solar Retrofit

Home Performance Contractor: GreenSavers

Solar Contractor: Sunlight Solar

Sola Tube Contractor: Solar Light

Owner: Mary Fay

Original Energy Performance Score (EPS): 86 Post-Project EPS: 59

1733 Sq Ft

This single level spec home was purchased prior to completion in 2013 and just goes to show that even new homes can use an energy efficiency tune-up! As part of the Bend Energy Challenge, Mary signed up for an energy and solar assessment and found great energy and money-saving opportunities for her home.

Mary added strategic air sealing to her home in the heat of the summer and instantly noticed the difference in how much more comfortable her felt and how much cooler it stayed during the day when she turned her air conditioning up.

In the crawlspace,  Green Savers found that Mary’s floor insulation was not in contact with the floor. This means that the airspace between the insulation and the floor allows for cold air to pass through the insulation which reduces its effectiveness and equalling cold floors and energy loss. They also found that there were sections of insulation missing in the attic and recommended blown fiberglass to fill in the holes.

After doing an assessment of Mary’s roof to make sure that she had appropriate access to sunlight, Sunlight Solar installed 12 280 Watt Oregon-made black solar panels on Mary’s home which are expected to cover 125% of her annual electricity usage.

In addition to these improvements, Mary also had 4 Solatubes installed by Solar Light which now bring natural light into previously dark spaces allowing her to go most of the day without using any artificial lights in these areas.

The upgrades at Mary’s home brought her EPS from 89 to 56. You can view the full Post Retrofit EPS with solar overview.