Button up
To go green with your bungalow, get basic.
Once bungalow-owner Joyce Prosise certified her home as a Historic Chicago Bungalow, she set out to get quotes on insulating her attic. Three companies came and went — having recommended three different remedies.
Confused, she sought help at a Historic Chicago Bungalow Association seminar on insulation. The seminar took place right in her neighborhood at the HCBA’s 2007 green model bungalow, which is undergoing an extreme makeover at 5010 W. Wolfram in the 31st Ward.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)
In the unfinished part of her attic that is used for storage, McElherne recommended using expanding foam insulation to seal the air leaks around the pipes and conduit that run up the exterior walls.
After that he proposed that his crew would blow cellulose fiber fill into the air space between the attic floor and the first floor ceiling, achieving an R-value of 19.
“You will save more money from air sealing than just from insulating,” McElherne said.
Because Prosise wants to store in her attic some delicate items her mother used when teaching the Japanese tea ceremony, McElherne suggested adding batts — rolls — of fiberglass insulation between the attic rafters for an additional R-value of 13.
If, however, the attic were not to be used for storage, McElherne suggested blowing 14 inches of cellulose on the attic floor for an R-value of 49. The Chicago Energy Code standard for an energy efficient ceiling in an existing home is R-38.
On the finished side of the attic, McElherne proposed cutting a hatch into the short wall and blowing in 14 inches of cellulose on the floor, fitting fiberglass batts between the rafters, and insulating the ceiling under the roof peak. Since insulation without controlled ventilation is a recipe for unwanted moisture, he suggested adding four vents, evenly spaced.
Once the work is finished, Prosise will be comfortable in her home office this winter.
With an energy-snug house, the furnace won’t turn on as often, which will save energy. The same is true of the boiler. If the boiler is 20 years old, it will likely operate at an efficiency of around 65 percent, while a new sealed-combustion boiler operates at 95 percent efficiency, said Daniel Cullen, a certified home inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors.
The HCBA’s Energy Saver 2 grant will match up to $2,000 of the cost to upgrade or add a furnace or air conditioning system, insulation, solar thermal systems, hot water heaters and water conservation.