One Stop Shop
Energize Delaware and Franklin Energy would like to recognize two of our more active trade allies; Home Performance Group and Maichle’s Heating & Air. These two contractors have developed a dynamic partnership within our Home Performance with Energy Star Program over the years. The combination of expertise that these two organizations bring to the table allows them to address virtually any of a homeowner’s needs, all within the same work scope. The partnership between these two contractors provides our customers with a one-stop shop for all of their Home Performance needs.
A recent Home Performance project of theirs shows us just how transformative their efforts can be. One of Home Performance Group’s energy auditors visited a customer’s home back in June, identifying several areas of concern throughout the home. This New Castle home, built in 1958, was excessively leaky and sat on top of a vented crawl space. With little to no insulation throughout the attic and knee wall spaces, the thermal boundary would need to be addressed. The home was running on an old gas-fired boiler, with a low-efficiency gas water heater to boot. Not only were they underperforming, but these heating appliances were also driving up this customer’s gas bill. Multiple window units were working overtime to try to cool the home throughout the summer season.
The home’s existing conditions and underperforming parts made room for huge energy-saving opportunities. Home Performance Group and Maichle’s Heating & Air decided to take a whole-house approach when creating a work scope for this client. Starting with the heating and cooling systems of the home, Maichle’s replaced the boiler and window units with high-efficiency mini-split systems. The Mitsubishi units installed are rated as 33 SEER systems. In other words, they have the capacity to remove 33 BTUs of heat for every watt of electricity consumed! Their crew then replaced the customer’s old gas-fired water heater with a high-efficiency electric heat pump water heater. Now it was time to address the thermal and pressure boundaries of the home. Home Performance Group performed blower door-guided air sealing practices to reduce the home’s total leakage by 43%, focusing on the attic and crawl spaces. They further insulated the attic flat, bringing its final insulation levels to an R-49. The knee walls were strategically insulated with foamboard and a cantilever off the rear of the home was properly insulated. The home’s crawlspace was fully encapsulated, with foamboard insulation attached to the foundation walls and fiberglass batt installed along the rim joist.
All said and done, the work performed on this customer’s home qualified them for an Assisted Home Performance rebate of $9,250! Replacing the home’s aging, low-efficiency gas-fired heating appliances with high-efficiency electric appliances effectively replaced this client’s high gas bill with a more affordable electric bill. Coupling these cost-effective heating and cooling installs with the encapsulation of their crawlspace and these other weatherization measures has provided this family with a more comfortable, affordable, and energy-efficient lifestyle. Way to go guys, keep up the good work! Check out some production photos of this New Castle job below!
