It means looking forward to your power bill and annoying
your neighbors with your savings. This ‘APS comparison’
indicates a $126 savings when compared to the average
home. That adds up to a lot of money over a summer.
The best part about these savings is that they are from
a tract house that was easily modified by the homeowner
to become greener than green. That means that most
homeowners can do the same thing. They can become an
annoyance to their neighbors by getting excited about
their own power bills.
The transformation was relatively simple. It required
$1,800 in materials and a few days of labor. First,
double/bubble, foil-foil was added to the rafters.
Second, Evaporation Aided Air Conditioning was installed
around the air conditioners.
The first step, installing the double/bubble, foil-foil,
was the hardest part.
Working in an attic is not fun, especially in the
summer. The owner got help from his sons and 2 of their
friends. They cut 2x4s to use as temporary places to
stand. They moved the 2x4s from section to section as
they progressed through the attic. They had to add a
couple of 2x4s across some of the trusses where the roof
was hard to reach.
Cutting the double/bubble with a razor knife and
stapling it to the rafters with a staple hammer was
easy. They followed the manufactures instructions as
best they could. When they were done, they used a leaf
rake to ‘fluff up’ the insulation matted down while
working in the attic.
The good part was completing half the attic the first
morning. They worked from 6:00 until 10:00 or 11:00. The
sunny sides were done first. On the second morning, the
attic was much cooler. It made finishing a lot easier.
They even put double/bubble on the rafters over the
garage. (The garage now stays 96 degrees or cooler.)
The results were instantaneous. The attic was 20 degrees
cooler. In the mornings, the attic was actually cooler
than the night-time lows. The cooling loss from the air
conditioner was being contained in the attic instead of
going out through the roof. The heat exchanger in the
attic was more efficient because the attic was cooler.
The energy-saving excitement began. This first step
reduced air conditioning and heating costs by 25%.
That’s enough to make it fun to get your APS bill and
annoy your neighbors.
The video provides more details and explains the science
behind double/bubble.
The second step, installing the Evaporation Aided Air
Conditioning, was easy. Achieving 50% savings in air
conditioning was twice as much fun as reaching 25%.
