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Bell Products, Inc. in Expert Contributions

Video: Ways to Improve Energy Efficiency - video transcript

There are many ways to make your home more energy efficient. Today, we're in Napa with Diamond Certified expert contributor Todd Lubos of Bell Products to learn more. Well, with regards to Energy Efficiency, California as a state is mandating more Energy Efficiency requirements for the home and residences. So what we find is taking a whole home approach is very important, and not just focusing on change outs. A common misconception these days is that Windows is a really good target to go after to change those out. Get double pain High e glass, those are good to change out and they certainly are Energy Efficiency increase for the home, but they're not the only thing that you can do. In fact, there are more things that are under the control of the mechanical system - your furnace and air conditioner - that cause pressure changes within the house and therefore duct sealing. Duct work should be looked at. Duct work over the years can degrade, they can lose insulation. If you have rodent problems, they can tear insulation off, those sorts of things and cause leakage in the duct work that wasn't there the day the house was new. And let's face it, a lot of our installed base in California is 30 to 40 to 50 years old and duct systems just don't last that long. So air sealing and inspections of duct systems are important. Wall switches and plugs in the house, those weren't used to not be required by code to be air sealed like the new standards are for California, and therefore that's access straight to your crawl space or to your attic, allowing infiltration when the furnace is running, bringing that cold unfiltered air into your home and those can be very important to seal up as well. Air sealing between wall gaps and ceiling to wall spaces also baseboard spaces can be very important. We think that that's sealed because we've got a nice piece of trim on the baseboard there, maybe some crown molding, but that's not always the case and a lot of air can be forced in and out of those spaces, again unfiltered from unsightly areas like your crawl space and your attic. To learn more from local top rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified expert reports at experts. Diamond Certified. org.