Steve writes: Could you tell me if tinfoil vapour barrier is " legally" considered insulation? I bought a house two years ago and just discovered that there wasn?t any insulation in the walls, only this tinfoil stuff. The sellers lawyer claims this is classified as insulation so the se...
You have all seen, maybe even used the little foam gaskets that are supposed to block the cold air from coming in through the electrical outlets, as you can see my smoke pencil flowing through the outlet in the first photo. The air sealing experts at CanAm Air Sealing showed me how to make t...
On windy days, houses in the Prairies often develop a small frost line on the rug about an inch away from the wall on the north or west side of the house. Here the wind is succeeding in lowering the temperature of the most poorly insulated part of the house -- the floor boards.
In most construct...
Weather-stripping is used to seal air leaks at any opening in the house that moves -- doors, windows, and traps. If you need to be convinced of the necessity of doing a good job of weather-stripping, check out Air Barriers in the search tab above -- or look at your last heating bill.
Much of ...
There are several non-destructive ways that we can see what is going on inside the walls, ceilings and roofs of our homes. Simply watching the melting patterns of a light snow on the roof will tell you where you have insulation and where you have heat losses. In the first photo this was an unheat...
Yes but no. (I thought you'd like that one.)
Aluminum reflectors will turn back RADIATION heat losses into the house, and in fact help to limit heat losses. However, they will only work if there is at least a half-inch air space in front of the reflective surface and the surface remains clean an...
More and more we are seeing tankless water heaters, both for replacing our regular hot water tank and for hot water radiant heating. Do they work? Where did they come from? Are they proven technology or new gadgets?
MOST OF THE WORLD IS TANKLESS
Actually, we may want to ask: "Where have we b...
Fiberglass batts, mineral wool batts and all kinds of rigid foam boards are commonly used to insulate basements both inside and outside.
One of the critical rules when insulating basements on the inside is that there must be no air space between the insulation and the wall. (see no air space beh...
Certain parts of Canada, particularly in the Winnipeg region, have a traditional construction technique that presents serious challenges when you want to insulate a basement -- the ends of the joists are actually embedded in the concrete foundation wall. Chris, from Winnipeg, asked for some f...
An animation on a CD that I produced with the Reader's Digest several years ago showed clearly why you should insulate the entire wall all the way down to the floor. No, you won't freeze anything outside, as the important footings are below the frost depth anyway and there is always some heat los...
