Bringing Home Savings #4: Clean filters and spray foam seals add up to savings

Josh Silver has two more simple home projects for those wanting to save energy and money: Caring for furnace and heat pump filters, and using spray foam to seal a common household air leak.

Silver has been taking CBC P.E.I. along on his journey toward a more energy-efficient home, starting with an energy audit and making improvements ever since.

At the end of the series, he is going to add up how much money and time he has spent — and what the savings have been.

• Bringing Home Savings #3: Seal the leaks and soak up the sunshine
• Energy efficiency loans to be made available for Charlottetown, Stratford residents

Cleaner furnace filters

Silver said homeowners should be changing their furnace filter every three to six months. 

He said the filters cost between $2 and $8, depending on the size, and are available at most hardware stores.

"They're very easy to pull out and put in. Just like a book on a shelf — it's quite easy " Silver said. 

"Everyone's a little bit different, but if you look at the owner's manual, you can find out exactly what is required. If you don't have the owner's manual, you can always look online."

Silver said changing the furnace filter regularly has multiple benefits. 

"Basically what that's doing is reducing dust and pollen in the air, which is significant for all of us, especially those that have people that are allergic in their homes," Silver said.

"It's also reducing the wear and tear on the machine, because the furnace is pushing really hard to try and get through that clogged filter…If it's a clean filter, it doesn't have to work as hard."

Silver has a pro tip: Use your camera to record the filter's orientation as you pull it out, so that you can put the new one in correctly. 

He also suggests taking a photo of the kind of filter you already have, so that you can be sure you are buying the correct replacement.

Clean those heat pump filters

Silver said regular cleaning of the filters in a heat pump can also generate savings.

" As a homeowner with zero experience, we can realize about a 10- to 20-per-cent efficiency," Silver said.

"We're saving that on wear and tear of the equipment, and we're also saving that on getting more energy-efficient heat. We're getting more bang for our buck."

Silver said once the access panel on the heat pump has been opened, the filters pop out so that you can just slide them out. 

Our CBC crew watched as he cleaned them at the sink, removing all the dust and grime. 

You don't put them back into the heat pump until they are totally dry.

Another pro tip: Silver programs a once-a-month reminder into his phone calendar to make sure he never misses a filter cleaning.

Silver warns homeowners not to do any maintenance on the part of the heat pump unit outside the house. 

He said that section of the unit needs a professional's attention, because of the high voltage electricity involved.

Spray foam fix 

On another front, Silver tackled a new project on his air leakage checklist with the help of some spray foam. 

The energy audit he had done earlier in the year showed that, when all of his air leaks locations are mentally added up, they form an area equivalent to the size of a standard piece of paper.

"If you took all the pinholes, and all the problems I have all over my house, and combined them into one hole, this shows how much air leakage I have," Silver said.  

One of the biggest gaps in many homes is under the sink, around the drainage pipe.

"Probably 50 per cent of our listeners will see that under their sink — or sinks, plural — there will be a hole punched into the wall where the drainage pipe goes," Silver said.

"Almost always, nothing is done about that, so that's a wide-open hole."

He uses his paper prop to demonstrate. 

"In my case, I have a hole about the size of my fist, so compare that fist to this sheet of paper. That's about a tenth of my problem," Silver said.

Silver said a can of spray foam is about $20. It's important to choose the low-expansion type, not high expansion.

"High expansion makes a really big mess really quick. You want to avoid that. You want low expansion," he said.

He also recommended having a container of acetone or nail polish remover on hand to melt the foam and clear the applicator if it gets jammed while you are using it. 

"You could just put a few drips down the nose, and it melts it all out and then it's good for another use," Silver said.

"You're probably only going to use a little bit of this for my sink, a few squirts. So I want to be able to use that in the future."

Silver's pro tip on spray foam: Spray it with the can upside down. 

"What that does is put all the chemical in the bottom, and the propellant at the top, and it pushes out the chemical where we want it," Silver said.

His other tip: Don't touch the spray foam for 24 hours after application, to clean off any excess, or you risk creating a big mess.

"When it's dry, it's very user-friendly. When it's wet, it makes a big, big mess and you can see those smears that will be on your wall forever," Silver said.

"So you want to avoid that, avoid the temptation to touch it. Let it sit for 24 hours and then come back and you can break it right off." 

In our next episode, Josh Silver will talk about programmable thermostats, and better sealing for doors and windows.

  Note: As well as being a homeowner in search of savings, Josh Silver is the learning manager for the heritage retrofit carpentry program at Holland College. 

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