eBook - Home Inspection Business from A to Z

• Incandescent Light Bulbs - Incandescent light bulbs produce light by passing electricity through a thin filament, which becomes hot and glows brightly. Incandescent light bulbs are less energy efficient than fluorescent lamps, because much of the electrical energy is converted to heat instead of light. The heat produced by these bulbs not only wastes energy, but can also make a building's air-conditioning system work harder and consume more energy.

• Infrared Cameras - Energy contractors use infrared cameras to look at the heat leaking into or out of your house. The infrared camera "sees " the heat and can show"hot spots" where a lot of heat is being lost. This helps to identify the places where your home's energy efficiency can be improved.

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  2876 - Last year, after federally mandated health-related changes to pressure-treated wood's formula, a new recipe proved corrosive to metal connectors. Federal studies have since found no unreasonable risk from the original formula and that adequate sealants can further reduce any potential for adverse health effects. At question was chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a fertilizer compound that also had been used to keep pressure-treated wood from rotting since the 1970s. Unfortunately, along with copper and chromium, the compound also contained arsenic, a known human carcinogen. Readily available at big box warehouse outlets like Home Depot, Lowe's and other hardware and construction material retailers, pressure-treated wood products are commonly used in many outdoor applications, including children's play structures, decks, walkways and fences. After the industry voluntarily bowed to pressure from health and safety officials, replacement preservatives included applications of ammoniacal copper quat, or "ACQ," copper azole and borate -- a new recipe that proved more corrosive to metal than the old formula. That's of particular concern in hurricane, earthquake and other regions where a home's structural integrity is paramount. Read this Nemmar Real Estate Training article at Health, Safety - Air Pollution, Carbon Monoxide, Smoke, Fire

   

• Internal Heating Elements - A feature in dishwashers that allows the machine to heat your hot water to a higher temperature. Although this makes your dishwasher use more energy, it also allows you to reduce your hot water heater's temperature to 120EF, which will save energy.

• Kilowatt-Hour (kWh) - One kilowatt-hour (kWh) is equal to using 1000 watts of electricity for one hour. This is equal to burning a 50-watt light bulb for 20 hours, or roughly equivalent to cooking a pot of rice for an hour. Your utility bill usually shows what you are charged for the kilowatt-hours you use. The average residential rate is 8.3 cents per kWh. A typical U.S. household consumes about 10,000 kWh per year, costing an average of $830 annually.

• Low Emissivity (low-e) Coatings - Emissivity is a measure of how much heat is emitted from an object by radiation. Heat is transferred to and from objects through three processes: conduction, convection, and radiation. For instance, on a hot night, heat will be conducted through a window from the outside, causing the inside pane to become warm. Convection, or natural circulation, of the air in the room past the window will transfer some of that heat into the room. But the window will also radiate heat as infrared waves, which will warm objects throughout the room. This radiative heating is why you can feel the heat of a red-hot piece of metal (for instance, a heating element on an electric stove) from several feet away. Low-emissivity, or low-e, coatings are put on window panes to reduce the amount of heat they give off through radiation. In hot climates, where the outside of the window will typically be hotter than the inside, low-e coatings work best on the interior of the outside window pane. In cold climates, where the inside of the window is typically hotter than the outside, the low-e coatings work best on the inside window pane, on the side that faces toward the outside. To learn more about window coatings, see "Advances in Glazing Materials for Windows," prepared by the U.S. DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse.

• Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) - The total cooling output of a central air-conditioner in British thermal units during its normal usage period for cooling divided by the total electrical energy input in watt-hours during the same period. Test procedure is determined by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute. SEER is a measure of cooling efficiency for air-conditioning products. The higher the SEER rating number, the more energy efficient the unit.

• Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) - The solar heat gain coefficient, also called a shading coefficient, is a measure of how well a window absorbs or reflects heat from the sun. The lower the coefficient, the better the window is at blocking the sun's heat. Windows in hot or temperate climates should have a low SHGC; south-facing windows in cold climates should have a high SHGC. The SHGC is included as part of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) Certification Label.

• Spectrally Selective Coatings- A type of window glazing film that blocks the infrared portion of sunlight while admitting the visible portion. Since the infrared portion of sunlight is the main cause of solar heating, blocking out that portion allows the sun to shine in your window without causing the house to heat up. This is ideal for hot climates, but should not be used in cold climates. On windows with the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) Certification Label, spectrally selective coatings would have a low solar heat gain coefficient and a high visible light transmittance. To learn more about window coatings, see "Advances in Glazing Materials for Windows," prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse.

• Storm Windows - An extra pane of glass or plastic added to a window to reduce air infiltration and boost the insulation value of a window. If you are considering adding storm windows, you should compare the costs to installing new energy efficient windows.

• Surface thermometers - As the name implies, surface thermometers have a temperature probe that can be placed directly on a surface to see what temperature it is. This can help energy contractors evaluate how well heat is passing through your doors, windows, walls, floor, and ceiling. Placed on a window, for instance, it can tell you if the window is close to the room temperature (indicating that it insulates well) or closer to the outside temperature (indicating that it insulates poorly).

• U-value - The U-value, also called the U-factor, is a measure of how well heat flows through an object (thermal conductivity). It is also referred to as the heat transfer coefficient or the coefficient of heat transmission. The U-value is measured by how much heat (Btu) flows through a certain area (a square foot) each hour for a certain temperature difference (°F), so it is measured in Btu/ft2-hr-°F. The U-value is the reciprocal of the R-value: the lower the U-value, the better the insulation value of the material. Many building and insulation products have their U-value indicated on their label. See, for example, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) label. NFRC also has a Certified Products Directory that lists the U-values for more than 30,500 certified products.

• Vapor Barrier - Also called a vapor retarder, this is a material that retards the movement of water vapor through a building element (such as walls, floors, and ceilings) and prevents metals from corroding and insulation and structural wood from becoming damp.

• Whole-House Fan - A large fan used to ventilate your entire house. This is usually located in the highest ceiling in the house, and vents to the attic or the outside. Although whole-house fans are a good way to draw hot air from the house, you must be careful to cover and insulate them during the winter, when they often continue to draw hot air from people's houses.

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