Historic Home Renovations with Spray Foam Insulation Reduce Utilities by Half

Spray Foam Insulation with Historic Home Renovations

First off, Historic Homeowners I have the utmost respect for your interest in either Spray Foam Insulation, Wall Foam Insulation, Crawl Space Encapsulations, Solar Energy, "Green" Roofing, or any other Energy Saving Home Improvement. We know the kind of power bills, historic homeowners, can see in the Cold of Winter and the Heat of Summer.  For most customers in our service area its the heat, and the air conditioning running all the time, in their beautiful Southern Historic Homes. We feel your pain on an almost daily basis, with most of our Foam Insulation Service Customer Base being historic homeowners, excluding commercial spray foam applications.  Well this blog is here to let you know there is help for your power bill in a Historic Home.  As a fan of construction, history, architecture, and floor plans of historic homes, however we also know that most in the South Carolina, and North Carolina areas are big and open, with little or no insulation left in the walls at all. Most of our Historic Home Renovation Customers are also in homes with steep pitched roofs, and lots of attic space; which is great for storage, but killer on your utility bills. In the peak of summer's heat when we walk into many Historic Home Attics, its like walking into a sauna, and sometimes over 140 degrees in the attic space.  This heat packed in your attic is keeping your A/C running all the time, because the heat in coming into the house, even with traditional fiberglass insulation.  Another thing we often notice in Historic Home Renovations we do, is they have big crawl spaces, basements, and lots of moisture.  This is condensation from the hot air under your home rising to meet the cool air falling inside the home, creating condensation. For Energy Saving Home Improvement contractors, this is an obvious sign of energy loss wherever we have mixing temperatures of over 20 degrees or more.  If your a historic home owner reading this, and all of what I have said is true of your home, then please read further.

The reason why we wanted to write a blog to the Historic Homeowner, is to let them know that owning a Historic Home, can be a lot cheaper with Spray Foam Insulation.  Another reason we wanted to specifically target the Historic Homeowner, is that most buy Historic Homes with the ideas of renovating that Historic Home.  The advantages that Spray Foam Insulation, Wall Foam Insulation, and Crawl Space Encapsulation, is that with the  Large attic spaces and Big Basements, installation is usually fast and easy, and Energy Savings and benefits are being realized within 24 hours. The first thing customers notice after installation of Spray Foam Insulation is that the temperature in the home is a more comfortable level, and that their HVAC systems are running almost  half of the time they were before installation.  Then the next thing they notice is the power bill being cut almost nearly in half after having our foam insulation systems put in their homes.

Why Should Homeowners Choose Spray Foam Insulation over Traditions Fiberglass?

1. The Main Reason - is the Higher Energy & Utility Savings Foam Insulation Systems provide over traditional fiberglass insulation
2. Retrofitted Installation - All of our foam insulation systems can be retrofitted into historic homes, with little or no changes made to the Structural Elements of the home. Sure you can install fiberglass in your Attic space or crawl space for a little less, but What about the walls? Wall Foam Insulation is the only insulation system on the market that can be retrofitted into walls without damage to siding or drywall/plaster. Traditional Fiberglass Insulation isn't going to take care of the moisture in the crawl space basement area either. Foam Insulation are the top retrofitted insulation systems on the market.
3. Going "Green" - Spray Foam Insulation, Wall Foam Insulation, & Crawl Space Encapsulation are all "Green" building products, and friendly to the environment.
4. "Energy Star" Rated - Retrofitted Wall Foam Insulation Systems & Spray Foam Insulation are Energy Star Rated Products, meaning overall improved efficiency of your Historic Home.
5. Tax Credits - The government is offering up to $500 tax credit on Foam Insulation Systems & other "Energy Star" Rated Products & "Green" Building Products.
6. Improved Overall Comfort Levels of Living Space - Spray Foam Insulation offers a unique "building envelop" system that can not be created with fiberglass insulation, balancing temperatures better inside the home.
7. Add Real Estate Value - Insulation is a growing concern of potential home buyers & offering potential home buyers energy savings, it improves the overall saleability of your  home. We know Historic Home Renovation Hobbyist, who are just addicted to renovating Historic Homes, and have seen higher turnover ratio's on homes with Spray Foam Insulation vs. homes with Traditional Fiberglass Insulation.
8. Lifetime Product - All Foam Insulation Systems are lifetime products, with so little R-Value reduction, that after 50 years Spray Foam still doubles new traditional fiberglass insulation in energy savings.  Never deal with the sag of fiberglass, and re-installation cost of fiberglass; its one and done with foam insulation.
9. Product that Pays You Back - Payback in Historic Homes on Spray Foam Insulation vary from 3-5 years, so in 5 years or less, foam insulation is paying you back in utility savings, taking you into the next historic home renovation project you intend on accomplishing.

If you want more information on any of the products we have described in this blog, please read thru our other blog post for more detailed information.  If you are in the North Carolina or South Carolina area, and interested in adding Spray Foam Insulation, Wall Foam Insulation, or Crawl Space Encapsulation Service to your next Historic Home Renovation list, then give us a call today at 706-951-0158 for a free consultation.  We have a portfolio of historic homes which we have installed spray foam insulation, and if you need references, many of our customers have sold our potential customers on spray foam insulation for us their so pleased with the overall experience and expertise of Retro-Solutions Construction.  Make sure to check out our website for more contact information and other Historic Home Renovation services we offer. Stay tuned to our blog for more information on Energy Saving Home Improvements for the Historic Homeowner.

http://www.scroofingcontractors.com

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Retro-Solutions Construction Company Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 706-951-0158 http://www.scroofingcontractors.com Energy Efficient Roofing Systems | Spray Foam Insulation | Wall Foam Insulation | Crawl Space Encapsulations | Solar Energy Powered Hot Water Heaters | Solar Energy | Energy Monitoring | Standing Seam Metal Roofs | Tile Roofs | Slate Roofs | Historic Home Retrofits | Historic Home Renovations |

Banana Strawberry Bread

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

A few weeks ago, I traveled to southern Illinois. For most of the six-hour journey, our train chugged through open prairie. Golden rods layered the fields and, hawks dipped into sight, slicing the air with their broad, scalloped wings. I nodded in and out of sleep soon after we left Chicago. By the time the conductor announced "Effingham, Effingham, Illinois!" I could no longer sleep. I sat up and started scribbling a list of things I wanted to do during my brief visit. It began with picking strawberries.

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

As a child, I spent summers catching army green frogs and stirring up concoctions with wild mint and water from the garden hose. At dusk, my friend Annette and I would track lightening bugs with empty glass jars, devising new navigational strategies when the sky turned black enough to see the stars.

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

During summer vacation, Mrs. Barbay would take us strawberry picking. At the farm, we would hop on to a flatbed waiting in the parking lot and dangle our feet over the edge. Once all the U-pickers had boarded, the truck inched toward the berries, passing a barn, tractors, and, maybe, a few cows. Soon rows of strawberry plants appeared. We would hoist ourselves to the ground, cushioned by a light layering of hay, and spend the morning hovered over the plants, pulling back their leaves in search of the colorful, low-lying fruit.

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

When I left Chicago, the strawberry plants in the community garden had just unfurled their leaves. It would be several weeks before they grew delicate, daisy-like flowers and even longer before any fruit appeared. In the region of the Bible Belt where I grew up, the strawberry farms would be open for the first round of picking. All winter long, I had longed for the floral sweetness of June bearing strawberries. With a little luck, I would be able to enjoy a bowlful alongside a plate of fried Catfish and some sweet iced tea.

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

BANANA STRAWBERRY BREAD

When I tracked down the list of fruits that contain the most pesticides, I learned that strawberries are part of the Dirty Dozen. So be sure to wash them thoroughly before you use them or buy organic strawberries. Do the same with lemons.

Also, try to use strawberries as soon as possible. If you need to store them for a day or two, lay them out in a single layer and refrigerate them. Be sure to throw out moldy berries to keep mold from spreading.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup strawberries, finely diced

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

6 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together strawberries, bananas, lemon zest, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla.

Carefully mix banana-strawberry mixture into dry ingredients until flour just disappears. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake until bread is golden brown, about an hour. Cool for at least 15 minutes on wire rack.

Susan Pachikara (COPYRIGHT 2011)

Energy Monitoring Systems & How They Help to Lower Power Bills

Energy Monitoring Systems & How They Help to Lower Power Bills

Let's first start off with describing what a Home Energy Monitoring System is, and how it is installed in your home to help you reduce energy consumption, thus lowering power bills. There are a variety of different manufacturer's and models of Home Energy Management Systems, and they vary in options, but they all perform the same function, and that's Energy Management.  Most all your home energy management systems will have a measuring tranmitting unit, which is the piece that attaches to your circuit board; then a gateway system of some sort, to send the wireless signal to your home computer.  It's pretty simple, but we recommend having a professional install anything to a breaker box, plus configuring the IP and Gateway is tricky for the inexperienced. Once they monitoring device is installed to the board, software is installed on your computer to get the readings off the device in the breaker box, with up to the minute stats of how much power you are using in your home, at every outlet in your home.  This enables the homeowner to see if old appliances are consuming too much energy, indicating bad appliances; or if the little red light on the DVD player is consuming a lot more energy then you thought.  Either way, it allows homeowners to identify unneeded electricity consumption.  Here are some of the benefits homeowners have seen from installing an energy monitoring device into their homes.

• See Where Power is Used and Wasted - monitor outlets, appliances, electronics
• Monitor Appliances Performance and Health - Indicates poor performing appliances
• Keep Your Family Safe - Mobile User Interface can tell if an appliance was left on or not.
• Lower your Utility Bills by up to 25% - lowers utilities by eliminating wasted power usage
• Use the Monitoring System on Your Terms - Cut the system on or off whenever you please.

Energy Management Systems are one of the most affordable "Green" Building Products for homeowners on the market today.  If your looking for control over your power usage, you need a energy management system from Retro Solutions Construction Company.  Get a Free Estimate in South Carolina on installation of a Energy Monitoring System here:

Call Dan at: 706-951-0158 or visit on the web at: http://www.scroofingcontractors.com 

We hope this blog has been informative and that  homeowners across the country will take advantage of this simple Energy Saving Home Improvement, that not only saves on utility bills, but better for the enviroment.  Stay tuned for more post to our blog on Energy Saving Home Improvements, and thanks for reading. 

Retro-Solutions Construction Company Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 706-951-0158 http://www.scroofingcontractors.com Energy Efficient Roofing Systems | Spray Foam Insulation | Wall Foam Insulation | Crawl Space Encapsulations | Solar Energy Powered Hot Water Heaters | Solar Energy | Energy Monitoring | Standing Seam Metal Roofs | Tile Roofs | Slate Roofs | Historic Home Retrofits |