Dana Bostick

As a Certified Infrared Thermographer, in addition to my normal moisture leak detection services, I am often called on to scan electrical systems for faults and incipient problems.

Similar to when a person becomes ill and runs a fever, and electrical system will alert you to problems thermally with overheated connections, wiring and devices. These thermal anomalies seen in electrical panels and wiring systems will quickly point you at problem areas like bad connections or overloaded conductors.

Frequently these overheat conditions go unnoticed until there's an actual fire and the subsequent investigation points to the cause of the fire as being in overloaded or overheated electrical circuit. This is not the best time to discover the problem!

Recently I completed a full electrical system scan on a large commercial building in downtown Los Angeles. This building was constructed in 1927 and not surprisingly, some of the original electrical equipment and and old cloth insulated wiring was still in place and actively being used. Can you say fire hazard?

This electrical system certainly was with this old, deteriorated insulation on the electcal wires and glass fused subpanels that had oversize 30 amp fuses installed in the place of 15 amp fuses.

This practice essentially turns the wiring itself into a fuse! Since the fuse itself doesn't blow and break the circuit and stop the current flow, the wires themselves just overheat to the point of insulation failure and a short. This often burns the wire in two, breaking the circuit. Unfortunately it doesn't always burn in two and break the circuit. Instead, it just shorts to the electrical conduit in which it is run and turns that into a live conductor. Woe be it for the person that walks up and touches this conduit or electrical panel while they are grounded. At that point their body becomes the conductor. How fast can you dance?

Here are a few photographs of some of the things I discovered during this inspection:

These are only a few of the many issues I located during this inspection. It only takes ONE to burn down a building!

Think about having your home or business thermally scanned for problems and avoid a nasty surprise.

Contact Infrared@HomeInspection-LosAngeles.com to schedule an inspection in the Los Angeles area.

Yes, summer is coming. Here in Southern California, we have already had a little taste or two of it. If you are like me, you are not looking forward to those big energy bills that come with keeping your house cool enough to live in.

Like many of you may do, I work out of my home. With four computers, two printers, and various other heat producing electrical items, my office would soon turn into a sauna if I didn't run the air conditioning. The downside of running it is a large increase in energy use.

First, a little information about energy transfer to think about.

The Laws of Thermodynamics: Essentially, nature abhors imbalance. Energy will always attempt to equalize when an imbalance exists. A higher state of energy, in our case heat, a higher energy state, will always move towards cold, a lower state of energy. Simply put, heat moves to cold. Energy, in this case heat energy, moves or transfers in one of several ways:

• Convection: Convection occurs primarily due to the difference in density of the medium, be it liquid or a gas like air. Warm air (less dense) rises. Cold air (more dense) settles or sinks.
  
• Conduction: Conduction is the process of energy transfer through solid materials. Think of a cold interior metal window frame when it's freezing outside.
  
• Radiation: Radiation occurs when energy transfer is from a solid material into the surrounding space. Think of the heat that you feel radiating off a hot object.
  

All of these methods of heat transfer interrelate and may be acting at the same time. How does this apply to heating and cooling your home? Can you do anything about this? Yes, in many cases you can. There are several low-cost and even no-cost things that you can do to reduce your energy consumption and the bills that go with it.

The first thing one needs to do is to actually be aware of the environment of your home. Solar heat gain is one of the biggest factors we all face. Take the time to observe just how the sun shines on your house at various parts of the day. Make note of the window areas in the parts of the house of the sun shines upon. Notice the angle and area of shadows or shading on your house's exterior walls and roo produced by nearby objects such as other buildings trees or awnings. As the seasons change, the angle at which the sunlight strikes your house also changes. During the fall and winter months the sun's angle is relatively low compared to the horizon. In the summer, just the opposite is true, the sun's angle is quite high. You can take advantage of the phenomenon in a number of ways.

• Trees, especially deciduous varieties (those that lose their leaves in the wintertime) can be an effective solar control method. During the winter months, when the sun angle is low, the leafless trees allow the sun to shine on and into your house providing free solar heating. Free is good, right? During the spring and summer months when these trees now have their leaves and the sun angle is high, these trees provide wonderful shade that blocks much of the solar heat gain that you don't want .
  
• Awnings: Did you ever wonder why many of the older homes you see have awnings? They weren't just an architectural device put there for the "look". They actually served a purpose! A properly designed and placed awning takes advantage of the high summer sun angle and blocks much of the solar gain that would be impacting the interior of the house were they not there. Awnings can do the job effectively without impeding the view from the window. Nice!
  
• Window treatments: If you can't take advantage of nice mature trees and you don't like the look of awnings you may still be able to do something effective to cut down on the solar gain. Some ways are more effective than others. The most preferable way to block the greenhouse effect from heating up your rooms is to apply a "radiant barrier film" on the inside of the windows. This will stop some but not all of the solar heat gain and still allow you to get natural lighting and to be able to see out of the window. Another way is to install "thermal" blinds or shades on the insides of the Windows. Curtains can also help if you remember to close them.
  

Changing your habits. Lighting and equipment: Were you aware that most large commercial office buildings need to run air-conditioning systems year-round due to the heat load produced by occupancy and operating equipment like lighting, computers, printers and copy machines. It is for this reason that most current commercial energy codes do not permit incandescent lighting these days. Switching out your existing incandescent lighting for compact fluorescent lighting can go a long way towards reducing the heat load. Turning off lights in rooms that you are not actively occupying or better yet, installing timers or motion detector devices to turn them off after a period of time. Turning off electrical equipment that is not being used will also help. Most of today's computer equipment, printers and copy machines have an "auto sleep" mode that puts them into standby after a set period of time of inactivity. These time periods are often adjustable.

Spend a little money to save a lot!

• Insulation: Properly insulating your attic, if you have one, can generate substantial energy saving. For a very graphic illustration of this concept, visit my web page at MagicLeakFinders.com. Or here: Thermal-Diagnostics. There you'll see several thermal images of the ceilings around my home. The attic is insulated but it was poorly done (this is a rental) and not as effective as it should be. The "hot spots" are radiating a substantial amount of heat into this space at the same time I'm paying to cool it! Not very cost effective.

• Weather-stripping: Preventing infiltration/ex-filtration of conditioned air is another way to save energy. Having loose fitting doors and windows that are not properly sealed is allowing the cool air provided by your air conditioner to escape and the hot air from outside to get in.
  
• Replacement windows: While this option is a bit more expensive and brings with it a longer ROI, over time replacing old, leaky and inefficient single pane windows with new wood or vinyl double pane windows with "low-E" glass can save on your heating and cooling costs.
  
• High efficiency heating/cooling system: This option can be one of the most expensive but can realize substantial savings over a longer period of time. If you are in an older home that has an older system installed, it is consuming a lot more energy to heat and cool your home than is necessary. Replacing these old inefficient systems with new high SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating) units will save a lot of energy use.
  

I hope this article will open a few eyes and point you down the path of energy savings and lower utility bills. It's not that hard and "picking the low hanging fruit" options such as landscaping, weather-stripping, window coverings, change of habits, and replacing inefficient heat generating incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lighting don't cost all that much and, in combination, may generate a big savings on your utility bills this summer.

If you would like help evaluating your residence or office for potential energy savings please contact me via my websites. As a general contractor, with over 30 years in the construction trades, I understand how buildings work. I can help yours work for you and maybe save you some money at the same time.

Dana Bostick - Certified Thermographer at Thermal-Diagnostics & MagicLeakFinders

ARE YOU WASTING MONEY ON ENERGY?

I am a General Contractor, a Certified Level 1 Infrared Thermographer and Professional Home Inspector. The following article comes from personal experience.

With energy costs soaring, every effort should be made to conserve the heating or cooling that you pay for. Energy efficiency is high on the list for saving money. Is your home energy efficient? Have you recently upgraded things like weather stripping, added dual pane windows, attic insulation etc? How do you know if you actually got what you paid for?

I live in a rental house in Southern California. This house was remodeled about 5-6 years ago before I moved in, including full attic insulation. Or so I thought! I have looked in the attic and there is visible insulation up there. Due to the construction of the roof, it is hard to see all the areas from within the attic itself. As it turns out, it was poorly installed but I did not know this until I did a Thermal Scan of the walls and ceilings on a 100 degree day.

Last summer we experienced a triple digit heat wave several times. (NOTE: Thermodynamics says that heat always moves toward cold.) I was shocked! They missed so many places it was ridiculous! I was loosing money trying to cool the house while the overheated attic was pumping heat right back into the living space. The thermal infrared scan made this very evident.

Office ceiling in “visible” light. Thermal scan of same ceiling.

Note the difference. The A/C thermostat was set for 78 degrees. Some parts of this ceiling had a surface temperature of 98 degrees.(the bright yellow areas in the thermal scan) The places where the insulation was installed were only <88 degrees. This means that, while I’m trying to cool off the house, I have areas of my ceiling acting like 100 degree radiators, pumping heat right back in. Do you think this might affect my energy bill? You BET!

Have you just had new insulation installed? Do you need more insulation? A Thermal Scan will tell you right away. Many insulation installers are sloppy and do a poor job. Hold their feet to the fire with the proof of a Thermal Scan to show where they did a poor job and force them to do it right. Get what you paid for!

In my opinion, blown-in type loose fill insulation gives better coverage than often poorly installed batt type. Blown in has its issues too. Attics need ventilation. This is usually accomplished with ridge line vents, soffit vents or gable end vents to provide flow through ventilation. The rising hot air in the attic area will exit through the high vents and draw in cooler air through the lower vents at the gable ends of soffits. The blown-in insulation can be improperly placed so as to block the soffit vents thus stopping the air flow. Sheet metal barriers are typically used to hold the insulation back from the vents to allow the proper air flow. (TIP: install a thermostatically controlled power attic fan. These can drop the attic temperature by 20+ degrees on a hot day.)

Another problem area for both batt and blown-in is “can” lights, often called "recessed lighting" in the ceiling and attic access hatches or pull-down ladders. Not all can lights are designed to be covered with insulation. Covering these can be a fire hazard and I often call this out during my home inspections. Sheet metal barriers are used around the part of the fixture that protrudes up into the unconditioned space in the attic to hold the insulation back 12 inches. This leads to un-insulated spaces around the can lights leaking heat into the conditioned space.

Uninsulated "can" light (the light is OFF) Uninsulated attic access

Back to square one! The only fix for this is to replace the cans with a style that can be covered with insulation. The attic access can be handled by building a light weight “box” out of rigid foam board that can be installed over the access sort of like a shoe box lid.

To see how your house stacks up in terms of energy efficiency and for suggested solutions contact a Thermographer or Energy Auditor in your area. In Los Angeles area, contact Thermal-Diagnostics

Some very inexpensive modifications can pay big dividends in terms of energy loss. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on expensive replacement windows, high efficiency heating and cooling systems and the like right off the bat. You will get a faster return on your investment by doing these little things first.

• Add insulation to the attic. At least an “R-38” rating should be attained. Weather strip doors and windows (or replace the old stuff that has failed or is damaged)
• Have your Heating and Cooling system duct work checked for leakage. (This is a big one. Most old systems and many “New” systems are poorly installed or just deteriorated and leaking)
• Let Mother Nature help: Consider the angle of the sun in different seasons. In the summer, the sun is high as it passes from east to west. If you have south facing windows (and walls) consider planting trees or shrubs that provide shade to these areas during the summer. If you live in colder climates, use plantings that lose their leaves in the winter to allow that sun, (that is now lower in the sky) to help heat your house.
• Consider adding one of the new, “thermal barrier” type roof coatings to lower the heat gain in the attic.

Contact a local Thermographer and have a Thermal Scan of your interior walls ceilings, doors and windows to locate problem areas and have them re-check after any corrective work is done to assure that it actually did what it was intended to do.

Dana Bostick President of Thermal-Diagnostics.com, a subsidiary of True Professionals, Inc. a Home Inspection company

Yes, summer is coming. Here in Southern California, we have already had a little taste or two of it.

If you are like me, you are not looking forward to those big energy bills that come with keeping your house cool enough to live in. Like many of you may do, I work out of my home. With four computers, two printers, and various other heat producing electrical items, my office would soon turn into a sauna if I didn't run the air conditioning. The downside of running it is a large increase in energy use.

A little information about energy transfer to think about. The laws of Thermodynamics.

Essentially, nature abhors imbalance. Energy will always attempt to equalize when an imbalance exists. A higher state of energy, in our case heat, will always move towards a lower state of energy, cold. Simply put, heat moves to cold.

Energy, in this case heat energy, moves or transfers in one of several ways:

• Convection: Convection occurs primarily due to the difference in density of the medium, be it liquid or a gas like air. Warm air (less dense) rises. Cold air (more dense) settles or sinks.
• Conduction: Conduction is the process of energy transfer through solid materials. Think of a cold interior metal window frame when it's freezing outside.
• Radiation: Radiation occurs when energy transfer is from a solid material into the surrounding space. Think of the heat that you feel radiating off a hot object.

How does this apply to heating and cooling your home? Can you do anything about this?

Yes, in many cases you can. There are several low-cost/no-cost things that you can do to reduce your energy consumption and the bills that go with it.

The first thing one needs to do is to actually be aware of the environment of your home.

Solar heat gain is one of the biggest enemies we all face. Take the time to observe just how the sun shines on your house at various parts of the day. Make note of the window areas in the parts of the house of the sun shines on. Notice the angle of shadows or shading on your house's exterior walls and roof.

As the seasons change, the angle at which the sunlight strikes your house also changes. During the fall and winter months the sun's angle is relatively low compared to the horizon. In the summer, just the opposite is true, the sun's angle is quite high. You can take advantage of the phenomenon in a number of ways.

• Trees, especially deciduous varieties (those that lose their leaves in the wintertime) can be an effective solar control method. During the winter months, when the sun angle is low, the leafless trees allow the sun to shine on and into your house providing free solar heating. Free is good, right? During the spring and summer months when these trees now have their leaves and the sun angle is high, these trees provide wonderful shade that blocks much of the solar heat gain that you don't want .
  
• Awnings: Did you ever wonder why many of the older homes you see have awnings? They weren't just an architectural device put there for the "look". They actually served a purpose! A properly designed and placed awning takes advantage of the high summer sun angle and blocks much of the solar gain that would be impacting the interior of the house were they not there. Awnings can do the job effectively without impeding the view from the window. Nice!
• Window treatments: If you can't take advantage of nice mature trees and you don't like the look of awnings you may still be able to do something effective to cut down on the solar gain. Some ways are more effective than others. The most preferable way to block the greenhouse effect from heating up your rooms is to apply a "radiant barrier film" on the inside of the windows. This will stop some but not all of the solar heat gain and still allow you to get natural lighting and to be able to see out of the window. Another way is to install "thermal" blinds or shades on the insides of the Windows. Curtains can also help if you remember to close them.

Changing your habits.

• Lighting and equipment: Were you aware that most large commercial office buildings need to run air-conditioning systems year-round due to the heat load produced by occupancy and operating equipment like lighting, computers, printers and copy machines. It is for this reason that most current commercial energy codes do not permit incandescent lighting these days. Switching out your existing incandescent lighting for compact fluorescent lighting can go a long way towards reducing the heat load. Turning off lights in rooms that you are not actively occupying or better yet, installing timers or motion detector devices to turn them off after a period of time. Turning off electrical equipment that is not being used will also help. Most of today's computer equipment, printers and copy machines have an "auto sleep" mode that puts them into standby after a set period of time of inactivity. These time periods are often adjustable.

Spend a little money to save a lot!

• Insulation: Properly insulating your attic, if you have one, can generate substantial energy saving. For a very graphic illustration of this concept, visit my webpage at Magic Leak Finders. Or here: Thermal-Diagnostics. These are thermal images of the ceilings around my home. The attic is insulated but it was poorly done and not as effective as it should be. The "hot spots" are radiating a substantial amount of heat into this space at the same time I'm paying to cool it! Not very cost effective.
  
• Weatherstripping: Preventing infiltration/ex-filtration of conditioned air is another way to save energy. Having loose fitting doors and windows that are not properly sealed is allowing the cool air provided by your air conditioner to escape and the hot air from outside to get in.
• Replacement windows: While this option is a bit more expensive and brings with it a longer ROI, over time replacing old, leaky and inefficient single pane windows with new wood or vinyl double pane windows with "low-E" glass can save on your heating and cooling costs.
• High efficiency heating/cooling system: This option can be one of the most expensive but can realize substantial savings over a longer period of time. If you are in an older home that has an older system installed, it is consuming a lot more energy to heat and cool your home than is necessary. Replacing these old inefficient systems with new high SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating) units will save a lot of energy use.

I hope this article will open a few eyes and point you down the path of energy savings and lower utility bills. It's not that hard and "picking the low hanging fruit" options such as landscaping, weatherstripping, window coverings, change of habits, and replacing inefficient heat generating incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent lighting don't cost all that much and, in combination, may generate a big savings on your utility bills this summer. If you would like help evaluating your residence or office for potential energy savings please contact me via the above listed websites.

Thanks

Dana Bostick

Certified Level 1 Thermographer at http://www.thermal-diagnostics.com

The True Cost of Owning a Home

Whether you own you home free and clear or are still paying for it, there are ongoing costs involved that need to be budgeted for. The following are a few expenses that you may need to consider:

Unavoidable expenses that will probably last forever

• Property Taxes; Some homeowners pay their property taxes as part of their house payment every month. Called "PITI" or Principle, Interest, Taxes & Insurance, this cost is buried in the payment. Unlike a mortgage, the taxes will last for as long as you own the home, even if you have paid it off. According to the Tax Foundation, the average property tax bill in the United States is $1897 per year or $158 per month. These taxes are often deductable from income taxes so there is some "payback" for them.
• Homeowners Association Fees; These fees vary but the average is usually about $100 per month. Mine were over $200 on a condo I used to own. These fees cover the costs of maintenance of the common property, including fencing, pools, recreation facilities, paving etc. They also fund a "Reserve Fund" which is s requirement here in California. A reserve fund covers the projected costs of replacement of commonly owned assets like roof systems, fencing, paving, and pool or recreation equipment as they reach the end or their useful life.
• Homeowners Insurance; these costs can run $100-$150 per month or more depending on the value of the property, deductibles and type of coverage.

Mission-critical expenses to maintain a livable condition in the home.

• Repairs, maintenance and replacement; There are a number of "systems" in every home that need ongoing maintenance in order to keep them functioning and get the most use and lifetime from them.
• The heating and cooling systems require bi-yearly maintenance for both longevity and efficiency. Budget about $200 per year for this on a newer system and as much as much as $250 per month set-aside for replacement of an older system
• Roof maintenance; Roof systems need maintenance too. You roof should be checked every year for loose shingles, damaged flashings, debris build-up in the valleys and behind chimneys, loose or leaking gutters and downspouts. Roof replacement is usually called for every 15-30 years depending on the quality of the roofing materials used and the maintenance it has received. Budget $25 per month if you have a newer roof, more if it is older and you have not set anything aside for this expense yet.
• Painting; Trim may need scraping and repainting every 5 years or so to keep it from deteriorating. This can be a DIY project or expect to pay a few thousand dollars to have it done professionally.
• Exterior door replacement; Painting and proper maintenance can extend the life of an exterior door for several decades. If it is not done on a regular basis, expect to pay anywhere from $300 to over $2000 to have it replaced.
• Tree maintenance and removal; This is an expense that many people fail to account for. If you have large trees on your property, they are both a blessing for their shade and beauty and a liability if they become diseased and need to be removed to avoid the danger of them crashing down in injuring someone or other property. Big trees are not a DIY project and professionals can charge several thousand dollars to remove a big tree.
• Yard work; This may be something you do yourself but there is still the cost of tools, fertilizer, replacement plants, water, sprinkler systems etc. Depending on the size of your property and the complexity of the landscaping, a professional service can cost from $50 to $2-300 per month.

Decor related expenses:

• Exterior painting and caulking.
• Interior painting.
• Furniture upgrades or additions.
• Lighting fixtures.

Additional expenses:

• Alarm systems
• Pest control.
• Power washing exterior and window cleaning.
• Driveway repairs/repaving.
• Plumbing and electrical repairs.

Obviously, you will not spend all this money every month. These numbers are based on doing your own personal "reserve study" to asses the current condition of your property and the expected lifetime of various components. Budgeting for replacements of major systems is better than incurring a huge hit to your finances in an emergency. Not setting aside funds for maintenance and replacement is foolhardy. Don't be the "Grasshopper"!

Buying a new house can defer the expenses for several years, but things still deteriorate and wear out and will eventually need to be handled. Better to have the funds to do it rather than scrambling to find the money to replace that heating system in the middle of winter! Murphy's Law is alive and well. If anything can go wrong, it will. If several things can go wrong, the worst possible one will fail at the worst time.

Homeownership costs go far beyond the basic mortgage, taxes and insurance. A good number to figure in is about 30% of your monthly budget should be earmarked for this. Other experts recommend setting aside 1% of the value of the house each year to cover these "hidden" costs.

Inspector Dana

www.DIYHomeInspection.blogspot.com