Dave Hoh's Home Comfort & Energy Experts Before & After Photos

During our free home evaluation in Toms River, NJ, we examined the attic of a ranch-style home. The attic lacked proper air sealing, had insulation gaps, and insufficient insulation, leading to cold drafts in winter and uncomfortably warm rooms in summer, along with higher energy bills. To address these issues, we sealed the attic floor and installed cellulose insulation to achieve an optimal R-value of R-60. This comprehensive upgrade ensures better insulation, significantly enhancing comfort and energy efficiency for the homeowner.

In Toms River, NJ, a homeowner looking to cut energy costs called us after an energy audit. During our free evaluation, we found inadequate insulation, an unsealed attic, leaky ducts, and insulation too close to the masonry chimney. We sealed the chimney to code with metal flashing and fire-rated caulk, built retaining walls, sealed and insulated the ductwork, fully air sealed the attic, and installed TruSoft cellulose insulation to R-60. Now, the homeowner enjoys a more comfortable home, lower energy bills, and improved overall efficiency.

Everyone needs access to their attic, but poorly insulated attic pull-down stairs, like in this Toms River, NJ home, can lead to significant conditioned air loss. This means the homeowner is wasting money to condition unused attic space. At Dave Hoh’s Home Comfort & Energy Experts, we address this issue by reinforcing the frame with additional wood and air-sealing the seams with ZypFoam. We then install weather stripping and the David Lewis Hatch Cover, a radiant foam barrier made from SilverGlo foam insulation. This material, infused with graphite, increases insulation value by 24% compared to standard EPS foam. The radiant barrier reflects heat back in winter and out in summer, reducing the workload on the insulation. By installing the airtight David Lewis Hatch Cover, homeowners will have a more comfortable, energy-efficient home with lower energy bills.

Before picture shows a typical attic heating, cooling and duct system. The main metal trunks and plenums are not sealed and only have a 1/2" liner inside. The results are in the summer when the system is trying to deliver approx 57 degree air through ducts, that are heating up to 130 degree surface temperatures, they lose a tremendous amount of energy. In this case the system was not keeping up with demand on hotter days.   The opposite is true in winter- ducts try to deliver 110 degree air through ducts that are cooling down to 30 degrees or less. The after picture shows  Duct Encapsulation, the duct system is sealed and insulated with approx 3" of closed cell spray foam. This impoved the peformance of the duct system by 40% or more and now the system keeps up even on the hottest days!!  If you have a modern system it makes sense to upgrade ducts, instead of installing a larger more expensive system to solve the problem.

This home owner in Toms River, NJ was experiencing cold drafts in the winter. Here we used our TruSoft blown-in cellulose and air sealed. We also, created an area for storage. This home will be more comfortable and energy efficient!