Affordable Home Upgrades (Energy Efficiency & Indoor Air Quality ) 

more like this Matt.

Kicked the family out and am saving $$$ like crazy.

Finally a topic that addresses most of the audience watching the show.

Tinting widows, updating to a programmable thermostat, or adding weather stripping at doors are some cheap fixes for less than $1000.

I was doing some home renovations and I was knocking down a wall, only to find a secret unfurnished room behind it... ...then I remembered we live in a duplex.

Finally a video for the normal broke people Most vids are for the rich on your builds We need more vids like this Good job

I did two things to retro-improve our southern house. Spray Foam attic making it conditioned space. Added a Mitsubishi SEER 23 mini-split to the master so we don't have to cool the whole house at night. My electric bill went down over $100/month.

There’s a topic I see a lot up North here which is that the first floor of our older two story homes are very comfortable where the thermostat resides. But the second floor is always stuffy and warm. I’d love to see a video addressing the science here and how to fix (hopefully for under $10k)... is it an attic insulation issue, an HVAC issue, etc. most of us have a single up flow system in the basement so it’s quite difficult to cool the second floor without overcooling the first. I think this is where the mini split systems show a lot of promise and I’d love to see a video from you digging into this.

I got rid of all my flex ducting for ridgid insulated with R8 and put in an attic stair sealer over the winter. Big difference comparing our Nest profiles from last summer. Unit would come on and run continuously until nightfall. Now its segmented very nicely. Next I'm going to open walls to ridgid pipe the drops from 2nd floor to first, redo my return ducting and add a dehumidifier. You are an influence, Matt. Howdy from Magnolia Texas.

I bought a FLIR One pro thermal camera and found MANY air leaks in my house, sealed and caulked up and now there is virtually no airleak in this 50+ year old house 😃 Still going to add new external Insulation all over the house within a year, but the comfort has increased a lot

I have a lot of respect for a builder with Matt’s experience. With that being said, c’mon man... I’ve lived in Louisiana and TX for over 40 years. For $5,000, suck out the ceiling insulation and add open cell to the rafters. I guarantee it will be under $5,000 because I did it on a 3,000 sq ft house that had 2 12/12 pitch gables (ie. steep roofs with a lot of square roof footage). All of my HVAC equipment was now in conditioned space and I truly did not need to “caulk’ the leaky spots. Also, why I think Aerobarrier is a “neat’’ concept, it has not been around for even 5 years. How does anyone know if this technology’s has a ROI? What is the life expectancy on the “caulking material?” They don’t. Buzz words from builders... like vinyl window sales in the 80’s. There is no historical data to prove the initial investment. Please stop putting out videos for the YT algorithm numbers and sponsorship requirements. Some of your sponsorship links have NOTHING to do with any of the products in this video. To viewers, do your own homework. Put in 10 minutes a day to researching these claims and I guarantee you will save money. For those in the South, put in a dehumidifier and a smart thermostat (when I say smart, I mean programmable) and you will immediately start to see a ROI. All for now...

Great work Matt. You should do a video like this, DIRECTLY related to the northern states and climates. I love your stuff and I recommend your content all the time to my construction friends and associates. Thanks Again!!

Appreciate all the advice! You and your channel has made a world of a difference to our family and especially my special needs daughter that has Cerebral palsy and cannot walk independently and stuck in a wheelchair so your recommendations have made a big difference! Thanks again for helping our family that is trying to survive at 110 degrees in Arizona and I am headed back into the attic now to try and finish up new attic insulation and fix some ductwork for the family! Wish me luck!!

My original intention for this humidifier was to use it for plants that require high moisture levels. After using it in my room, ru-vid.comUgkxtD9aJ2m6GU-X1IChQxjn9l31K1A7Kpwj however, I think that's where it is going to stay in the fall and winter season at least. The increased humidity in my room made the room warmer and more comfortable. I had first ran the humidifier for 4 hours with the timer setting for it. After the first hour, I checked my room and can feel the difference. When the full 4 hours was up, I checked again and noticed that the humidifier was shut off as it is suppose to. The moisture level never seem to get passed 56/57%. I then let it run until all the water is used up, which it wasn't all used up. There are still some left in the base that you are not suppose to add water to. I filled up the water tank all the way again, being careful when removing it from the base. Some left over water may spill out. After putting it back on and setting the unit to auto, I let it operate. It didn't stop running, rather I don't know if it did at any point since I didn't check it regularly, for 24 hours after which the water in the tank ran out. The moisture reading never passed 56/57%, which may be a good thing for me. Being situated right next to my bed, the noise was not very noticeable with the occasional water gurgle from time to time as the unit ran.

Matt, thanks for the great video. I'm building a new house and we're on a somewhat tight budget. It is a typical cement block house down in the Space Coast of Florida. I really appreciate your videos because we were able to make extremely cost effective upgrades to our house based on some advice I learned from you. We upgraded to RMax R4.3 insulation inside the walls. Upgraded to R38 attic insulation and added a radiant barrier. Plus, I was able to upgrade to a two stage condenser with variable air handler, merv 13 filter, and thermostat which will control fan speed for humidity control. The foam insulation will really help air seal.

So I have been watching your videos for a while, looking for ideas on how to improve energy efficiency in my Texas home. I really liked your insulation 2.0 video and have been planning a project to implement some air-sealing in my attic. Keep up the good work.

perfect timing! I was visiting my brother today and he mentioned his AC wasn't performing well, so I took a quick look, and noticed that his HVAC closet doesn't have an air barrier to the attic, and that his ducts were loose at the plenum, I must say I was surprised that actual metallic tape was used on the joints, but under the stresses they'd pulled loose from the duct flange. I'm going to share this video with him because it's a great sum up with visuals where I was trying to explain things with only being able to point to obvious issue areas.

Matt I find your building science approach to be a informed , solid, intelligent approach. I love and look forward to your videos.The problem is finding intelligent, motivated, and skilled proficient people like you work with. I just finished doing a BPI search for Gold contractors and found only insulation companies and public help agencies. None of the leads mentioned mention any thing like the insulation 2.0 approach nor do they mention a blower door test or even BPI. They offer free energy audits that will most likely recommend their services but may not come with the level of expertise and results that your people have. I do not fault BPI. I am sure their training is very good but just attending a class will not raise a person up to the skill level of the people that you work with. You are lucky to have such a good team of experts. Tomorrow I will run down what Resnet has to offer. At least this is a good point to search from. Thanks ! The Mitsubishi Gold Contractors seem to be a good possibility. It would be nice to have a sound energy audit with recommendations like you recommend. The expert installers who know what they are doing all say that understanding HVAC systems is more critical to the system performance than the kind of equipment installed. Many people know how to play chess but few can play at the championship level and even fewer are grand masters.

That's really good advice. Especially getting the independent survey. Our old house was hot water with windows for ventilation, and a window A/C. We got the survey, got sealing and insulation, installed an attic whole house ERV (UltimateAir), and a mini-split. Also replaced the electric hot water heater with a hot water generator tank on its zone to the boiler. Heating, coolling and electric costs went way down, and air quality is great.

Just want to say thank you for your super informative videos. Love how you admit and showcase your mistakes so us DIY'ers don't make the same mistakes! You and your videos rock!

I like it. We are preparing to buy a home in Baltimore and there’s tons of very old building stock. I’ve been researching how to make a home more energy efficient - short of a massive remodel so this was really helpful. Thanks Matt!

This was a great video and watch all of your videos. We live in Pensacola FL and last year we remodel half of our house and greatly improved the over all performance of the home. It was a to the studs tear out and we took the time to seal the sheeting, re-seal the windows and bring all the exposed walls up to code. Also brought the electrical through the whole house up to current code. The house is much tighter now. Since then we have been discussing a stand alone dehumidifier for the home and this video just locked in our choice. You even listed/recommended the exact model we were considering. Unit is ordered and will be delivered soon. Looking forward to the lower humidity levels it will provide. Always love the building science. Hope in the future you will take a deep dive into the value or lack of value upgrading 1970's single pane windows to double pane or better windows would provide. Windows are a big commitment in Florida because of Hurricane requirements and it really can be expensive.

Finally catching up, so I'm a week behind. But, a couple other "tasks" to think about at probably the 5 - 10k range are converting a "traditional" crawl space or attic into a conditioned space. Depends on the state of the space and what might need to be done related to sealing, etc. Current house we're in had a nasty crawl space with no insulation (ducts, under the floor, nothing). Rather than try to fix all that, I cleaned out the space and started sealing it up. Multiple layers of thick barrier, sealed to the foundation which I then insulated. Dehumidifier till I knew it was sealed and air flow controlled. Yea, I want my ducts to not leak air or heat. Having them now in a conditioned space help a lot. If your crawl space is the same temperature as your living space, assuming you are controlling air loss at the top of the building, the stack effect is lessened and isn't as big an issue.

Echo some of the comments below; a portion of your content focused around remodeling strategies would be wonderful. I would love more remodeling advice based on the $1K, $5K and $10K structure!

Something I would highly recommend doing is check with your utility company if you can get some of this stuff for free. I had a blower door test done, added attic insulation, duct sealing as well as window and door sealing all for free.

Great video by the way! I’ve been saying for a few years it’d be cool if you did a video the average homeowner could implement on an existing home they live in. Good job!

Hi Matt and friends! Im a huge believer in air sealing a home. As Matt said, homes need only breath on our terms. I question the wisdom of home owners blindly air sealing their homes without regard to water management, older or newer homes. You've mentioned in older videos that you'd torn into houses for remodels and found evidence of water ingress. In some of those cases the wood wasnt rotted because the air leakage provided enough flow over the spot to provide the two healing forces of water restoration, evaporation and ventilation. If you take the air flow away without ever knowing that it's taking place, wont that just accelerate rot? Even more so with modern building materials like OSB wall and roof sheathing and sub floor. In some instances it could lead to a degree of structural failure with i joists, composit studs, LVLs etc. Again, I am in the opposite camp of the "homes need to breathe" people, but to my understanding air sealing cannot take place without vapor and water management considerations. Thoughts?

This is an extremely useful video. Thanks very much.

Thank you for this video! My husband and I are building a new home and we have been quoted $500k for just under 1800 square feet. No energy saving qualities build in except attic insulation. The info contained in this video will help us tremendously.

As a first time home-owner with allergies and asthma, this video is gold. Cheers Matt!

Thanks for the great show! Some fantastic ideas, especially sealing and insulating the attic.

I've been watching your videos in preparation for buying a house next spring / summer. Some of the best content on RU-vid.

For the media filter, you’ll want the contractor to measure your airflow and Total External Static Pressure (TESP) before anything else. If you add a high MERV filter it will restrict airflow, which can bring additional unintended problems. But I agree, more filtration is better as long as you don’t create new problems.

@4:58 "On high you get the best filtration and the most air flow", not quite. Those are inverse, best filtration is at lower fan speeds. Every HEPA air filter manual says that.

Yes, more like this! Small home builds and additions.

Great tips, Matt. I'll be looking for that video on air purifiers... 👍

Thanks Matt, I really appreciate your professional advice 😀

Finally a topic for me. I been thinking of doing a metal roof since my shingles are past dead, and also I have no central air so I was thinking of a mini split system. Also my breaker box is full so I need to replace/expand the electrical box. These would be great topics, especially good metal roofing options for tiny small low budget old houses

Keep these videos coming. Provides a lot of value.

Super interested in seeing how your garage workshop is done. I'm in South central Texas and been considering a conditioned workspace in my garage for awhile. Great video, thanks for the suggestions.

Good topic for most people with limited budgets for annual house projects. I personally focused on maxing insulation. So I installed R29 batts of insulation in my attic over top of the exist R20 for $1,000 US. The effect was immediate and warmer. I honestly thought I left the heat on when I came home that night. I then starting digging out my whole basement crawlspace one bucket at a time for a 2 foot area to wiggle around and install R19 batts between the floor joists held in place with R5.5 tinfoil foam board, screws and big washers then using spray foam to seal all joints forming a single solid R 24.5 insulation barrier under the house for $3,000 US in materials. I then had R20 injection foam installed inside the perimeter brick walls of the house for $8,000 US. This definitely made the house warmer but also a lot quieter. I removed the natural gas heater and disconnected the line. I now heat with electric heated floor slabs in the master bedroom, living room and sometimes library during the winter. My solar house heater helps too. During the spring and summer I open the old traditional double hung windows, I refinished, all night and flush the thermal mass of the 106 year old house with fresh and cool night time air requiring no air conditioning during the day. I bought a $200 oscillilating air purifier and it works great for the middle afternoon. The attic insulation worked so well that I installed another layer of R29 staggered over top of the previous layer. I now have R80 attic, R20 walls and R25 floor.

Thanks you for all the hard work and attention to detail. I live in Houston and recently received a quote to foam seal the attic of my 3500 square ft home at the roof line with 5 1/2 inches of open cell foam. My home was built in 2006 and has typical blown in fiberglass. My light bills in the summer are $350 to $500 ( we keep the house 70 - 72 degrees ). I do own variable speed units, one gas and one electric. The gas furnace does have dual pipes for exhaust and intake. My 2 original units are both 3.5 ton goodman 16 seer machines. Would love to see a more detailed video on retro fitting an attic to foam insulation ( I have seen your others ). I was told i needed to manage the attic humidity at 45 -55 % but was also told that the in house air and the attic air can not mix. So I am not sure if I should have separate dehumidifiers for the house and for the attic. When i saw the $10,000 dollar option on this video I hoped you would mention something about foaming the attic. Does that mean it should cost more than that? The foam folks quote: Description Total Spray Foam Roof Deck With 5.5" R21 Open Cell Insulation Spray Foam Attic Gables With 3.5" R13 Open Cell Insulation $3,925.00 Removal Option Description Total Remove & Dispose Of Existing Attic Insulation $1,875.00 Total $5,800.00 Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated, even a contact in Houston to get a second opinion.

Matt. I’m about to build my house in a few months. I keep watching your videos and taking notes. Funny thing is, I’m also a builder but with a production builder. They don’t teach these tips.

Hi Matt, I live in the northeast of Briton and it can get down to about -15 in the winter. The government did a grant that would get insulation blown into the cavity of the wall, (most of our houses are brick built) as with all grants the cowboys were there and many homes are now suffering. The problem was that no survey was carried out before the insulation was put into the walls, some houses have rubbish that had been put there by lazy builders or bricklayers that did not clean up after themselves and leave globs of cement at the bottom of the walls, this lead to the insulation getting wet and instead of bonus heat savings they ended up with houses that were wet and unsellable. The government are about to roll out another grant system and again these cowboys will sweep in and make a killing without any checks being made, I wish we had some body to oversee this and stop people being hoodwinked because they are not experts in the building area.

Love your videos. Bought the dehumidifier. Thanks for the tips

After following you for a while now im pretty much sold on exterior insulation and improving the air tightness on the home. I just bought an 1890s vicotorian. The siding and roof(mainly the roof) have to be replaced so since its coming off anyway might as well give Roxul some of my money!

Very good approach to a video on what normal people face with their current home!

That AeroSeal for sealing up your furnace duct work sounds like money well spent. Having proper air flow to the rooms with longer duct runs from the furnace will go a long way to improving comfort in the home.

More content like this please. Existing home upgrade options--at different price points--that aren't coinciding with large scale renovation or new build phases. Smart upgrades for the average homeowner

Thanks for making a video for those of us with production builder homes

Seriously watch 1 to 2 episodes of your show a day. You're awesome man

You always mention the cold north and humid south, as someone who lives in Phoenix, I would appreciate if you included the desert region in your comparisons as well. Learning what I can and will be purchasing my first home soon! :)

This video is absolute gold. I am curious if there is some improvements to the subfloor when removing carpet and carpet pad. Ie. Could you seal better between the subfloor and the exterior walls to make a difference, could you seal the subfloor for better insulation or whatever reason?

I installed an Air Scubber whole house air purifier in our AC unit in the attic for 1k and it was the best investment we ever did. Within 2 weeks all my allergies were gone and best of all it prevents dust from forming witch the wife loves!

Exactly the kind of guide I needed.

Great, much needed, advice!! Thank you!!!

You give great information Matt!

I put a 19 SEER 4 head Mitsubishi mini split system in my house and my electric bill went from $350 to $165 and the temperature went from 78 to 68. Best money I have ever spent, I'm in Tampa Bay it's HOT! Also it saves so much money it will pay for itself in 6 years with a 13 year warranty parts and Labor.

A couple of things I did any handy DIY’er can do. I changed all my lights to LED. Mostly it was just swapping Lamps out. I started with the biggest users. On the Decorative I used the Filament type LED’s. I have Made in USA Fluorescent wrap fixtures. I used the Toggled Lamps from Home Depot, but I ordered them online, a lot of the ones in the store have been returned, damaged. You take the ballast out, and do a little re-wiring. I on a yearly average lost one month electric bill. I swapped the Toilets out, I’m on a well so my Water Bill, is my Electric bill. I bought several tubes of DAP Caulking that’s in the squeeze tube, “ toothpaste type.” Turned the breakers off as I worked around the perimeter, pulling electrical receptacles, and caulking the openings. Also m going to do the switches next. We had a lot of power strips running “i “ chargers. I put Receptacles in that have USB Ports and plug outlets in them, and eliminated the power strips.

2:50 Simply replacing the existing filter with a MERV 13 filter isn't a good idea. All HVAC units are designed for a certain level of filter. That is, the fan and motor are designed to push/pull a certain amount of air through the filter. The higher the MERV filter number, the more filtration and more air resistance. So by adding a high MERV number filter to an existing system not designed for it, you usually end up with lower air flow, or premature fan motor burnout if you increase its speed to make up the air flow. It is recommended to replace the fan and motor with one designed for the MERV 13+ filters, if possible. Otherwise, lots of good tips here. Looking forward to more content like this!

im gonna add this 4" filter to my HVAC now, thanks Matt

Thanks for the info Matt! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

Matt love your channel. Love learning more about insulation (2.0)! My question is whether you need to spray foam the entire ceiling floor joists (Iowa climate) or just air seal the cuts/gaps? DIY spray foam is still like $3k vs. just air sealing the cracks and using blown-in over it.

I’m looking forward to see how/what you use for a good insulated garage door

Matt your best video ever. Thanks

This format is pretty great, you should do more like this. I appreciate the mini split idea, my upstairs is always hot and I was in the mindset of needing a furnace and ac unit, with separate ductwork, as thats what the house is right now. Then when you mentioned the mini split, it should of been so obvious, Could do the job and way easier. Thanks

Love it! Thanks Matt.

In Canada a 2 story home such as mine has a main HVAC duct up the uninsulated attic space with insulated pipes to the 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. With R60 there are some fiberglass batts over a portion of the insulated pipes. The HVAC engineer recommended this was the best way to have balanced systems with uniform temps especially for cooling. Been here 30 years and the temps are very balanced between the 1st and 2nd-floor heating or cooling.

Thank you so much for this one!

Great and informative video one I can use thanks

*We liked it **Fastly.Cool** so much in the basement, we bought a second one for the main level. The amount of moisture it pulls out of the air is astonishing.*

Enen in the north, you definitely want a dehumidifier. In NY, our AC was never running enough to dry out the air.

Great video Matt. Would be nice to understand what the potential energy savings would be on some of these options.

Would really like to see some video coverage of ductless heating/cooling options.

Video on what you would do if you were going to gut interior to the studs and remodel a 1970's home? I want to do everything I can at the same time while drywall is gone.

Great advice all around!

Thanks Matt for the heads-up re. the buildshownetwork..!

Excellent ideas - thanks.

Never considered a mini-split for the garage. Very interesting. 👍

For the energy audit, make sure to check with your utility company. They may have rebates or offer the service themselves for less.

You missed Plastic film over drafty windows for $20 😂

Definitely some good advice here. The only thing I’d point out is, depending on where you live costs can be significantly higher than what is mentioned here.

I found sealing the rim joist really makes a big difference for the investment. Also sealing all holes while down there

What is your take on UV lights in the HVAC thinking about SARS, MERS and Virus .... I would like to know your take also for Commercial setups. Also another thing I think which is MASSIVE on rebuild homes especially in the south is when you have a house with attached or integrated garage to get into the garage and really seal the Garage ceiling so the garage heat no longer can radiate to the floor above. So many times we find the garages don't have ANY insulation put in to the living areas above it.

Great advice, thanks The Build Show, Matt especially. Im in a rental in the tropics, city of 10 million plus. I have yet to see a Whirlybird...🤭

Upgrading to a 4 inch filter in an existing HVAC system is huge. Better filtration, less restrictive air flow, better system efficiency, and greater longevity of the filters.

In SW Missouri and I had the poorly cobbled together HVAC unit replaced with a basic 14 seer York heat pump and air handler for $7200. I save almost double on my heating bill in the winter. The duct work is on the short list of next things to replace.

Thanks!!!! This is one of the best episodes lately. When the basic remodel turned in to a Rebuild, I almost stopped watching.

Great episode would detail your efforts to air seal a garage to the extent possible. I am considering adding a mini-split to my 3-car garage in Dallas and my biggest issue is decreasing air leaks around 4 roll-up garage doors.

Plant palm trees along the south facing side of your home... works for me, here in Southern California.

Always have some great content. I have used foam insulation on my 2 story home and cant complain about the bill but i notice downstairs is usually warmer than upstairs. Is that common? They only sprayed in the attic but not in ceiling or in between flooors. What are your thoughts on that Matt?

I agree with others more vids like this would be great. You mentioned you put an average AC system in your place. Id love to hear your opinion and see a video on various average 3ish ton 14 seer or so systems.

Blower door tests are the best $150 ever spent! My RESNET certified HERS rater is a nerd like me and ends up testing all my houses 3 times each and doesn't even charge me for the additional tests!

Great video. Could you do a video on where to spend money on upgrades for a new house? Getting ready to build a new house and unfortunately cant afford to do all the upgrades but it would be nice to know where to spend the money on upgrades.

Added a daikin mini split in my master in Texas absolutely best thing I’ve ever done can cool just the master down to 65 when I sleep without trying to cool the entire house

Very helpful. Thanks.

Heat pump water heater is our free dehumidifier in finished basement. Can run on 1200W 12VDC inverter during power outage and is extremely energy efficient. AO Smith. Dry air feels good.

I'm using 2/3 less energy since switching to a hybrid water heater. Great investment.

This is an excellent video! I would be curious to know how these improvements impact resale. These all make absolute sense if you plan to live there a long time. However, do buyers really look for things like this? I’d like to hear thoughts on this. I’ve been doing upgrades on our only 4 year old home to improve air quality. My daughter is looking to purchase and likely will have a lot of things to improve on the home she was looking at. However it’s to suggest to her to dump a bunch of money into the place if she won’t be living there more than 5-10 years if she won’t get the money back in resale. Your content lately has been amazing, especially with the breakdown in the numbers. Keep up the awesome work!

Matt, I had a blower door and thermal imaging done yesterday. I have a finished 3rd floor that is surrounded by unconditioned space. I have duct work above the ceiling but have access to above the ceiling and behind the walls. The attic ventilation is gable and ridge line. Zoned AC system that can dump 3.5 tons of ac into that room and take it from 83 to 70 in about an hour (Supercooling...BAD). Anyway, what would you recommend to make the room more comfortable? Right now it’s built to code (r13 walls and maybe r26 ceiling, pink fiberglass insulation. 2 x 4 wall studs, so I am thinking flash and batt (2” closed cell walls and ceiling then put the pink insulation back) OR air seal with spray foam cans/ caulk, put back insulation then put up 2” rigid foam with foil over the pink batts. 3rd option is to have the whole roof spray foamed (Most expensive) Love the channel, learned ALOT and thank you for all the information and videos!