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With Spring arriving already, people have begun the annual ritual of spring cleaning. While you are performing a full house cleaning it is the perfect time to go over common health and safety issues in your home and make sure that your home is as safe as it should be. This is especially important for anyone with children living at home.

Home Safety Tips and Checklist
• Check your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you are not aware, a new California law now requires carbon monoxide alarms to be installed in all single family homes with gas burning furnaces, water heaters and appliances.  Ensure the batteries are charged.

• Check all electrical cords and outlets. Replace any frayed or exposed wires. If there is any issue that is not obvious please contact a licensed electrician for an inspection.

• Check the filter of your air conditioner and furnace. Clean or replace the filter as needed.

• Do not store fuel or other combustibles inside the home. It is best not to store items like gasoline at home. If you need to store fuel at home, keep them in a storage shed or a detached garage away from any gas burning appliances and in an area that does not receive direct sunlight.

• Make a fire escape map and ensure every member of the household has a plan of action in case of a fire. Having a fire escape route is especially important with families with children and those living in houses that are 2 stories or more where the escape route could potentially be blocked.

• Practice a home fire drill with your children to ensure they know what to do. If your house is two or more stories look into getting a fire escape ladder. Make sure you have a safe meeting spot outside the home for your family.

• Learn what products in your home count as hazardous or poisonous items. Store these items away from food and in a location that children cannot access.

• If someone ingests any poisonous material call 1-800-222-1222. This is the phone number for every poison center in the USA. There are poison experts on staff 24 hours a day , 7 days a week.

• If you have a fireplace only burn hardwood like oak, ash or maple. Never burn trash, cardboard boxes, Christmas trees or other household items. These items may release poison or toxins when burned.

• Be sure that your house address is posted and visible from the street. If firemen or other emergency personnel need to find your home you want to make it as easy as possible. Every minute counts in an emergency.

• Set your water heater temperature to below 120 degrees to prevent burns and decrease energy use.

• Check for UL marks on products that plug in. UL tests over 19,000 products, components and materials a year worldwide. UL marks appeared on the products of over 72,000 manufacturers. Ul tests just about every product or component that plugs in. A UL mark confirms that the product meets the safety. Information on UL can be found at www.ul.com

•Make sure all unused electrical sockets have socket protectors plugged in. This is especially important in homes with young children.

•If you have young children ensure that all cabinets have safety latches.

Is air conditioning necessary for homes in the San Francisco Bay Area? Most of the SF Bay Area is in climate zone 3. While Climate Zone 3 can vary depending on elevation and proximity to the coast, zone 3 climates are generally temperate with moderately cool winters and warm and dry summers. So, as most residents of the Bay Area know, there is not much need for central air conditioning most of the year.  However, as we also know, the “Indian Summer” of September-October can sometimes be hot and uncomfortable.

So is there a solution for the mildly uncomfortable heat waves of Sept-Oct that doesn’t involve installing an expensive air conditioning unit that is not even going to be used for 10 months out of the year? The answer is yes! Whole house fans are the perfect solution for homes in moderate climates like the San Francisco Bay Area that only experience  heat waves for a small fraction of the year. Whole house fans are much cheaper than installing an air conditioning unit.

Cheaper than Central Air
Although prices vary the difference is exponential; whole house fans cost in the range of hundreds of dollars to install while air conditioning systems cost thousands.  Additionally whole house fans typically use 80-90% less electricity than a central air conditioning unit.  On top of that installation is far less invasive and less expensive.

Maintain Fresh Indoor Air Quality
Whole house fans can quickly ventilate stale air from inside the house to outside.  This provides excellent ventilation for odor removal and maintains a flow of fresh air inside the house.

Efficient Cooling in Some Climates
In moderate climates like the SF Bay Area a whole house fan can cool down a stuffy house quicker than central air conditioning. This does depend on the exterior air being cooler than the air inside the house so a whole house fan would not be a good cooling solution in a climate like Los Angeles or Arizona. However for the Bay Area’s “Indian Summers” , often times the outdoor air will cool down very quickly the minute the sun sets whereas the house will still have warm stale inside. In situations like this whole house fans effectively cool down your home for much cheaper than central air.

In President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address he repeatedly stated that he seeks an America that is “built to last”. While that may sound vague to some, to a BPI Accredited Contractor like Advanced Home Energy, building to last is exactly what home performance is all about. But what does building to last mean?

If you are a new homeowner (or an old homeowner) you might not be aware of all the advances occurring in the building industry over the last 10 years. While some aspects of the green building movement have been heavily publicized such as the rise of solar photo-voltaics and the fall of Solyndra, many of the innovations in building science especially the simple ones have received comparatively little media attention.

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has one of the best resources on the internet relating to all aspects of home performance and building science. The LBNL page also links to many other resources around the web.

Building science has advanced a lot in the past 10 years. The building science approach to building differs from traditional construction because it takes into account all the advances in science and technology that our society has made and applying it from a perspective called the whole house approach. The whole house approach differs from traditional construction because it looks as the house as an interconnected system rather than simply looking at separate unconnected parts. Just like how a doctor doesn’t just examine your foot and ignore all other systems, the whole house approach uses the latest technology to analyze buildings and arrive at upgrades based on science rather than just selling a product.

The website Building Science provides in-depth information for both homeowners and also contractors about the latest advances in building science from the simple Spray Foam Guide to the more intricate Hygrothermal Analysis of Exterior Rockwool Insulation. If you are a homeowner curious about the science behind the latest building practices this site is for you.

Although efficiency is an important aspect, home performance encompasses more than just energy efficiency. For instance, ensuring that gas burning appliances are not leaking carbon monoxide and causing indoor air pollution is not an aspect of energy efficiency but its still an important part of home performance. Homeowners want their homes to be healthy dwellings as well as just being energy efficient. Home performance addresses the safety and health aspects as well as energy efficiency. Several Blog Posts on the AHE website have covered aspects of home health related to home energy systems. Future blog posts will cover additional issues relating to health and safety.

While Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and Building Science are great sources of information, many of the articles and PDFs  might seem very jargonistic and technical to the average homeowner. If you are just interested in some of the broader topics relating to the field of home performance and energy, the website EnergyNOW has many great videos that cover many different aspects of the home performance field. EnergyNOW was a tv program hosted by Bloomberg TV. They are currently switching formats but most of the videos are still hosted here:

EnergyNOW

By taking into account all the advances in building science, home performance contractors such as AHE are at the forefront of re-focusing the construction industry to build sustainable, durable buildings that are more efficient and safer than structures built according to traditional building practices over the past 100 years. So when President Obama calls for a nation that is “build to last”, home performance contractors are ready to step up and provide solutions based on building science to homeowners and business owners across the country. Taking heed of the latest innovations in building science is the best way to build to last.  That is what home performance contractors  do. Our goal is to improve the building industry in America, making it more durable, efficient and safe. This is how a nation starts building to last, one home at a time.

Appliance Safety

As part of our home energy audit we test the safety of all the gas appliances in the home, such as furnaces, water heaters and stoves. It is not uncommon for us to find serious health hazards due to issues with these appliances. This is one of the out-of-site and out-of-mind issues that may never be an issue until something changes in the home. For example, in older homes appliances are often drawing combustion air from inside of the home. Because the house is leaky there is plenty of fresh air to provide proper combustion; however, if new windows are installed and a large amount of the air infiltration is reduced, suddenly there may not be enough ventilation for proper combustion. Now the home may have issues with combustion by-products spilling into the house, back-drafting of the burner flames or carbon-monoxide.

Here is more great information on carbon monoxide safety.

A gas leak is another issue that is commonly undiagnosed for years. Usually leaks occur at the gas fittings right near the appliances. In the case of furnaces and water heaters, these appliances are in the crawlspace or attic and the small leaks dissipate into the air. But sometimes the gas can reach inside the house causing low-grade respiratory illness and headaches. And, small gas leaks usually get worse over time which can lead to a serious safety issue. It’s much better to catch them early and make the repairs.

•Immediate Safety First- If you do find a gas leak safety first is the most important mantra to follow. If the smell of a gas leak is strong or you can actually hear the sound of gas leaking, leave the building immediately and call for emergency help. Do not switch on lights or use any electrical appliance.

• Check the Stove - If the smell of the gas is not very strong and you can breathe easily check the stove. Sometimes homeowners can leave the gas stove on by a small degree. All knobs should be definitely in the OFF position.

•Check the Oven - On older ovens, check the control knob. Make sure it is in the OFF position. If it is a modern oven that is electronic press the OFF or CANCEL buttons.

•Contact the gas company. Most utilities like PG&E will come out to your home and test for gas leaks. More information from the PG&E website.