Cold Kitchen in Pittsfield, MA
Challenge
This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA had a very cold kitchen that she was hoping to make more comfortable. There was an addition to the home with a crawlspace beneath it that was letting cold into the home. The insulation that was in the crawlspace was falling apart, and most crawlspaces are built with unneeded ventilation that can actually make it harder to keep the home comfortable. This, coupled with an attic that is improperly sealed and insulated, causes outside air to get pulled up into the home while the air that the homeowner is paying to heat leaves through the top of the home. Not only that, but given that heat moves from more to less, heat from inside moves through the walls through conduction.
All of this together is what our Building Science Specialist found was causing the problem of the cold kitchen.
Solution
We started by removing the old insulation and getting the crawlspace cleaned up a bit. We then sealed any venting as well as the rim joist, to keep drafts out. We insulate the walls with our SilverGlo graphite infused EPS foam board to stop heat movement of heat through the walls of the crawlspace . Then we laid down dimpled matting to keep air flow under the insulation and encapsulation that will be installed next. Once the floor of the crawlspace has the dimpled matting, our TerraBlock floor insulation is installed, finished up with a vapor barrier liner.
Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this homeowner can feel comfortable in their kitchen all year round!
