Jennifer and Bill Marrapese wanted to find a modest house in a
family-oriented neighborhood, a fixer-upper with which they could do a
deep energy retrofit to improve energy conservation. They found their
ideal house in South Deerfield last spring,Chances are, you've never
setup a real time Location system. but had no idea how complicated their project would become.A new Lamp shade is a quick and easy way to bring a fresh look to your home.
They
smelled something musty in the house when they walked in the door but
the real estate agent suggested it was old pet urine on the carpet.
“We could tell there was a problem,” Jennifer Marrapese said. “Coming in there was a smell that made us suspect mold.”
Unfortunately they were right: There was mold in the 1977 ranch house they bought last April.
“From
the beginning we were planning to have an energy efficient house but
now we needed to make healthy and safe for us,” she said.
“We
didn’t have a clue,” Marrapese said. “We didn’t realize what it would do
with our timetable, what it would do with money. It was a huge shock.”
The
couple discovered that the mold and water issues were so severe in the
back sunroom area that the room had to be taken out. It had been
constructed cheaply with a wood floor and crawl space, Jeffords said.
The mold had crept all the way to the rafters in that area.
All
the carpet was ripped out and the back sunroom was demolished. Once the
house was up on jacks, Jeffords and his crew put down 4 inches of rigid
foam insulation which also acts as a vapor barrier. Then they laid
strings of radiant heat tubing which was embedded in a new concrete
floor. The sunroom area also got a concrete slab with heating in the
same manner.
“We ran out of money for wood floors,” Jennifer Marrapese said, so they turned the concrete into attractive flooring.
“We
made four-by-four foot squares as we cut expansion joints into the
slab,” Jeffords said. “We did it in a pattern in two different colors.”
The result: The floors look like huge tiles in beige and light brown.
“We
like earth tones,” Marrapese said. One wall in the reconstructed
sunroom, which now serves as living room and kitchen, is painted terra
cotta.
The exterior of the house is sage green with an oxblood red front door.
All
the exterior siding was removed for the deep energy retrofit. The
skimpy insulation, which harbored mold, was removed and new insulation
installed.
There are three inches of rigid foam plus five inches of densely packed cellulose in the walls.
“I love the deep windowsills,” Marrapese said. “It’s one of the aesthetics I like about the energy efficiency.”
Reusing
the old siding would have been too labor-intensive, she said. Someday
they may put on fancier siding but for the moment, the exterior is
simply painted plywood. She said they may have to paint it more
frequently than standard wood siding, but it is adequate.
“The
house has phenomenal southern exposure, perfectly positioned for solar,”
Marrapese said. There are three horizontal solar panels on the roof, on
angled supports which can’t be seen from the street, plus three
vertical panels on the back side of the house. “The verticals are
optimally planned so they catch the winter sun,” she said.
The
exterior solar panels fuel the 160-gallon water tank in the mechanical
room to feed the radiant heat tubing as well as daily hot water needs.
In case of snow or a long, cloudy period, there is a back-up, on-demand
water heater that is electric-powered. The entire system was designed by
StiebelEltron in Hatfield and installed by Donavin Gratz, also of
Hatfield. Electricity for lights,Custom Rubber Bracelets and silicone bracelet,
however, still comes from the utility company. The Marrapeses hope to
add solar photovoltaics some day to reach zero net energy.
Bill
Marrapese says they have radically reduced the energy use in the house,
according to the national standard HERS (Heating Energy Rating System).
HERS was 152 before work began. A standard new house has an average
rating of 100, net zero energy being 0. The Marrapese house is now
judged to be 40 HERs.
The project was expensive, they agreed,
but, luckily the couple say, they saved money by buying the house in
foreclosure, below the market value. However, the total remodeling was
more than $250,000 of which the energy efficiency work was perhaps
$60,000 to $70,A new Lamp shade
is a quick and easy way to bring a fresh look to your home.000. They
expect to get federal and state energy tax credits of nearly $20,000.
The real savings, however,King′s Chandelier has offered fine Chandelier
and sconces made in North Carolina of Swarovski and other European
crystal. will come when the heating season is in full swing and, as
Marrapese said, “we don’t have to call and ask for a fuel delivery.”
With the solar hot water system, “all of our heat and hot water is going
to be coming by the sun.” Another energy efficiency facet is the
high-tech thermostat, which can be programmed via the Internet. Jennifer
Marrapee, who is executive director of the New England Sustainable
Energy Association in Greenfield, said she checks the weather forecast
at her office and sets the next day’s home temperature using her
computer. One day last week the thermostat was set for 64 degrees but it
was a cozy 70 degrees in the living room.
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