E-Barrier Update

In "Investing For the Future", I posted about getting E-Barrier paint. The metallics in the paint are supposed to provide a radiant/reflective barrier that is similar to the ubiquitous - and very annoying to install - foil barriers. This will help us lower our utility costs, so I was very excited about getting this project done. Oddly enough, HTH was not. I now understand why!

This picture looks south into the western addition of our house. The original rectangle became a U in the 1970s, so there is a mirror addition on the eastern side. As you can see, they didn't expend much energy connecting the new attic space back to the original. The crawl space starts where that piece of plywood happened to end. It is just high enough for me to get through on my hands and knees - as long as I'm not wearing knee pads. The illumination comes from a vent at the southern end of the addition, the flash of the camera, and a very attractive headlamp that makes this job possible. To get from here - the entrance to the attic - to the addition area, I slithered through the opening and crawled on rafters and plywood wearing blue knee pads, a grey filtration mask and the aforementioned headlamp while carrying a paint tray. If you aren't laughing yet, you really haven't tried to visualize me in this getup!

Here is a better view of this particular workspace. If I don't hit my head on those beams , I can sit up straight in the center here. Since that makes it possible to actually see when I load paint on the roller, it is a rather important feature. I started on the east side of the house (note the plywood path!) near the center of the space because that is where the plywood path ended. That leaves 2 northern sections and the 3 southernmost sections still to be done on the east side. Plus the west side - around the air conditioner duct work - and the south face.

Here you can see what a fabulous job I am doing of covering this wood. Obviously, I will not have painting contractors beating down my door. You can see the rafters at the end there. I have a very heavy telescoping pole that reaches out that far. This project will be great for my arm and back muscles since I can only reach this section of the roof while lying on my back.


I tell you this as a lesson to us all: When HTH is not excited about a project that is consistent with furthering worthy goals, take some time to carefully reconsider. It ain't gonna be easy. HTH wisdom.

So, will I go ahead and finish painting as much of this ceiling as I can reach? Absolutely.

Am I crazy? Maybe, but this doesn't prove it. I have data indicating that this project will be worth it.

I took these pictures around 10 am Saturday morning when I went into the attic with the digital laser thermometer to test the effectiveness of the paint. I won't bore you with my test plan - but it was fairly solid. Bear in mind that I only painted part of the eastern side of the house, so these results aren't reflective (hah!) of what we can expect as final and this was only one test under particular conditions and... you get the idea. Here they are:

Center painted section (3 of 6): 83 degrees F
Center unpainted (2 0f 3, 2 sections S of painted): 91 degrees F
Concrete driveway (sun): 84 degrees F
Concrete driveway (shade): 71 degrees F

The good news is that this will definitely be worth it! The bad news is that I have to get back up there and do it now. I'm definitely look for a paint sprayer to rent. I'll let you all know how it works.

Investing for the future?

This is our latest investment aimed at reducing our energy costs. This Sherwin WIlliams E-Barrier paint acts similarly to foil reflective barriers, but it has 2 advantages. It is cheaper and it is just paint - so it is MUCH easier to do. It claims to reduce electric bills by as much as 15%. If it only cuts 10% from our electric bill, that will still cover almost 50% of the cost of this paint during this upcoming Arizona summer!

Painting the attic with this will be the first of a 2 step process to further insulate. Once this goes on, we will put new insulation between the rafters. The insulation up there looks like it was done in the 80s, so it is about time.

The good news is that our electric bill should be substantially lower this summer. The bad news is that we won't be able to tell how much is from the E-Barrier and how much is from the new insulation. The analyst in me is dying to know, but I'm far too pragmatic to wait a full year for new insulation just to get data.

The interesting things is that this 5 gallon paint bucket cost more than all of the books that I have purchased in the last 6 weeks. And, just like the books I'm buying, we're spending this money now because there is a possibility that I will be working solely for our business next year. We know ourselves well enough to realize that it is harder to spend money in a one income household, even for a relatively quick 18 -24 month payback. But, in my own brain, this is completely different from buying stacks of books. This is not hoarding in preparation for leaner times to come. This is wisely investing for the future!

There is plenty of logical support for the "investing for the future" argument, but I can't say that is the only reason these things are happening. We do need to conserve energy - for our personal finances and for the planet. I do have political issues with oil and would like to use less of it. These little insulation changes have great ROI and will be easy for us to do ourselves. But this has all been true for the entire time that we have lived in this house.

The reason that all of these motivations have now rolled into action is quite simple. We have momentum. We started work on a few small projects around the house and now we are on a roll. I just hope it lasts long enough to do all of the other work we want to do this year!