CASE STUDY
HOME PERFORMANCE WITH
ENERGY STAR®
Warm and Cozy in New York State
Manlius, Neiv York
Although the Schumachers loved their 4-bedroom home, it
was cold and draft/ in the winter. The house was built in
1970, without much insulation. Standing in her bedroom,
Laurie Schumacher could almost tell you which way the
winter winds were blowing. She finally decided it was time
to replace the drafty windows. So she picked up the phone
and called EnTherm, a company that a trusted friend had
recommended.
EnTherm participates in the Home Performance with
ENERGY STAR program in New York, which is an
innovative whole house approach to improving the comfort
and energy efficiency of existing homes. The process is
simple. Qualified contractors provide a complete home
assessment and recommend ways to improve its energy
efficiency. They can even do the work. Contractors use
equipment such as blower doors and infrared cameras to
pinpoint air leaks and insulation gaps and to verify that
heating and cooling equipment is working efficiently and
safely. The goal is to improve the overall performance of
the home rather than fixing one item that may be only part
of the problem,
EnTherm's estimator arrived at the Schumachers' house,
with a blower door and an infrared (IR) camera. Drafty
windows might be the reason the Schumachers had
called, but replacing them wasn't necessarily the solution
to achieving comfort in their house. After conducting a
blower door test and an IR scan to locate the largest leaks,
an EnTherm technician determined that the windows were
indeed leaky, but so was the thin layer of attic insulation.
The technicians air-sealed the attic, including a pocket
door frame that blower door testing indicated was
extremely leaky, and upgraded the attic insulation to R-41
by blowing in cellulose insulation. They replaced windows
in the bedrooms and the dining room, and in the living room
they added window film to reduce damage to the furniture
caused by UV light They also removed electric heaters
from two rooms that been heated separately, replacing
them with new gas-fired units.
Laurie Schumacher is enthusiastic about how comfortable
her home is, "The difference between last winter and this
winter has been remarkable," she says; "This winter we
got hot inside."
The Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program
currently is available in 12 states. Benefits of the program
include:
~	Up to 30% Savings on Energy Bills
~	A Quieter, More Comfortable Living Environment
~	Improved Air Quality
~	Greater Home Durability with Lower Maintenance
To learn more about the Home Performance
with ENERGY STAR program, visit:
www.energystar.gov/homeperformance
X	HOME PERFORMANCE WITH
Wr ENERGY STAR

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