Most Common Way To Achieve a Better Rescheck Score

Written by Jobe Leonard of Rescheck.info. Jobe enjoys all things related to Rescheck reporting and the study of home energy audit softwares like Rescheck, Comcheck, and Manual J.

Jobe Leonard Rescheck.info

Today on the Reschexpert blog we want to discuss the easiest ways to increase your Rescheck score.  There are many things that go into your Rescheck report and we see hundreds of examples everyday.  From square footage, to climate zone, to components, to R Value every item works together to help you build the most efficient structure possible.

Ceiling insulation.  For years I worked building luxury homes all across the United States for a luxury home builder.  One of the easiest ways to increase the efficiency of a home without adding framing costs is to increase the R-value of your roof system.  This can be done by either using a larger amount of the same insulation or by choosing a more efficient insulation product which usually means choosing a rigid board or closed cell foam.

Windows.  Your window package is one of the easiest ways to pass or fail your Rescheck report.  Many states like Texas, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey and others have automatic pre sets built into the Rescheck software for their climate zone.  If your window efficiency exceeds these standards you automatically fail.  I am personally all for passing legistlation that makes it illegal to sell non-compliant windows into these markets to make it easier on the end user.  Why in the world would anyone market a window in Texas that had an incorrect SHGC level and allow the conusmer to figure it out at their own peril?

Walls.  Your walls are very important in regards to your Rescheck and having an R-13 in an area that requires an R-19 could prove to be a very expensive mistake.  The great thing is that there are ways to turn an R-13 into an R-15 with minimal additional costs and the same thing for improving an R-19 to an R-21.  If you need the higher value in your climate zone then you must plan for this before hand or the fix becomes increasingly more expensive.

Doors.  Doors are not an area to skimp on costs.  Any glass doors should be just as efficient as the windows in your window package.  Any solid doors for your exterior, garagage, or attic need to be insulated and take extra care to choose the most efficient models possible.  Think about it for a second.  A door can equal a 20-30 sq. ft. void in your homes insulation envelope if you choose something with minimal insulation value you will pay the price for the life of your home.  The doors that you choose are very important in regards to your Rescheck.

Foundation.  Your foundation is where your insulation rubber meets the road, literally.  Whether you are building on a slab, crawl space, subfloor, or basement you need to take extra care to make sure that you have plenty of insulation in each of these items.  It is possible to build a perfectly insulated home from the ground up only to have the structure fail a Rescheck because the home’s foundation is leaking energy like a sieve.

Overall there are many items to consider when designing your homes insulation envelope.  We have discussed a few in today’s blog post.  If the overall semantics of your home as it compares to your climate zone and IECC energy code seem too complex, never fear.  We at Rescheck.info are here to help.  All you need to do is email us your blueprints to service@rescheck.info.   We will print off a full size set of your plans and start your calculations.  As soon as your Rescheck is ready we will email you back a recap of your project along with an invoice.  Thanks again for reading and we home to hear from you soon.