Portland Energy Efficient Construction, Residential Retrofitting, Energy Conservation, Home Evaluations | Faison Energy Solutions

FAQ's

Q: Why should I make improvements to my duct system or air seal my home?

A: There are many benefits to improving your home’s performance:

Improve Comfort – Sealing your ducts and home can help with common comfort problems, such as rooms that are too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter and reduce drafts.

Enhance Indoor Air Quality – Sealing ducts can help improve indoor air quality by reducing the risk of pollutants entering ducts and circulating through your home. Air sealing your home helps prevent dust and pollens being sucked into your home through depressurization and infiltration.

Save Money – Leaky ducts and homes can increase heating and cooling system’s operational efficiency and cost by as much as 25 percent. Air sealing the home and duct work increases efficiency and therefore, lowers your energy bills.

Protect the Environment – When power plants burn fossil fuels to make electricity, they release greenhouse gases. By creating a more energy efficient home, you not only consume less energy, you also decrease the need for fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions that lead to global warming.

Q: How do I know if my house qualifies for rebates to be sealed?

A: Your house needs to be within the Energy Trust of Oregon’s service territory (Portland General Electric, Northwest Natural Gas, and Pacific Power) and your primary heat source must be forced air (gas furnace or heat pump) from one of the utilities listed. As a contractor of Energy Trust of Oregon, we can audit, analyze, install and help with cash incentives and state energy tax credits to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

Q: Are you bonded, licensed, and insured?

A: Yes, we are bonded, licensed and insured. CCB# 184867 Oregon and faisoc1917bl Washington.

Q: Can I air seal or duct seal my home myself?

A: Technically, yes. But there are two things to keep in mind: The first, without having the proper equipment to determine where all the leaks, holes, and cracks are, you will never know what to look for or which areas need to be sealed. The second, because you don’t have the proper equipment, you won’t get a before and after reading of the test results and this is the documentation required to qualify for incentives, rebates, and tax credits. Our certified technicians are highly trained and qualified to do the actual work, and to help complete the application needed to obtain your rebate or other incentives. So basically, doing the work yourself nullifies your ability to qualify for tax credits or cash incentives. We pride ourselves in the quality of our work.

Q: I’ve heard you can get your house too tight, is that true and what’s the problem with that?

A: Some people are concerned about making a home too tight. Even though technically there may be some merit to this, there is really very little chance your house would become too air tight. It is extremely difficult to completely “tighten up” a house without major remodeling or restructuring. Even code built, newly constructed homes are not tight enough to warrant concern.

Call us at 503-477-9501 or fill out our online contact form.