Free* Outlet/Switch Plate Outdoor Wall Insulating Covers

[Syonyk]

I'm really not very versed in HVAC.  We have a single zone system, for a single story, 2k sq ft house, with no attic (vaulted ceilings, so... oh, probably 2x12s up there stuffed with insulation and a bit of thermal bridging).

I'm a huge fan of whole house fans, having grown up with them, and having built a fan rack for the purposes of replicating the results (sort of...) in houses that don't have good vent fans.  They were great in Seattle, and I use them quite a bit out here in the spring/fall to help suck cold outside air through overnight.  Unfortunately, that requires clean outside air to suck through, and with the ever-extending wildfire season, they're a bit less than useful sometimes.

Cooling the attic one way or another would be helpful, and a whole house fan will certainly do that!   You just need to add a lot of vent space.  But the details aren't anything I really have experience with, sorry.

[KarefulKactus15]

I'm not the person you ask but I can give some tools and thoughts for you to consider for your situation.

Im going to link a somewhat dumbed down version of a manual J calculator. This is used to calculate heating/cooling loads and is the first step of designing a proper hvac system for a home.

https://www.loadcalc.net/structure.php

Its tough to use, but has instructions and most people on this forum possess above average technical skills IMO. 

What you will find if you do your lower floor and your upper floors in 2 different calculations is a big difference between heating and cooling BTU requirements.   So one has to ask, how can this ever be balanced properly with only ONE system responsible for upstairs and downstairs cooling.  (It cant without zoning).  It theoretically can if EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING is done according to the manual, but in practical application i have never seen a single unit system maintain even temp split between upstairs and downstairs running on one unit. 

So that brings zoning into the conversation. The problem with that will be that most ductwork is not correctly sized. (Manual D is the calculation for this) Because most ductwork is already undersized, when you try to zone you will just lose efficiency more so than fixing the problem.   

Conclusion - If you do plan to zone, you will need to evaluate if the system can handle the shifts in air volume. If you for example have a a room or 2 that zone off and the ductwork to the remaining rooms cant handle the flow, you will just make extra work for you blower motor and be buying a new one more often which with installation cost of zoning will offset any potential savings. 


Edit: So I just re read the post and you dont actually say that you only have one system. Silly assumption on my part.   
Further edits:

Your basement - Do you have humidity issues?  Is the basement below ground? If you zone that system during the cooling cycle (Air is dryer in the winter so not as much a problem) you will raise the humidity level.  Before committing to that, make sure you test it. You could probably close vents and make sure humidity stays below 60%. 

And back to zoning upstairs, we should really troubleshoot the issue of not staying cool in the summer.  If you zone that system off all day then try and cool it at night, someone's going to be really hot while trying to sleep.       So if you really want some homework - Run the manual J for the upstairs floor.  Find the model number of your HVAC system and cross reference the performance chart to see if the unit can provide the calculated cooling load.  If it can (it most likely can) then verify your ducts are correctly sized. (most restrictions I see are the fault of the return line more so than supply).   If all of the design numbers are correct, than you have a performance problem with the system not meeting rated capacity.

[NorCal]

@Kroaler

Thanks for the information!  Most of what you said is a better articulated version of my concerns. 

Based on my amateur understanding of HVAC, I do believe our system is properly sized.  With the exception of the upstairs in the summer, the house heats/cools evenly and the system doesn't cycle on/off too frequently.  I'll fiddle around with the calculator, but a lot of the insulation ratings are just guesses.  A few factoids that might be relevant:

1. The hot upstairs issue is universal in my neighborhood in Denver.  I think it's the newer home design with a lot of attic insulation that mostly improves home performance, but has a tendency to trap heat upstairs.  It's a common theme in neighborhood facebook groups and summer gatherings.  We can usually solve this with open windows and ceiling fans unless the air quality is bad, or a true heat wave where it stays hot at night (1-2 weeks per summer).  Since we mostly use open windows and fans upstairs anyways, I don't believe that zoning will do much for this problem.  Although the whole house fan might.  I am buying an air quality monitor to help understand when open windows are a good or bad idea. 

2. The HVAC system was actually designed and ducted for zones.  There is separate ductwork for each floor, and wiring for thermostats.  They just never installed the louvers or the controllers.  A neighbor had their system with the same setup zoned (built by the same builders at the same time), and they claim their electric bill went down by ~10% in the summer, but not much impact on the winter.  They're naturally more aggressive about using the AC than we are though. 

3. As a general rule, houses in my neighborhood are well designed and speced, but were built by drunken monkeys.  I have general confidence that the system was sized correctly, but wouldn't be surprised if it was installed poorly.

4.  I'm in Denver, so basement humidity is never an issue.  I have more of an issue with dry air.

Edit to clarify:  I don't think that zoning will do much for the top floor, and I wouldn't run the AC more to cool the top floor.  I'd mostly use zoning to shut off the HVAC to the basement.  The real question is the one you brought up, which is whether this will just make the ductwork less efficient, or whether it will actually move more air through the rest of the house.

[Syonyk]

I still have 64 left, and with the utter lack of widespread interest in this project, I'll probably end it at that.  Any feedback on why people aren't interested in this?

[pressure9pa]

I would have thought a lot more people would have been interested.  I have 24 exterior (all single) if you decide to continue. 

[NorCal]

I still have 64 left, and with the utter lack of widespread interest in this project, I'll probably end it at that.  Any feedback on why people aren't interested in this?

I'll provide a hypothesis that a lot of people aren't comfortable sharing contact info over the internet.

I'm grateful you put this together.  Even though it wasn't useful for my house specifically, I've been working on other energy efficiency upgrades, and it's always good to see others doing (and encouraging) the same.  Hopefully it got others thinking about energy efficiency as well, even if they didn't take you up on this specific offer.

[Syonyk]

I would have thought a lot more people would have been interested.  I have 24 exterior (all single) if you decide to continue.

Send an address and I'll stuff 'em in the mail!

I'll provide a hypothesis that a lot of people aren't comfortable sharing contact info over the internet.

Maybe.  Not like I'm a random new member posting it.

I'm grateful you put this together.  Even though it wasn't useful for my house specifically, I've been working on other energy efficiency upgrades, and it's always good to see others doing (and encouraging) the same.  Hopefully it got others thinking about energy efficiency as well, even if they didn't take you up on this specific offer.

I really need to get off my ass and just get a heat pump water heater installed.  Mostly, I don't want to have to cut a large hole in the closet door.  Taking a circular saw to major parts of the house is always a challenge for me.

[chemistk]

I'll bite. I've been lurking, since I have....29.... on the main floor alone (2 triples, 3 doubles, 17 singles - mixture of switches and outlets). Figured I'd not respond so that I wouldn't consume your inventory.

I won't ask for any for the basement since they're in front of the cinder block wall and would be minimally effective.

29 seems like a high number - but the PO LOVED electricity. There are around 90 electrical outlets in our house, including the exterior and oven & dryer specific ones.

[uniwelder]

I'll bite. I've been lurking, since I have....29.... on the main floor alone (2 triples, 3 doubles, 17 singles - mixture of switches and outlets). Figured I'd not respond so that I wouldn't consume your inventory.

I won't ask for any for the basement since they're in front of the cinder block wall and would be minimally effective.

29 seems like a high number - but the PO LOVED electricity. There are around 90 electrical outlets in our house, including the exterior and oven & dryer specific ones.

I've been really surprised by how few outlets people are saying they have in their houses.  At the lower end, a 1,200 sq ft ranch, 24x50, would likely have at least 20 around the outside perimeter.  This makes one outlet every 10 feet (code requires every 12 feet), double switches at 2 entrances, and rounding up for an extra in the kitchen.  Considering most houses are larger than that, I'd say 29 isn't high by modern (and big house) US standards.  When we renovated our previous 750 sq ft 2 bedroom house, I think we ended up with 19 on the exterior walls to get it to code.

[Weisass]

I'll bite. I've been lurking, since I have....29.... on the main floor alone (2 triples, 3 doubles, 17 singles - mixture of switches and outlets). Figured I'd not respond so that I wouldn't consume your inventory.

I won't ask for any for the basement since they're in front of the cinder block wall and would be minimally effective.

29 seems like a high number - but the PO LOVED electricity. There are around 90 electrical outlets in our house, including the exterior and oven & dryer specific ones.

I've been really surprised by how few outlets people are saying they have in their houses.  At the lower end, a 1,200 sq ft ranch, 24x50, would likely have at least 20 around the outside perimeter.  This makes one outlet every 10 feet (code requires every 12 feet), double switches at 2 entrances, and rounding up for an extra in the kitchen.  Considering most houses are larger than that, I'd say 29 isn't high by modern (and big house) US standards.  When we renovated our previous 750 sq ft 2 bedroom house, I think we ended up with 19 on the exterior walls to get it to code.

Our house is  a 1930s era stone house so I’m not surprised that the outlets are mostly on interior walls….

[NorCal]

I really need to get off my ass and just get a heat pump water heater installed.  Mostly, I don't want to have to cut a large hole in the closet door.  Taking a circular saw to major parts of the house is always a challenge for me.

I'm installing one this weekend.  I'll let you know if I come up with any "lessons learned".  Thankfully my water heater is in a large utility room, so I won't have the ventilation challenges you do.

I guess my first lesson learned is that plumbers are in HIGH demand right now.  I looked for quotes from three plumbers.  Two ghosted me and one quoted me $5,500.  No thanks, I'll do it myself.

[chemistk]

I'll bite. I've been lurking, since I have....29.... on the main floor alone (2 triples, 3 doubles, 17 singles - mixture of switches and outlets). Figured I'd not respond so that I wouldn't consume your inventory.

I won't ask for any for the basement since they're in front of the cinder block wall and would be minimally effective.

29 seems like a high number - but the PO LOVED electricity. There are around 90 electrical outlets in our house, including the exterior and oven & dryer specific ones.

I've been really surprised by how few outlets people are saying they have in their houses.  At the lower end, a 1,200 sq ft ranch, 24x50, would likely have at least 20 around the outside perimeter.  This makes one outlet every 10 feet (code requires every 12 feet), double switches at 2 entrances, and rounding up for an extra in the kitchen.  Considering most houses are larger than that, I'd say 29 isn't high by modern (and big house) US standards.  When we renovated our previous 750 sq ft 2 bedroom house, I think we ended up with 19 on the exterior walls to get it to code.

We are in a ranch, but it's a little bigger than 24x50 thanks to an addition and a larger bump-out for the front bedrooms. Outlets are on average about 1 every 8 feet on the main level. The basement is.....different. The 692 sq. ft. finished side has outlets every ~3.5ft, as well as 40 individual light fixtures. Plus 4 ceiling mount outlets. There are 4 coax plates, and 3 telephone jacks. And no, the basement was never used for commercial purposes.

The unfinished side (~500 sq ft) is thankfully better, but still has 6 outlets, (7 if you include the dryer), 2 coax plates, and 10 individual light fixtures. Over electrified, and that's not my admission - my dad's an electrical engineer and we have a friend who used to be a journeyman commercial electrician and both were amazed at how much many fixtures, outlets, and switches we have.

[ysette9]

I’m finally getting some installed! They seem to be on the small side for my covers but maybe it doesn’t matter?


I cut some of the excess into strips and am putting them on the sides for some.



Another forum member has kindly lent me an IR camera so I tried some before and after photos.




The big purple cold spot on the left is where my old house wall is far from flat and has a big gap. I’ll have to find another way to address that issue.

One more for fun:

And after

[Glenstache]

I wish I had a flir to do the same. I installed mine yesterday. I could feel a cool draft out of a few of the boxes when they were open. Thanks for starting this Syonyk!

[Syonyk]

I’m finally getting some installed! They seem to be on the small side for my covers but maybe it doesn’t matter?

I stuffed them in the box side, and then put the cover on over the top.  Since the outlet cover plate is typically larger than the cutout in the wall, it should still cover the hole.  They're sized for standard outlet boxes, which are almost certainly what you have - compare the size to the outlet or switch box and it should be fine.

pressure9pa's shipment is going out today.

[ysette9]

I’m finally getting some installed! They seem to be on the small side for my covers but maybe it doesn’t matter?

I stuffed them in the box side, and then put the cover on over the top.  Since the outlet cover plate is typically larger than the cutout in the wall, it should still cover the hole.  They're sized for standard outlet boxes, which are almost certainly what you have - compare the size to the outlet or switch box and it should be fine.

pressure9pa's shipment is going out today.

I think they are the right size for the boxes and many of my boxes are installed badly, and so have gaps around the box.