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Home > Archive > Building and Construction > February 2007 > How good is Tech Shield?
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How good is Tech Shield?
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| We're building a new home in Phoenix, AZ.
The builder is offering Tech Shield for $1,125 for a 2100 sq/ft, three
story home.
They also offer an upgrade from R-30 to R-38 ceiling insulation for
$400.
For exterior walls, they offer an upgrade to 2x6 construction which
includes R-19 up from R-13 with the standard 2x4 construction. The
cost for this is $5,665. I can get an insulation-only upgrade from
R-13 to R-15 for $1360.
The footprint of the house is apx. 25'x50. The 50' sides face east-
west. There will be another two story house to the west that will
block a good portion of the afternoon sun from the side walls of the
house.
Tech Shield advertises 20-30% energy cost savings but I wanted to see
if others could offer some real-world figures for this upgrade.
I think the R-38 ceiling insulation upgrade will be worth the cost.
As far as the exterior walls are concerned, we were thinking the home
to the west would give enough shade so that it would take us forever
for the 2x6/R-19 insulation upgrade to pay for itself in energy cost
savings. R-13 to R-15 doesn't seem like much of an upgrade, so again,
it seems like it would be a long time before it paid for itself.
Just wanted to toss this out to get some opinions of others.
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| NuWaveDave 2007-02-12, 3:25 am |
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"Dave" <gweedoh@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1171250645.034402.155480@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
> We're building a new home in Phoenix, AZ.
>
> The builder is offering Tech Shield for $1,125 for a 2100 sq/ft, three
> story home.
>
> They also offer an upgrade from R-30 to R-38 ceiling insulation for
> $400.
>
> For exterior walls, they offer an upgrade to 2x6 construction which
> includes R-19 up from R-13 with the standard 2x4 construction. The
> cost for this is $5,665. I can get an insulation-only upgrade from
> R-13 to R-15 for $1360.
>
> The footprint of the house is apx. 25'x50. The 50' sides face east-
> west. There will be another two story house to the west that will
> block a good portion of the afternoon sun from the side walls of the
> house.
>
> Tech Shield advertises 20-30% energy cost savings but I wanted to see
> if others could offer some real-world figures for this upgrade.
>
> I think the R-38 ceiling insulation upgrade will be worth the cost.
>
> As far as the exterior walls are concerned, we were thinking the home
> to the west would give enough shade so that it would take us forever
> for the 2x6/R-19 insulation upgrade to pay for itself in energy cost
> savings. R-13 to R-15 doesn't seem like much of an upgrade, so again,
> it seems like it would be a long time before it paid for itself.
>
> Just wanted to toss this out to get some opinions of others.
Do it. Do it all. Assuming you're paying $150/sq. ft. what's another $5k
on top of $315,000? I'd certainly do the Techshield roof decking and the
R38 attic insulation. 2100 sq. ft. on a 25X50 footprint means a second
story so I'd probably Techshield sheath the west wall second story. You
should also spec continuous soffit and ridge venting.
--
NuWave Dave in Houston
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| Just sell the stuff on the floor and throw away what no one wants. Go to
the dump or transfer station and rummage through the demolitioned material.
They might have something there.
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| david@hallsnet.com 2007-02-14, 9:25 pm |
| One of the things I really regret in building our house is that we did
not use 2x6 on the exterior walls. Originally our plans spec'ed 2x6
exterior walls & the extra insulation, but in order to save a few
bucks I opted for 2x4s at the last minute.
You can do ROI calculations until you are blue in the face, and the
payoffs for these types of things are often elusive. However, as
energy prices continue to rise, the return may come much sooner than
you think. Also, if energy prices get out of control in years to
come, your house might have significantly more value to prospective
buyers given the lower utility bills.
Paint, cabinets, couterops, flooring, applicances and dozens of other
things can be changed later if you decide to (expensive, yes - but
possible). Changing to 2x6 construction later will not be an option.
You can read more about our project here:
http://www.hallsnet.com/david/house
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"M" <mr_mark@roadrunner.com> wrote in message
news:45d25bd8$0$5207$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Just sell the stuff on the floor and throw away what no one wants. Go to
> the dump or transfer station and rummage through the demolitioned
> material. They might have something there.
>
holy crap ...sorry , wrong thread
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