November 25, 2025 • 31 mins
A chilly room tells a story, and today we decode it with clear, practical advice you can use before your next utility bill arrives. We kick off with a quick nod to football, then dive straight into comfort science: why that “burnt” smell appears when the heat first comes on, how long it should last, and the simple signs that mean it’s time to call a pro. From there, we get hands-on with the fixes that matter most—filters, ducts, insulation, and air sealing—so you can keep more of the warmth you already pay for.
We break down MERV ratings without the jargon and explain why “higher” can backfire in a home system. You’ll learn why cheap filters swapped monthly often outperform pricey options left too long, and how pets and foot traffic downstairs change your replacement schedule. We unpack conductive vs convective heat transfer to show where heat actually escapes, then map out a weekend DIY plan: carefully pop interior casing, add low-expansion foam around doors and windows, and reseat trim for immediate draft control. We also spotlight hidden losses at the air handler, where failed tape and loose ducts send conditioned air into attics and crawl spaces.
Choosing a heat source is easier with context. Modern electric heat pumps maintain comfort efficiently; gas still delivers fast warmups for large or intermittently used spaces; and dual-fuel systems blend both. We share when each shines, plus budget-friendly ways to add targeted warmth with electric fireplaces that move real air and run flame-only for year-round ambiance. Rounding things out, we compare crawl spaces and slabs: site slope, repair access, HVAC placement, and long-term costs that often get overlooked during planning.
Ready to make your home feel better with fewer dollars? Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who’s fighting cold corners, and leave us a quick review with your best winter comfort tip. Your ideas help shape future topics and keep the conversation useful for everyone.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
For people who aren't familiarwith the show, they don't
realize that me and Donnie bothlove sports.
We love football.
Donnie's done fantasy footballbefore for, I assume, many
years, and I accidentally gotinto fantasy football this year.
(00:23):
What place are you in with someof your fantasy football
leagues, Donnie?
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
Man, I'm in a proud third place.
I um I've done fantasy for,gosh, 15 years plus, and um got
a league with all my collegebuddies, which is a big way that
we keep up with each other.
But this year with injuries umjust running rampant, I lost a
couple of key players right outof the gate and did a ton of
research in the offseason, whichhelped me zero.
(00:49):
So probably won't ever, youknow, give those hours up again
preseason.
But um yeah, my I I started outin tenth place, week two coming
into the season, and I fought myway back off the waiver wire and
battled all the way up to aproud third place.
So I'm in the hunt for theplayoffs, and I think I got a
good shot at it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
So I, as I said, hadn't done it before, um, just
kind of accidentally clicked ona link for ESPN and it put me in
a league, and I didn't evendraft.
I didn't research, I just let itdo auto draft.
It put my power ranking ateighth, and now I'm sitting in
third place.
I am taking care of it.
I mean, I go in and I'll pullsomebody who's on IR or I'll
(01:28):
I'll value who's gonna mostlikely perform better, but I'm
not trying, trying like peoplelike you do, and I'm in a solid
third place too.
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
So you're that guy.
Nobody likes a guy that doesn'tdraft, put any homework into it,
doesn't even fix his lineup mostof the time, and he still wins.
That's just that's garbage.
It's been that kind of year,though.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
Yeah, I mean, look at now, ooh, do you think Burrow
will come back uh in a couplethree weeks?
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Well, the Bengals are sitting so low in the
standings, I don't see the needfor him to come back.
It's not like he's gonna battleback and get them a playoff uh
spot.
So they're not even incontention, and I think you
don't you don't put your Ferrariout there on the field during a
losing season when it's only acouple of games to go.
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Now, I know at the recording of this show uh things
can change afterwards, but youknow they're only a couple games
out because Pittsburgh's leadingat what, five and five.
So they actually still have achance.
They could win the conference.
I think Baltimore will do it aslong as Lamar stays healthy, but
they could make the playoffs.
Technically, they're easily inuh shot of making it with the
(02:31):
record.
SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Yeah, I would love to see him healthy, but but
that's pretty much it.
And he was my main player thatgot knocked out early in the
season, so I'm just a little bitbitter, and uh maybe that sways
my opinion because I dropped himon the waiver wire.
But yeah, if he comes back, Iwould I would love to have him
back.
However, I just don't theBengals have some crazy stuff
going on in Cincinnati, and uhthey were my team.
(02:53):
I was a Cincinnati Bingle fanand a Buffalo Bill fan before
the Panthers came to be in the90s, and of course I had to dump
both of those for the Panthers,but when the Panthers are pretty
terrible, I keep up with them.
And uh the Bengals have justbeen a train wreck lately, and
um, you know, they Burrow seemsto be their only shining star.
And of course, the receiverJamar Chase doesn't do the same
things when Burrow's not on thefield.
SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
No question.
I agree with you, though.
I think if Burrow does anyplaying this year, you wait till
December, you let him do limitedplay because you don't want to
ruin your franchise quarterback.
Though I'm also gonna say Idon't think he's Super Bowl
quarterback quality.
Maybe had some more targets, butjust him and a couple receivers
ain't enough.
Yep.
Agreed.
Anyway, this is the Carolinacontractor show, and yes, once
(03:36):
again, we start off with sports,but that's okay.
You probably like sports too.
Uh, the Carolina Contractor.comis website and find more details
about the show.
We got all the shows uploaded inpodcast form, and they're
labeled by the title or subject,also the date, so you can go
through the whole list of uhhundreds, literally hundreds of
uh podcasts and listen to themat your own convenience, maybe
(03:56):
while you're commiserating withall your Bengals fans about Joe
Burrow being out with turf toe.
Uh for the record, I'm doingtoday's show with turf toe.
So I sucked it up and went towork while he, you know, he
didn't.
Hey, dude.
SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
I'm just saying.
A toe injury is nothing tosneeze at.
Uh a toe injury puts ShaquilleO'Neal out of the NBA.
I mean, that's that's a toe is abig deal.
So yeah, I I sympathize for him.
SPEAKER_01 (04:19):
You're you're crushing my groove with my
sarcastic joke right there.
But I understand there'sligaments involved and
everything else.
Uh Deion Sanders had the sameproblem for a while.
And now they go cut off his toe.
But anyway, uh if you have aquestion about your house,
because that's what we like totalk about, DIY projects,
building, construction, all thatsort of stuff, you'll find again
(04:39):
at the website.
If you have a question inparticular, hit the website for
the ask the contractor section.
It's a little button you clickon, ask your question.
Donnie gets it.
He's a general contractor.
We answer them all.
Sometimes we answer questions onthe show.
And uh, you know, hey, maybejust have a comment in general.
Also check out social media.
We've got our stuff uploaded onYouTube, Instagram, Facebook,
(04:59):
and you know, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, all that stuff.
Again, website's the easiestplace to find us, the
Carolinacontractor.com.
Um, one thing we try to do atthe Smith household in Wilson
Donnie is hold off turning onthe AC as long as we can in the
spring into summer, and hold offturning on the heat as far as we
can into the winter.
(05:21):
Have you turned your heat onyet?
SPEAKER_00 (05:23):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
But I have the uh thermostatthat has the range, so I can set
if it gets below a certaintemperature, the heat kicks on.
If it gets above a certaintemperature, I get AC.
And we're in that funky seasonright now, and in North
Carolina, of course, so that's areal thing.
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
Yeah, um we turned it on early this year, too,
because we got that cold snap,seemed kind of early.
But I literally turned thesystem off when we're doing that
so it doesn't accidentally comeon.
And a couple times we made it toDecember, and I remember one
year we made it into uh earlyJune before we turned the AC on.
And the bill, it was funny, itcame up and it was like uh 45,
50 percent lower than normal.
(05:57):
And I'm like, yes, let's go allthrough the entire summer
without turning on the AC.
SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
I lost that battle.
That's why everybody wants tolive in North Carolina, man.
That that moderate climate is isan attractive thing, and um, I
think the key there is is whatyour insulation package looks
like.
If you're well insulated, thenyou can make it an extra month
or so.
SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
Yeah, definitely.
Um so when people do turn theirheat on for the first time in
the season, there's usually thatburn smell.
Uh is that something to beconcerned about, or is that
normal?
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
Yeah, we actually got a question about that.
And um uh we probably yearly,that's a thing where people
write us and say, hey, do I needto be worried about this?
And uh basically what that is isthere's there's dust
accumulation on the coils andyour air handler there um or
your heat.
And the way that works is itblows air across those coils to
warm the air up uh before itcomes out of your supply
(06:47):
registers, and it's just nothingmore than than just uh burning
that dust off of those coils.
I will say this that it maybethe first three or four times
your unit cycles on and off, itshould be that should be it.
And if that smell continues, Iwould just recommend you to
contact an HVAC professional.
SPEAKER_01 (07:05):
Now I have a shop back, I'm sure you do too.
Sometimes I've taken the floorgrates up and just kind of
pushed it down as far as itwould go, but you know, you get
the bend and try to vacuum out.
I I've never used one of the theduct cleaning services.
Um have you ever used one?
SPEAKER_00 (07:21):
I have not personally.
Um there's certain situationsthat call for that.
You know, if if um maybe youdidn't change your filters out
very frequently or just in a ina situation where the house is
still newer and the do theductwork is code compliant, and
in that case uh it has an R8 foran insulation value and it
should be labeled right there onthe ductwork in your attic or in
(07:42):
your crawl space.
But uh if if your ductwork is anR8 or better, then you're
probably okay and cleaning thoseducts is called for.
But if you have older ductworkand it's poorly insulated, then
the the price you pay to haveyour ducts cleaned, just a
little bit more than that, youcan probably just have them all
replaced and brought up to code.
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Yeah, and that's a good idea because they're not
designed to last the life of thehouse.
And uh, we talked about in aprevious show, I remember, um,
you get any moisture in a ductsystem, it's gonna develop mold,
and you won't see that.
If you see it on your register,that means it's already through
the um rest of your system, soyou might as well just have that
pulled out and cleaned up anddone right.
(08:22):
I guess I don't know what's thelifespan, probably 20, 25 years.
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
And um just like I said, whenyou go to replace your unit, you
want to uh consult that HVACprofessional and just ask them,
hey, does my does my ductworklook okay or does it need to be
replaced?
And if they're an honestsalesperson, they're gonna, you
know, take a good look and tellyou the truth.
And of course every heating andair company wants to do the
whole shebang when they come in,but I'd say if the house is
(08:48):
newer than 2010 or so, uh maybeeven two thousand, then it
probably is co-compliant interms of the insulation value.
SPEAKER_01 (08:55):
Now we always talk about uh changing out your
filters for your HVAC system,and one of the things my HVAC
tech has always said, you youyou you can put in a filter
that's not as uh the MERV ratingnot as high uh if you change it
more often.
He he's a fan of airflow.
Um first of all, I guess weshould explain what the MERV
(09:16):
rating is.
It's minimum efficiencyreporting values.
Very sexy.
If you use that as a pickup lineat a bar, guys, man, you are
you're going home tonight.
Um but you look on your HVACsystem, and with AI and phones,
you can scan the label on yourHVAC system, and it should give
(09:36):
you a lot of information aboutyour um heating and air
conditioning unit, and it shouldgive the MERV rating.
You can always ask your tech toverify what it is.
But say your MERV rating is tobe a 10.
Wouldn't then putting a 13 or a14 be better for your system?
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
Um no, not necessarily.
Um and I know we've talked aboutthis, I guess, in years past,
but if you have a um asimplified definition of a MERV
rating is the size of the holesin your air filter.
And so uh if you uh I tellpeople just buy the cheaper air
filter and stay on top of thechange out every month.
But if you go to a um uh atighter hole in the uh or a
(10:14):
higher MERV rating in thefilter, you could actually choke
off your system and it makesyour your um heating and air
equipment have to work that muchharder to pass air through.
So it's not always um a goodthing, and it's not even called
for.
Those ones with the higher MERVratings are meant for medical
offices and places that have,you know, literally zero dust
(10:34):
tolerance, dust particletolerance.
And so um you can go reallyfancy, and if you're a
germophobe or you know,hypochondriac, whatever you want
to say there, uh you you stillyou can go with a little bit
higher MERV rating, but ityou're gonna have to change
those out so frequently thatit's gonna turn into a pain in
the rear end because uh you'regonna you're c you're paying
more for the filter.
You're changing it out, youknow, not even uh in in half the
(10:56):
time more than that because it'sgonna clog up so fast.
I just tell folks go ahead andget your filters on auto renew,
get them delivered once monthly.
That delivery will be your uhtrigger to remind you to swap
that thing out, and it takes twoseconds to do, it extends the
life of your heating and airequipment, so no-brainer all the
way around.
SPEAKER_01 (11:14):
Yeah, I use the cheap ones from the big box
store and they sell them in athree-pack for like five bucks.
And what I love about that, youtalked about changing them out.
I only have two that I have tobaby.
The one downstairs, because youhave more movement downstairs,
there's constantly more stirringup of the elements in a
downstairs room than upstairs.
The one downstairs has to bechanged twice as often.
(11:35):
So I keep two downstairs, oneupstairs, change them at the
same time, and when I change thesecond time, the lower one, I
know I need to go to the store,but uh yeah, the lower is good.
As you pointed out, you may havean allergy or uh some sort of uh
reaction to dust that you needto have that uh filtered out
(11:55):
correctly.
That's fine, I get it.
And expensive, expensive.
You're not kidding.
I just told you you can buythree low Merv filters.
Mine's a 20, 21 inch uh forfive, six bucks, or you can buy
one eight, nine, or ten Merv,and they're like twenty-five,
thirty-five dollars.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
Yeah, for sure.
Pets are the pets are alsoreally bad for your air filter.
If you've got pets, you need toreally monitor that that filter,
and and people just don't thinkabout it.
It's terrible.
And then, you know, like Imentioned, it it extends the
life of your heating and airsystem, and it only gets
expensive more expensive everyyear with the building codes.
Uh, I want to say the minimumSEER rating now is a 15.
It was a 10 or 11 not so longago, and that just gives the
(12:37):
heating and air folks uh room tocharge more because the
equipment costs them more, andit's just a big money racket
when it when the part youactually have control over is
how long your system lasts, andand um and a combination of
filter uh changing out when it'ssupposed to, and then we always
recommend you know having a uhat least annual contract with a
(12:58):
heating and air company to checkeverything out, make sure it's
running like it's supposed to.
But I think two times a yearwhen it turns cold to hot and
hot to cold, then that's the twotimes to look at it, and it's
not that expensive to do in thebig picture, a lot less
expensive than a brand new unit.
SPEAKER_01 (13:12):
And my guy Brandon Devnam comes in and he not only
does the twice spring and andfall, he'll pull the grass
that's been growing around it,he'll open the top and pull out
the any weeds, you know, theysometimes can come through.
I mean, I was stunned when hedid it, but it makes you feel
really confident about goinginto the warm season or the cold
season when somebody goesthrough and measures the airflow
(13:33):
and he sends me a printout thathas all these technical terms
that I don't even know what theymean.
And and I'm like, this isawesome, this is fantastic.
I'm a huge proponent of gettingthat contract.
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
Let's go, Brandon.
SPEAKER_01 (13:48):
You're brilliant, Donnie.
You're on tonight.
Very good.
Hey, um let's get a littlescientific here because some
people might not realize this,but uh the most common complaint
this time of year is why is itcold my house?
Why is the heat dissipating frommy house?
It seems like I'm always runningthis, or vice versa in the
summer.
Why is the cold air not stayinghere?
(14:08):
I always feel hot.
Um the obvious reasons thatcould be for heat loss are I
said earlier before we startedrecording, you don't have a
roof, you don't have a roof onyour house, or you leave all
your windows and doors open inDecember.
Those would probably be thebiggest reasons you have heat
loss.
But if you go outside and youcheck and you got a roof and
(14:29):
your windows are shut, what arereasons that we have heat loss
and heat gain in a house?
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
Yeah.
Um I'll well, I'll answer thattwo ways and I'll say how it
happens and then what a commoncause would be.
But um, if you read up, and andit's such an interesting thing
to Google is convective andconductive heat transfer.
Uh I won't get into radiationbecause that's not as
interesting, but um, you know,conductive heat transfer is is
(14:56):
surface to surface.
So uh if it's cold outside andyou have a vinyl siding house,
then that vinyl's gonnaobviously uh be within a few
degrees of what the airtemperature is, and that vinyl's
touching the plywood on yourhouse, plywood's touching the
studs, studs touching thedrywall, so you have that
thermal bridging effect wherewhatever, you know, but it's
it's basically um heat loss inthe form of uh that cold is
(15:21):
pulling the heat out of yourhouse.
And so and it it's it's flippedin the summertime because the
heat from outside uh it's it'sjust it's trying to get in, and
so you know it it happens in thereverse direction.
But conductive heat transfer isone of those things you can
really control um with a goodinsulation package and with the
thermal bridging effect, youknow, having um with a brick
(15:43):
veneer house, you're supposed tohave an airspace.
So it's a brick veneer, thenit's a one-inch airspace, and
then it's your plywood.
That airspace actually has an Rvalue of one.
I didn't know that for years andyears, but uh that's wise
because it is keeping thatthermal bridging from happening
as fast.
And so um uh that is not that'sthe slowest way that you lose
heat.
Uh conductive heat transfer isair movement, and so it's not
(16:05):
surface to surface.
It's basically if you have aleaky house, and and before the
days that spray foam uhinsulation were common, you
know, a lot of houses around thewindows and doors, and they they
just have this void or thisairspace all the way around
there that um on a good windyday you can put your hand right
up to the casing around thedoors and windows, and you can
feel a breeze coming in.
(16:26):
And uh that's not the case withanything probably built in the
last 20, 25 years.
But uh when we do a remodel, forinstance, and we demo the
drywall, man, it it's it'sscary, you know, how house
houses got by for years andyears.
But um, controlling yourconductive heat transfer is
basically using low expansionspray foam around the doors and
windows.
It's not a major surgery DIYthing.
(16:48):
If you're handy and you have auh chop saw or miter saw,
whatever you call it, uh youcould pop the trim uh off of the
doors and windows verycarefully, and especially if
it's available, if you break afew pieces, so what?
But go room by room and pop themoff, and and on a Saturday,
gosh, you could do half you knowthe upstairs in one weekend and
the downstairs in another, butpop the trim off, uh put the low
(17:10):
expansion spray foam around thedoors and windows, pop the trim
back on, and just you know, dothe paint touch up, and it's a
major, major savings in terms ofyour utilities.
Um of the other things that thataren't uh any kind of long
explanation causes is um yourair handler.
So check your air handler in theattic or in the crawl space, and
(17:31):
all the ductwork usually comesoff of that.
It's either a distribution boxor something that you'll see
plenty of the supply uhconnected to, and it's not
uncommon to see that tape fail.
So the heating and air tape canuh can turn loose, and
especially if it's in a uh moistcondition or if it's in a attic
with any kind of condensationaround that area.
(17:52):
Um I've seen it a million timeswhere you know the ductw was
actually separated from the airhandler.
So that that's a big dealbecause you don't want to
condition your crawl space oryour attic.
Um the the other thing I wouldsay is uh poor insulation.
We touched on that earlier inthe show.
If your ductwork is less than anR8, then it is basically uh it's
(18:14):
radiating heat or you know,losing the cool air in the
summer months.
So making sure that your ductwis up to par with the building
code, even a little strongerthan the building code, is is a
good thing.
I always tell people when weinsulate, we uh we overinsulate
the attic area with the stackeffect or the heat transfer.
Uh I'm sorry, stack effect, theheat uh rises, and that that's
(18:34):
that's common, no matter it's askind it's as as true as gravity.
And so, you know, having pooroverhead insulation is a big
factor in that.
So those are are several of thethings that that are common
causes, and uh most of those canbe uh fixed.
It's one of those things wherefrom a retrofit standpoint uh
it's definitely something thatthat you can repair.
SPEAKER_01 (18:55):
And you see, Daisy's made her her appearance.
She always hears your voice.
She just out of the blue.
Come on, lift up.
There's Daisy.
Something about your voice,Donnie.
I don't know what I'm saying.
I know, I know.
Yours is so much better.
I want I want to um uh addresstwo quick things.
One, the thermal bridging,people don't realize it also
travels down from like yourattic and can affect the
(19:18):
interior walls.
You were talking about exteriorwalls.
One way to know if you've got athermal bridging problem is in a
really hot day or a really coldday, if you're in a hallway that
you don't have an outer wall andyou put your hand on that wall
and it feels colder than whatthe air does, or warm or
whatever the case may be, you'reyou're knowing, especially on
the second floor of your houseif you have one, that the attic
(19:40):
is allowing that air to come in,which is not unnormal, but it's
getting through and coming downthe walls.
So you might have an insulationissue where you have it, might
just take a little bit extrainsulation in the attic.
It's not a huge worrynecessarily.
Secondly, on the casing, um,yeah, be careful when taking off
casing if it's old and paintedin, because you can crack it.
(20:02):
But as Donnie said, it'sprobably what um 445 casing is
the most common, but most casingaround windows is pretty
generic.
That's one, two, maybe threedifferent that it probably is.
It's not expensive.
If you're getting ready to paintsome rooms, you're gonna be
painting the casing probably,anyways.
(20:23):
That might be a time to go aheadand incorporate in costs that
you're gonna pop off casing.
Anything that doesn't survivethe pop-off, you can replace.
But go ahead at that point, dosome ceiling around your
windows, and then you put on thenew casing and you have your
house painted, that interiorroom or whatever the room might
be.
Great point, dude.
(20:43):
So I'm I'm just trying to sellsome some prime finger joint
wood here.
Um here's another thing.
Uh, people replacing their HVACunits, it happens every year.
We say don't wait because theprice ain't gonna go down.
Uh someone had a question awhile back and they said they're
replacing their system and theyhave gas.
Um, do you recommend that theystay with gas or go with
(21:07):
electric?
I have electric heat pumpmyself.
SPEAKER_00 (21:11):
Um I would I would say that the age of the house
and the way it's insulated iseverything in that scenario.
So if your house is pretty newand it's well insulated, then
then electric works just fine.
The heat pumps, which is theelectric heat uh heat pumps, are
so much better than they used tobe, and they work very well.
Uh they they don't they'rebetter at maintenance, so they
(21:33):
don't heat your house up as fastas gas would, but you know,
they're the basically the samething when it comes to the AC,
so you're just gonna have gasfor the heat only.
And I will say in a commercialapplication or a church
sanctuary or something likethat, where you come in at nine
o'clock in the morning and youneed that thing to be warm by
11, then you know, gas packsmore of a punch.
I think the air temperaturecoming out of a gas furnace is
(21:56):
130 degrees, whereas it's onlyabout 90 degrees coming out of a
heat pump.
So uh what seems to be common,and and everybody's getting away
from gas, but what seems to becommon is a dual fuel in in that
scenario I just mentioned, andit'll kick on with the gas and
it'll heat it up really fast andit switches over to electric for
maintenance.
So uh at the very most I wouldsay go dual fuel if you're a gas
(22:20):
person, but man, I just don'tsee any any um need for gas.
Every it from appliances to theheating and air units,
everything is so much betterthese days.
And uh if you've just got alittle more time to manage it,
then electric works just fine,and there's no cheaper thing
than than the electric way toheat your house.
It it's so much more expensivewith gas.
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
I agree with that.
I I think my fantasy of havinggas anything would would be a
gas fireplace, but not for theheat necessarily, though that
would be a benefit.
But it's that instant flame.
Like you just have that.
So I get that luxury, I wouldlike that, but am I gonna pay
for them to run a line to myvented fireplace and set that
(23:01):
up?
I haven't in 20 years, I'mprobably not, but I get it.
I do have our uh my stepmothergave us uh for Christmas, the
Smith Family, one of theelectric-looking fireplaces, you
know, the fake flames, and thoseturn out to be fantastic because
they look great, but if you haveit in one room and you go in
that room early in the morningand I'm an early rise or I'm a
(23:23):
pre-5 a.m.er, it just takes thechill off the room, and then you
can turn that little heatelement off and just have the
fake fire.
But that's a great way also toconsider if you just have a room
that gets a little chill in themorning, it'll take it right
off.
Have you ever opened the gone tothe kitchen and and turned the
oven on and just open it like acouple inches to to take off the
(23:44):
chill in the room and then turnit off?
SPEAKER_00 (23:46):
Absolutely.
We lived in an old, old houseand it it I don't think it had
any insulation other thanoverhead.
But um, yeah, that was a realthing when you walked in the
kitchen in the morning.
That was an everyday thing inthat old house.
But um, and that that house iswhat turned me against gas.
But um what you just mentionedis is um is very true.
So I I I think with the uh theheat, the gas logs, that's if
(24:09):
you're gonna have anything gas,that's very wise if the power
goes out.
It'll keep your house prettywarm, at least one room and you
guys can hunker down in there.
That's the only thing we havegas.
And uh to comment on yourelectric fireplace uh thing that
I've put about one of those inevery year in a brand new house.
And dude, I'm a fan.
They they cost nothing to run.
You don't have to have the gas.
They have strong blowers, and alot of times the gas logs don't
(24:32):
have strong blowers.
Those blowers, uh, I would Iwould say that you know, an Eden
Pure heater, I don't know theexact uh term, but Eden Pure was
the little boxy heaters onwheels that you could put in a
room and it would take care ofeverything.
Um I've had I had a knockoffversion of that, but they work
great in my basement, but umit's it's electric fireplaces
are just about like that, butthey have stronger blowers.
(24:53):
So what you mentioned aboutgetting the temperature of a
room to jump up, you know, earlyin the morning, I think they
work great.
And you know, the you can changethe color, you can change the
design of the flame and somethings like that.
And and uh I I'm I'm becoming afan.
SPEAKER_01 (25:07):
Now I want to stress, I may have uh uh
misinterpreted the one we have.
I know what you're talkingabout.
This does not go inside thefireplace.
What you're talking about is alevel higher.
These are literally plug andplay.
You can pick it up by a handlenow and carry it to a different
room, but it's has a nice metalframe, they come in different
colors, and it just looks like afireplace or an old stove, uh,
(25:32):
but it works great.
It's super portable.
What you're talking about, Ithought about putting it in this
room where I have the fireplaceand was talking about gas and
having that fit in because it'sthe LEDs and the lights and the
blowers, they're really cool.
They look great.
Okay, you might not have purpleblue fire, but that's an option
if you want it.
But even in the middle of thesummer, just for the ambiance of
(25:54):
it, you can turn on just thefaux flame and no heat and enjoy
it.
Yeah, for sure.
I don't do purple blue flames orhair.
No, nobody, it's it's it's a badlook no matter who you are.
If you're if you're under 20,don't.
Um, one more thing before wewrap up the show.
Uh and this is a uh a discussionwe have a lot with people that
(26:16):
uh listen to the show.
Um pros and cons of crawl spacesversus slab foundations.
I have a crawl space.
Um you know, you deal with this,you're more familiar.
Give us a quick rundown.
SPEAKER_00 (26:29):
Um I think well, I'm not a big fan of a slab because
obviously it has plumbing in theconcrete.
If you ever have a problem, youknow it's very pricey to fix
that.
However, for folks who areinterested in, you know, no
steps or a zero entry into thehouse or handicap accessibility,
really a slab is the best way toaccomplish that.
And I think the biggest factoris whether or not the lot works
(26:52):
for the slab.
If it's a nice flat lot, maybewith a little bit of a one foot
of all from left to right or theor the or vice versa, then you
can make that work and it'seconomical.
But if you have a prettyaggressive slope on the lot,
then that means you're gonnahave to do a footing, you're
gonna have to build thefoundation on the low end up,
you know, three, four, five, sixfeet.
You've got to fill all that upwith gravel, which I think
(27:12):
gravel's like seven hundreddollars a load right now.
Insane.
And um, you know, by the timeyou get into that, you spent an
extra 10 G's just to have a slabinto the house.
And in that, in that case, Iwould just do a crawl space.
But uh in our neck of the or ourarea of the country, uh crawl
spaces, vented crawl spaces havebeen the thing for years and
(27:34):
years.
We have started doing thecondition crawl space, and if
it's done right, it really workslike it's supposed to.
Uh so uh with the slab it on aflat lot, a little bit cheaper,
and a crawl space is gonna costa little bit more, but all of
your heating and air uh can gounder your house instead of in
your attic, so you can gain thatstorage overhead.
And it it's just uh even thoughit's more expensive, you've got
(27:56):
you know a little bit of storagethere, and if anything ever goes
wrong, you can get right to it.
SPEAKER_01 (28:01):
I've told the story before um uh one of our because
I've got a crawl space, one ofthe access doors, um the old
metal ones, you know, they kindof jam in place and they wear
out.
Well, it had opened up a littlebit, and I noticed my cats like
going in there, and I was like,uh, I'm gonna go ahead and seal
this back up, but I've left itopen about this much because I
thought, you know what, if mycats are going under the crawl
(28:23):
space because it's probably alittle warmer, even if they want
to be outside, and they'redigging it, that also means
there's no varmintons livingunder my house.
Snakes won't take root, mice,whatever other animals might go
under there.
So I'm like, I'm actually gonnaleave it, and it's not gonna
harm anything to leave it openthat much.
Um I'm not suggesting people gooutside right now if they have
(28:47):
cats and open up their vents tolet them in, but uh I'm I'm
leaving my open so I have somefree pest control doing that
because I don't have a mouseproblem.
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
But I think you just came up with a million-dollar
idea, dude.
So you could get a little akitty door made for a crawl
space door and um you know putit up about a foot and they can
still get into it, but thingsthat are low to the ground
really can't.
And if it's a certain size, thatkind of eliminates anything else
bigger than a cat getting inthere.
So I think you're ontosomething.
There's one cavite.
SPEAKER_01 (29:17):
If you don't have a cat, you you've gotta then seal
it off because then somethingelse will go.
Oh, I found a way in it.
Oh, no doubt.
You know, no doubt.
You gotta keep a cat.
If I my cats are gone, then Iwould I'm gonna seal that back
up.
Um is it cavite or caveat?
You say caveat, just uh well, Iwas using it more of the uh
bourgeois uh pronunciation ofthe higher educated people.
(29:41):
Uh some people say caveat, butuh if you go to the Latin root
of that word, it means BS.
So um yeah, nice.
So yeah, I was gonna covermyself by BSing my way through
it, and you probably would havebelieved it, but I decided let's
not get into Latin and Greek uhprefixes.
And suffixes.
(30:01):
Okay, I mispronounced a word.
Sorry.
I didn't know.
I just wanted to get educated.
If I were if I were wrong allthese years, I don't know.
Yeah, that that was me.
That'll be deleted from thefinal edit of the show.
But this part won't be.
We appreciate everybody tuninginto the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Again, the website is prettysimple, the
Carolinacontractor.com, and it'sgot all the info on that.
(30:22):
Hey, you got an idea?
Maybe you've uh found a way tokeep cats from getting under
your house or you want themunder your house.
Uh or maybe you've got an ideaon the electric fireplaces,
because I'm maybe I'll move inthat direction.
That sounds pretty cool is toget the one professionally
installed that looks cool andhas a better blower.
But uh any questions you have,comments, again, you can find us
on YouTube.
(30:42):
You can find us on theInstagram, and of course, if you
want to contact us directly,click that Ask the Contractor
button on the website.
Oh, it's a great time of year.
Got football going andeverything else, and uh, we
appreciate you taking time justto tune in and check out our
show.
And we'll do this again nextweek, but with more feeling,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (31:02):
That's it.
SPEAKER_01 (31:02):
Way more feeling.
Thank you, everybody.
We appreciate the support.
Yep.
See you next week on theCarolina Contractor Show.
Welcome to the Carolina Contractor Show with
your host, General ContractorDonnie Blanchard.
For people who aren't familiarwith the show, they don't
realize that me and Donnie bothlove sports.
We love football.
Donnie's done fantasy footballbefore for, I assume, many
years, and I accidentally gotinto fantasy football this year.
(00:23):
What place are you in with someof your fantasy football
leagues, Donnie?
SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
Man, I'm in a proud third place.
I um I've done fantasy for,gosh, 15 years plus, and um got
a league with all my collegebuddies, which is a big way that
we keep up with each other.
But this year with injuries umjust running rampant, I lost a
couple of key players right outof the gate and did a ton of
research in the offseason, whichhelped me zero.
(00:49):
So probably won't ever, youknow, give those hours up again
preseason.
But um yeah, my I I started outin tenth place, week two coming
into the season, and I fought myway back off the waiver wire and
battled all the way up to aproud third place.
So I'm in the hunt for theplayoffs, and I think I got a
good shot at it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
So I, as I said, hadn't done it before, um, just
kind of accidentally clicked ona link for ESPN and it put me in
a league, and I didn't evendraft.
I didn't research, I just let itdo auto draft.
It put my power ranking ateighth, and now I'm sitting in
third place.
I am taking care of it.
I mean, I go in and I'll pullsomebody who's on IR or I'll
(01:28):
I'll value who's gonna mostlikely perform better, but I'm
not trying, trying like peoplelike you do, and I'm in a solid
third place too.
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
So you're that guy.
Nobody likes a guy that doesn'tdraft, put any homework into it,
doesn't even fix his lineup mostof the time, and he still wins.
That's just that's garbage.
It's been that kind of year,though.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
Yeah, I mean, look at now, ooh, do you think Burrow
will come back uh in a couplethree weeks?
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
Well, the Bengals are sitting so low in the
standings, I don't see the needfor him to come back.
It's not like he's gonna battleback and get them a playoff uh
spot.
So they're not even incontention, and I think you
don't you don't put your Ferrariout there on the field during a
losing season when it's only acouple of games to go.
SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Now, I know at the recording of this show uh things
can change afterwards, but youknow they're only a couple games
out because Pittsburgh's leadingat what, five and five.
So they actually still have achance.
They could win the conference.
I think Baltimore will do it aslong as Lamar stays healthy, but
they could make the playoffs.
Technically, they're easily inuh shot of making it with the
(02:31):
record.
SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Yeah, I would love to see him healthy, but but
that's pretty much it.
And he was my main player thatgot knocked out early in the
season, so I'm just a little bitbitter, and uh maybe that sways
my opinion because I dropped himon the waiver wire.
But yeah, if he comes back, Iwould I would love to have him
back.
However, I just don't theBengals have some crazy stuff
going on in Cincinnati, and uhthey were my team.
(02:53):
I was a Cincinnati Bingle fanand a Buffalo Bill fan before
the Panthers came to be in the90s, and of course I had to dump
both of those for the Panthers,but when the Panthers are pretty
terrible, I keep up with them.
And uh the Bengals have justbeen a train wreck lately, and
um, you know, they Burrow seemsto be their only shining star.
And of course, the receiverJamar Chase doesn't do the same
things when Burrow's not on thefield.
SPEAKER_01 (03:14):
No question.
I agree with you, though.
I think if Burrow does anyplaying this year, you wait till
December, you let him do limitedplay because you don't want to
ruin your franchise quarterback.
Though I'm also gonna say Idon't think he's Super Bowl
quarterback quality.
Maybe had some more targets, butjust him and a couple receivers
ain't enough.
Yep.
Agreed.
Anyway, this is the Carolinacontractor show, and yes, once
(03:36):
again, we start off with sports,but that's okay.
You probably like sports too.
Uh, the Carolina Contractor.comis website and find more details
about the show.
We got all the shows uploaded inpodcast form, and they're
labeled by the title or subject,also the date, so you can go
through the whole list of uhhundreds, literally hundreds of
uh podcasts and listen to themat your own convenience, maybe
(03:56):
while you're commiserating withall your Bengals fans about Joe
Burrow being out with turf toe.
Uh for the record, I'm doingtoday's show with turf toe.
So I sucked it up and went towork while he, you know, he
didn't.
Hey, dude.
SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
I'm just saying.
A toe injury is nothing tosneeze at.
Uh a toe injury puts ShaquilleO'Neal out of the NBA.
I mean, that's that's a toe is abig deal.
So yeah, I I sympathize for him.
SPEAKER_01 (04:19):
You're you're crushing my groove with my
sarcastic joke right there.
But I understand there'sligaments involved and
everything else.
Uh Deion Sanders had the sameproblem for a while.
And now they go cut off his toe.
But anyway, uh if you have aquestion about your house,
because that's what we like totalk about, DIY projects,
building, construction, all thatsort of stuff, you'll find again
(04:39):
at the website.
If you have a question inparticular, hit the website for
the ask the contractor section.
It's a little button you clickon, ask your question.
Donnie gets it.
He's a general contractor.
We answer them all.
Sometimes we answer questions onthe show.
And uh, you know, hey, maybejust have a comment in general.
Also check out social media.
We've got our stuff uploaded onYouTube, Instagram, Facebook,
(04:59):
and you know, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, all that stuff.
Again, website's the easiestplace to find us, the
Carolinacontractor.com.
Um, one thing we try to do atthe Smith household in Wilson
Donnie is hold off turning onthe AC as long as we can in the
spring into summer, and hold offturning on the heat as far as we
can into the winter.
(05:21):
Have you turned your heat onyet?
SPEAKER_00 (05:23):
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
But I have the uh thermostatthat has the range, so I can set
if it gets below a certaintemperature, the heat kicks on.
If it gets above a certaintemperature, I get AC.
And we're in that funky seasonright now, and in North
Carolina, of course, so that's areal thing.
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
Yeah, um we turned it on early this year, too,
because we got that cold snap,seemed kind of early.
But I literally turned thesystem off when we're doing that
so it doesn't accidentally comeon.
And a couple times we made it toDecember, and I remember one
year we made it into uh earlyJune before we turned the AC on.
And the bill, it was funny, itcame up and it was like uh 45,
50 percent lower than normal.
(05:57):
And I'm like, yes, let's go allthrough the entire summer
without turning on the AC.
SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
I lost that battle.
That's why everybody wants tolive in North Carolina, man.
That that moderate climate is isan attractive thing, and um, I
think the key there is is whatyour insulation package looks
like.
If you're well insulated, thenyou can make it an extra month
or so.
SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
Yeah, definitely.
Um so when people do turn theirheat on for the first time in
the season, there's usually thatburn smell.
Uh is that something to beconcerned about, or is that
normal?
SPEAKER_00 (06:25):
Yeah, we actually got a question about that.
And um uh we probably yearly,that's a thing where people
write us and say, hey, do I needto be worried about this?
And uh basically what that is isthere's there's dust
accumulation on the coils andyour air handler there um or
your heat.
And the way that works is itblows air across those coils to
warm the air up uh before itcomes out of your supply
(06:47):
registers, and it's just nothingmore than than just uh burning
that dust off of those coils.
I will say this that it maybethe first three or four times
your unit cycles on and off, itshould be that should be it.
And if that smell continues, Iwould just recommend you to
contact an HVAC professional.
SPEAKER_01 (07:05):
Now I have a shop back, I'm sure you do too.
Sometimes I've taken the floorgrates up and just kind of
pushed it down as far as itwould go, but you know, you get
the bend and try to vacuum out.
I I've never used one of the theduct cleaning services.
Um have you ever used one?
SPEAKER_00 (07:21):
I have not personally.
Um there's certain situationsthat call for that.
You know, if if um maybe youdidn't change your filters out
very frequently or just in a ina situation where the house is
still newer and the do theductwork is code compliant, and
in that case uh it has an R8 foran insulation value and it
should be labeled right there onthe ductwork in your attic or in
(07:42):
your crawl space.
But uh if if your ductwork is anR8 or better, then you're
probably okay and cleaning thoseducts is called for.
But if you have older ductworkand it's poorly insulated, then
the the price you pay to haveyour ducts cleaned, just a
little bit more than that, youcan probably just have them all
replaced and brought up to code.
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
Yeah, and that's a good idea because they're not
designed to last the life of thehouse.
And uh, we talked about in aprevious show, I remember, um,
you get any moisture in a ductsystem, it's gonna develop mold,
and you won't see that.
If you see it on your register,that means it's already through
the um rest of your system, soyou might as well just have that
pulled out and cleaned up anddone right.
(08:22):
I guess I don't know what's thelifespan, probably 20, 25 years.
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
And um just like I said, whenyou go to replace your unit, you
want to uh consult that HVACprofessional and just ask them,
hey, does my does my ductworklook okay or does it need to be
replaced?
And if they're an honestsalesperson, they're gonna, you
know, take a good look and tellyou the truth.
And of course every heating andair company wants to do the
whole shebang when they come in,but I'd say if the house is
(08:48):
newer than 2010 or so, uh maybeeven two thousand, then it
probably is co-compliant interms of the insulation value.
SPEAKER_01 (08:55):
Now we always talk about uh changing out your
filters for your HVAC system,and one of the things my HVAC
tech has always said, you youyou you can put in a filter
that's not as uh the MERV ratingnot as high uh if you change it
more often.
He he's a fan of airflow.
Um first of all, I guess weshould explain what the MERV
(09:16):
rating is.
It's minimum efficiencyreporting values.
Very sexy.
If you use that as a pickup lineat a bar, guys, man, you are
you're going home tonight.
Um but you look on your HVACsystem, and with AI and phones,
you can scan the label on yourHVAC system, and it should give
(09:36):
you a lot of information aboutyour um heating and air
conditioning unit, and it shouldgive the MERV rating.
You can always ask your tech toverify what it is.
But say your MERV rating is tobe a 10.
Wouldn't then putting a 13 or a14 be better for your system?
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
Um no, not necessarily.
Um and I know we've talked aboutthis, I guess, in years past,
but if you have a um asimplified definition of a MERV
rating is the size of the holesin your air filter.
And so uh if you uh I tellpeople just buy the cheaper air
filter and stay on top of thechange out every month.
But if you go to a um uh atighter hole in the uh or a
(10:14):
higher MERV rating in thefilter, you could actually choke
off your system and it makesyour your um heating and air
equipment have to work that muchharder to pass air through.
So it's not always um a goodthing, and it's not even called
for.
Those ones with the higher MERVratings are meant for medical
offices and places that have,you know, literally zero dust
(10:34):
tolerance, dust particletolerance.
And so um you can go reallyfancy, and if you're a
germophobe or you know,hypochondriac, whatever you want
to say there, uh you you stillyou can go with a little bit
higher MERV rating, but ityou're gonna have to change
those out so frequently thatit's gonna turn into a pain in
the rear end because uh you'regonna you're c you're paying
more for the filter.
You're changing it out, youknow, not even uh in in half the
(10:56):
time more than that because it'sgonna clog up so fast.
I just tell folks go ahead andget your filters on auto renew,
get them delivered once monthly.
That delivery will be your uhtrigger to remind you to swap
that thing out, and it takes twoseconds to do, it extends the
life of your heating and airequipment, so no-brainer all the
way around.
SPEAKER_01 (11:14):
Yeah, I use the cheap ones from the big box
store and they sell them in athree-pack for like five bucks.
And what I love about that, youtalked about changing them out.
I only have two that I have tobaby.
The one downstairs, because youhave more movement downstairs,
there's constantly more stirringup of the elements in a
downstairs room than upstairs.
The one downstairs has to bechanged twice as often.
(11:35):
So I keep two downstairs, oneupstairs, change them at the
same time, and when I change thesecond time, the lower one, I
know I need to go to the store,but uh yeah, the lower is good.
As you pointed out, you may havean allergy or uh some sort of uh
reaction to dust that you needto have that uh filtered out
(11:55):
correctly.
That's fine, I get it.
And expensive, expensive.
You're not kidding.
I just told you you can buythree low Merv filters.
Mine's a 20, 21 inch uh forfive, six bucks, or you can buy
one eight, nine, or ten Merv,and they're like twenty-five,
thirty-five dollars.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
Yeah, for sure.
Pets are the pets are alsoreally bad for your air filter.
If you've got pets, you need toreally monitor that that filter,
and and people just don't thinkabout it.
It's terrible.
And then, you know, like Imentioned, it it extends the
life of your heating and airsystem, and it only gets
expensive more expensive everyyear with the building codes.
Uh, I want to say the minimumSEER rating now is a 15.
It was a 10 or 11 not so longago, and that just gives the
(12:37):
heating and air folks uh room tocharge more because the
equipment costs them more, andit's just a big money racket
when it when the part youactually have control over is
how long your system lasts, andand um and a combination of
filter uh changing out when it'ssupposed to, and then we always
recommend you know having a uhat least annual contract with a
(12:58):
heating and air company to checkeverything out, make sure it's
running like it's supposed to.
But I think two times a yearwhen it turns cold to hot and
hot to cold, then that's the twotimes to look at it, and it's
not that expensive to do in thebig picture, a lot less
expensive than a brand new unit.
SPEAKER_01 (13:12):
And my guy Brandon Devnam comes in and he not only
does the twice spring and andfall, he'll pull the grass
that's been growing around it,he'll open the top and pull out
the any weeds, you know, theysometimes can come through.
I mean, I was stunned when hedid it, but it makes you feel
really confident about goinginto the warm season or the cold
season when somebody goesthrough and measures the airflow
(13:33):
and he sends me a printout thathas all these technical terms
that I don't even know what theymean.
And and I'm like, this isawesome, this is fantastic.
I'm a huge proponent of gettingthat contract.
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
Let's go, Brandon.
SPEAKER_01 (13:48):
You're brilliant, Donnie.
You're on tonight.
Very good.
Hey, um let's get a littlescientific here because some
people might not realize this,but uh the most common complaint
this time of year is why is itcold my house?
Why is the heat dissipating frommy house?
It seems like I'm always runningthis, or vice versa in the
summer.
Why is the cold air not stayinghere?
(14:08):
I always feel hot.
Um the obvious reasons thatcould be for heat loss are I
said earlier before we startedrecording, you don't have a
roof, you don't have a roof onyour house, or you leave all
your windows and doors open inDecember.
Those would probably be thebiggest reasons you have heat
loss.
But if you go outside and youcheck and you got a roof and
(14:29):
your windows are shut, what arereasons that we have heat loss
and heat gain in a house?
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
Yeah.
Um I'll well, I'll answer thattwo ways and I'll say how it
happens and then what a commoncause would be.
But um, if you read up, and andit's such an interesting thing
to Google is convective andconductive heat transfer.
Uh I won't get into radiationbecause that's not as
interesting, but um, you know,conductive heat transfer is is
(14:56):
surface to surface.
So uh if it's cold outside andyou have a vinyl siding house,
then that vinyl's gonnaobviously uh be within a few
degrees of what the airtemperature is, and that vinyl's
touching the plywood on yourhouse, plywood's touching the
studs, studs touching thedrywall, so you have that
thermal bridging effect wherewhatever, you know, but it's
it's basically um heat loss inthe form of uh that cold is
(15:21):
pulling the heat out of yourhouse.
And so and it it's it's flippedin the summertime because the
heat from outside uh it's it'sjust it's trying to get in, and
so you know it it happens in thereverse direction.
But conductive heat transfer isone of those things you can
really control um with a goodinsulation package and with the
thermal bridging effect, youknow, having um with a brick
(15:43):
veneer house, you're supposed tohave an airspace.
So it's a brick veneer, thenit's a one-inch airspace, and
then it's your plywood.
That airspace actually has an Rvalue of one.
I didn't know that for years andyears, but uh that's wise
because it is keeping thatthermal bridging from happening
as fast.
And so um uh that is not that'sthe slowest way that you lose
heat.
Uh conductive heat transfer isair movement, and so it's not
(16:05):
surface to surface.
It's basically if you have aleaky house, and and before the
days that spray foam uhinsulation were common, you
know, a lot of houses around thewindows and doors, and they they
just have this void or thisairspace all the way around
there that um on a good windyday you can put your hand right
up to the casing around thedoors and windows, and you can
feel a breeze coming in.
(16:26):
And uh that's not the case withanything probably built in the
last 20, 25 years.
But uh when we do a remodel, forinstance, and we demo the
drywall, man, it it's it'sscary, you know, how house
houses got by for years andyears.
But um, controlling yourconductive heat transfer is
basically using low expansionspray foam around the doors and
windows.
It's not a major surgery DIYthing.
(16:48):
If you're handy and you have auh chop saw or miter saw,
whatever you call it, uh youcould pop the trim uh off of the
doors and windows verycarefully, and especially if
it's available, if you break afew pieces, so what?
But go room by room and pop themoff, and and on a Saturday,
gosh, you could do half you knowthe upstairs in one weekend and
the downstairs in another, butpop the trim off, uh put the low
(17:10):
expansion spray foam around thedoors and windows, pop the trim
back on, and just you know, dothe paint touch up, and it's a
major, major savings in terms ofyour utilities.
Um of the other things that thataren't uh any kind of long
explanation causes is um yourair handler.
So check your air handler in theattic or in the crawl space, and
(17:31):
all the ductwork usually comesoff of that.
It's either a distribution boxor something that you'll see
plenty of the supply uhconnected to, and it's not
uncommon to see that tape fail.
So the heating and air tape canuh can turn loose, and
especially if it's in a uh moistcondition or if it's in a attic
with any kind of condensationaround that area.
(17:52):
Um I've seen it a million timeswhere you know the ductw was
actually separated from the airhandler.
So that that's a big dealbecause you don't want to
condition your crawl space oryour attic.
Um the the other thing I wouldsay is uh poor insulation.
We touched on that earlier inthe show.
If your ductwork is less than anR8, then it is basically uh it's
(18:14):
radiating heat or you know,losing the cool air in the
summer months.
So making sure that your ductwis up to par with the building
code, even a little strongerthan the building code, is is a
good thing.
I always tell people when weinsulate, we uh we overinsulate
the attic area with the stackeffect or the heat transfer.
Uh I'm sorry, stack effect, theheat uh rises, and that that's
(18:34):
that's common, no matter it's askind it's as as true as gravity.
And so, you know, having pooroverhead insulation is a big
factor in that.
So those are are several of thethings that that are common
causes, and uh most of those canbe uh fixed.
It's one of those things wherefrom a retrofit standpoint uh
it's definitely something thatthat you can repair.
SPEAKER_01 (18:55):
And you see, Daisy's made her her appearance.
She always hears your voice.
She just out of the blue.
Come on, lift up.
There's Daisy.
Something about your voice,Donnie.
I don't know what I'm saying.
I know, I know.
Yours is so much better.
I want I want to um uh addresstwo quick things.
One, the thermal bridging,people don't realize it also
travels down from like yourattic and can affect the
(19:18):
interior walls.
You were talking about exteriorwalls.
One way to know if you've got athermal bridging problem is in a
really hot day or a really coldday, if you're in a hallway that
you don't have an outer wall andyou put your hand on that wall
and it feels colder than whatthe air does, or warm or
whatever the case may be, you'reyou're knowing, especially on
the second floor of your houseif you have one, that the attic
(19:40):
is allowing that air to come in,which is not unnormal, but it's
getting through and coming downthe walls.
So you might have an insulationissue where you have it, might
just take a little bit extrainsulation in the attic.
It's not a huge worrynecessarily.
Secondly, on the casing, um,yeah, be careful when taking off
casing if it's old and paintedin, because you can crack it.
(20:02):
But as Donnie said, it'sprobably what um 445 casing is
the most common, but most casingaround windows is pretty
generic.
That's one, two, maybe threedifferent that it probably is.
It's not expensive.
If you're getting ready to paintsome rooms, you're gonna be
painting the casing probably,anyways.
(20:23):
That might be a time to go aheadand incorporate in costs that
you're gonna pop off casing.
Anything that doesn't survivethe pop-off, you can replace.
But go ahead at that point, dosome ceiling around your
windows, and then you put on thenew casing and you have your
house painted, that interiorroom or whatever the room might
be.
Great point, dude.
(20:43):
So I'm I'm just trying to sellsome some prime finger joint
wood here.
Um here's another thing.
Uh, people replacing their HVACunits, it happens every year.
We say don't wait because theprice ain't gonna go down.
Uh someone had a question awhile back and they said they're
replacing their system and theyhave gas.
Um, do you recommend that theystay with gas or go with
(21:07):
electric?
I have electric heat pumpmyself.
SPEAKER_00 (21:11):
Um I would I would say that the age of the house
and the way it's insulated iseverything in that scenario.
So if your house is pretty newand it's well insulated, then
then electric works just fine.
The heat pumps, which is theelectric heat uh heat pumps, are
so much better than they used tobe, and they work very well.
Uh they they don't they'rebetter at maintenance, so they
(21:33):
don't heat your house up as fastas gas would, but you know,
they're the basically the samething when it comes to the AC,
so you're just gonna have gasfor the heat only.
And I will say in a commercialapplication or a church
sanctuary or something likethat, where you come in at nine
o'clock in the morning and youneed that thing to be warm by
11, then you know, gas packsmore of a punch.
I think the air temperaturecoming out of a gas furnace is
(21:56):
130 degrees, whereas it's onlyabout 90 degrees coming out of a
heat pump.
So uh what seems to be common,and and everybody's getting away
from gas, but what seems to becommon is a dual fuel in in that
scenario I just mentioned, andit'll kick on with the gas and
it'll heat it up really fast andit switches over to electric for
maintenance.
So uh at the very most I wouldsay go dual fuel if you're a gas
(22:20):
person, but man, I just don'tsee any any um need for gas.
Every it from appliances to theheating and air units,
everything is so much betterthese days.
And uh if you've just got alittle more time to manage it,
then electric works just fine,and there's no cheaper thing
than than the electric way toheat your house.
It it's so much more expensivewith gas.
SPEAKER_01 (22:41):
I agree with that.
I I think my fantasy of havinggas anything would would be a
gas fireplace, but not for theheat necessarily, though that
would be a benefit.
But it's that instant flame.
Like you just have that.
So I get that luxury, I wouldlike that, but am I gonna pay
for them to run a line to myvented fireplace and set that
(23:01):
up?
I haven't in 20 years, I'mprobably not, but I get it.
I do have our uh my stepmothergave us uh for Christmas, the
Smith Family, one of theelectric-looking fireplaces, you
know, the fake flames, and thoseturn out to be fantastic because
they look great, but if you haveit in one room and you go in
that room early in the morningand I'm an early rise or I'm a
(23:23):
pre-5 a.m.er, it just takes thechill off the room, and then you
can turn that little heatelement off and just have the
fake fire.
But that's a great way also toconsider if you just have a room
that gets a little chill in themorning, it'll take it right
off.
Have you ever opened the gone tothe kitchen and and turned the
oven on and just open it like acouple inches to to take off the
(23:44):
chill in the room and then turnit off?
SPEAKER_00 (23:46):
Absolutely.
We lived in an old, old houseand it it I don't think it had
any insulation other thanoverhead.
But um, yeah, that was a realthing when you walked in the
kitchen in the morning.
That was an everyday thing inthat old house.
But um, and that that house iswhat turned me against gas.
But um what you just mentionedis is um is very true.
So I I I think with the uh theheat, the gas logs, that's if
(24:09):
you're gonna have anything gas,that's very wise if the power
goes out.
It'll keep your house prettywarm, at least one room and you
guys can hunker down in there.
That's the only thing we havegas.
And uh to comment on yourelectric fireplace uh thing that
I've put about one of those inevery year in a brand new house.
And dude, I'm a fan.
They they cost nothing to run.
You don't have to have the gas.
They have strong blowers, and alot of times the gas logs don't
(24:32):
have strong blowers.
Those blowers, uh, I would Iwould say that you know, an Eden
Pure heater, I don't know theexact uh term, but Eden Pure was
the little boxy heaters onwheels that you could put in a
room and it would take care ofeverything.
Um I've had I had a knockoffversion of that, but they work
great in my basement, but umit's it's electric fireplaces
are just about like that, butthey have stronger blowers.
(24:53):
So what you mentioned aboutgetting the temperature of a
room to jump up, you know, earlyin the morning, I think they
work great.
And you know, the you can changethe color, you can change the
design of the flame and somethings like that.
And and uh I I'm I'm becoming afan.
SPEAKER_01 (25:07):
Now I want to stress, I may have uh uh
misinterpreted the one we have.
I know what you're talkingabout.
This does not go inside thefireplace.
What you're talking about is alevel higher.
These are literally plug andplay.
You can pick it up by a handlenow and carry it to a different
room, but it's has a nice metalframe, they come in different
colors, and it just looks like afireplace or an old stove, uh,
(25:32):
but it works great.
It's super portable.
What you're talking about, Ithought about putting it in this
room where I have the fireplaceand was talking about gas and
having that fit in because it'sthe LEDs and the lights and the
blowers, they're really cool.
They look great.
Okay, you might not have purpleblue fire, but that's an option
if you want it.
But even in the middle of thesummer, just for the ambiance of
(25:54):
it, you can turn on just thefaux flame and no heat and enjoy
it.
Yeah, for sure.
I don't do purple blue flames orhair.
No, nobody, it's it's it's a badlook no matter who you are.
If you're if you're under 20,don't.
Um, one more thing before wewrap up the show.
Uh and this is a uh a discussionwe have a lot with people that
(26:16):
uh listen to the show.
Um pros and cons of crawl spacesversus slab foundations.
I have a crawl space.
Um you know, you deal with this,you're more familiar.
Give us a quick rundown.
SPEAKER_00 (26:29):
Um I think well, I'm not a big fan of a slab because
obviously it has plumbing in theconcrete.
If you ever have a problem, youknow it's very pricey to fix
that.
However, for folks who areinterested in, you know, no
steps or a zero entry into thehouse or handicap accessibility,
really a slab is the best way toaccomplish that.
And I think the biggest factoris whether or not the lot works
(26:52):
for the slab.
If it's a nice flat lot, maybewith a little bit of a one foot
of all from left to right or theor the or vice versa, then you
can make that work and it'seconomical.
But if you have a prettyaggressive slope on the lot,
then that means you're gonnahave to do a footing, you're
gonna have to build thefoundation on the low end up,
you know, three, four, five, sixfeet.
You've got to fill all that upwith gravel, which I think
(27:12):
gravel's like seven hundreddollars a load right now.
Insane.
And um, you know, by the timeyou get into that, you spent an
extra 10 G's just to have a slabinto the house.
And in that, in that case, Iwould just do a crawl space.
But uh in our neck of the or ourarea of the country, uh crawl
spaces, vented crawl spaces havebeen the thing for years and
(27:34):
years.
We have started doing thecondition crawl space, and if
it's done right, it really workslike it's supposed to.
Uh so uh with the slab it on aflat lot, a little bit cheaper,
and a crawl space is gonna costa little bit more, but all of
your heating and air uh can gounder your house instead of in
your attic, so you can gain thatstorage overhead.
And it it's just uh even thoughit's more expensive, you've got
(27:56):
you know a little bit of storagethere, and if anything ever goes
wrong, you can get right to it.
SPEAKER_01 (28:01):
I've told the story before um uh one of our because
I've got a crawl space, one ofthe access doors, um the old
metal ones, you know, they kindof jam in place and they wear
out.
Well, it had opened up a littlebit, and I noticed my cats like
going in there, and I was like,uh, I'm gonna go ahead and seal
this back up, but I've left itopen about this much because I
thought, you know what, if mycats are going under the crawl
(28:23):
space because it's probably alittle warmer, even if they want
to be outside, and they'redigging it, that also means
there's no varmintons livingunder my house.
Snakes won't take root, mice,whatever other animals might go
under there.
So I'm like, I'm actually gonnaleave it, and it's not gonna
harm anything to leave it openthat much.
Um I'm not suggesting people gooutside right now if they have
(28:47):
cats and open up their vents tolet them in, but uh I'm I'm
leaving my open so I have somefree pest control doing that
because I don't have a mouseproblem.
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
But I think you just came up with a million-dollar
idea, dude.
So you could get a little akitty door made for a crawl
space door and um you know putit up about a foot and they can
still get into it, but thingsthat are low to the ground
really can't.
And if it's a certain size, thatkind of eliminates anything else
bigger than a cat getting inthere.
So I think you're ontosomething.
There's one cavite.
SPEAKER_01 (29:17):
If you don't have a cat, you you've gotta then seal
it off because then somethingelse will go.
Oh, I found a way in it.
Oh, no doubt.
You know, no doubt.
You gotta keep a cat.
If I my cats are gone, then Iwould I'm gonna seal that back
up.
Um is it cavite or caveat?
You say caveat, just uh well, Iwas using it more of the uh
bourgeois uh pronunciation ofthe higher educated people.
(29:41):
Uh some people say caveat, butuh if you go to the Latin root
of that word, it means BS.
So um yeah, nice.
So yeah, I was gonna covermyself by BSing my way through
it, and you probably would havebelieved it, but I decided let's
not get into Latin and Greek uhprefixes.
And suffixes.
(30:01):
Okay, I mispronounced a word.
Sorry.
I didn't know.
I just wanted to get educated.
If I were if I were wrong allthese years, I don't know.
Yeah, that that was me.
That'll be deleted from thefinal edit of the show.
But this part won't be.
We appreciate everybody tuninginto the Carolina Contractor
Show.
Again, the website is prettysimple, the
Carolinacontractor.com, and it'sgot all the info on that.
(30:22):
Hey, you got an idea?
Maybe you've uh found a way tokeep cats from getting under
your house or you want themunder your house.
Uh or maybe you've got an ideaon the electric fireplaces,
because I'm maybe I'll move inthat direction.
That sounds pretty cool is toget the one professionally
installed that looks cool andhas a better blower.
But uh any questions you have,comments, again, you can find us
on YouTube.
(30:42):
You can find us on theInstagram, and of course, if you
want to contact us directly,click that Ask the Contractor
button on the website.
Oh, it's a great time of year.
Got football going andeverything else, and uh, we
appreciate you taking time justto tune in and check out our
show.
And we'll do this again nextweek, but with more feeling,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (31:02):
That's it.
SPEAKER_01 (31:02):
Way more feeling.
Thank you, everybody.
We appreciate the support.
Yep.
See you next week on theCarolina Contractor Show.
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