The Handyguys answer a listener question about PEX and then discuss home energy audits

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“Hi guys,  I appreciate what you are doing.  I am also a computer guy in my day job.  Trying to be handy has been a challenge and what you are doing helps me.  Now to the questions for your podcast.What do you think of plumbing with PEX?  As a follow-up to this question, why wouldn’t you always use PEX?  Why “sweat it”? ”

PEX stands for cross-linked polyethylene. This water supply piping is the newest generation of a flexible ‘plastic’ piping. The Handyguys discuss its pros and cons.

“I would suggest being more efficient first when considering saving money heating your home. To be more specific, get a Home Energy Assessment. This is a detailed analysis of your home with recommendations on where to improve items such as insulation, heating, etc… The recommendations will have the cost along with the payback period. This allows you to know what to change. You could easily do a whole show on the topic. Have fun!”

This lead to a lot of discussion as to what a Home Energy Assessment was, where to get one and how much does it cost. You can sometime get rebates on taxes, get it done at a discount by your energy provider, etc. There are different types of energy audits.

One way to do an energy audit is to do it yourself. You can find a website that will help you do a basic audit at http://hes.lbl.gov/You can search for companies that do full energy audits at http://www.natresnet.org/ Listen to the podcast for more details. Good luck with your audit.

If you are a vendor and do full audits with thermal imaging and blower tests and would like The Handyguys to follow an audit from beginning to end during our show, let us know via the contact tab on the site.

Next week we will have more discussion on space heaters and whether they can really save you money.

Stay warm this winter and thanks for listening!

Related shows:

1. Episode #35 – Energy Saving Ideas
2. Episode #106 – Energy Star Fraud and Basement Egress
3. Episode #77 – Is Your House a Money Pit?