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Steven, that's coming soon. I've been planning what I want to put into it and should have it out before Labor Day.

Well, it CAN be good for IAQ, but that depends on the outdoor air quality. I'm going to add that issue to the discussion when I do the longer video on this topic.

@@TheEnergyVanguard if your outdoor air quality is really that bad you should definitely move. There were certain areas in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, especially Canonsburg, which at one point was the most radioactive town in America. That was back I believe in the 1920’s. There’s also up and down the Monongahela River outside of Pittsburgh, a zinc, producing plant. Every so often due to the weather conditions, the zinc, toxic fumes could not leave and would get people very sick. I did have a neighbor who she would never opened her windows because she did not want to let pollen into her home since it will affect her allergies. Meanwhile : she had I think seven cats, asthma/allergies / COPD / high blood pressure and smoked heavily. But she refused to open up her windows to bring fresh air into her home, because it would affect her allergies. 😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑 really???

Closed-cell spray polyurethane foam

Good question! There's been a lot of debate about the compatibility of wiring and foam insulation, but as far as I know, there's no definite conclusion. It does seem, though, that when closed-cell foam isn't installed properly, it can melt the PVC sheathing on the cable because of the excess heat given off by the foam right after installation.

Yes, there are definitely a lot of hacks and lazy contractors. There are also good contractors who bury wires in closed cell foam just because they haven't considered the consequences for future work.

That will keep the windows condensation from beading up on the windows but not from forming. You'll just have a bigger pool of water at the base of the window. The way to solve the problem is not to keep the interior so cold and use better windows.

It's a fun topic!

The plastic was added as a drainage plane by the interior perimeter drain company. I've since removed it because it interferes with installing the InSoFast panels, which can act as the drainage plane themselves. Stay tuned for a new video about the InSoFast system coming out within the next couple of months. I'll discuss that issue as well as lots of other stuff about those insulation panels.

@@TheEnergyVanguard thanks for the clarification

They're made to go on the bottom of the door. In terms of pressure relief, though, it should work in either place. I think it would be more noticeable and less attractive at the top of the door.

I've got 8'7" from the top of the slab to the bottom of the 2x8 floor joists. We also have a few places with double 2x10 beams, some drain lines, and a horizontal ducted air handler below the joists. The insulation, subfloor, & finished floor will raise the floor ~3". The bedroom and living room in the guest suite will have a dropped ceiling a few inches below the joists, so we should have about 8 feet there. The bathrooms and kitchenette will be lower, especially where the air handler is in the kitchenette.

@@TheEnergyVanguard Another amazingly thorough and helpful reply. thanks. I have 7'-0" from bottom of joists to top of slab. I have 6'-6" from bottom of main beam. I'm trying to keep the height high enough where a 6' guy like myself doesn't have to duck at all walking thru the basement. Would ECF or Dricore be worth pursuing below my flooring given my constraints?

@@greg03811 Unless you're in a cold climate (IECC climate zone 5 or higher), you can skip the above-slab insulation without taking too much of a hit. Or you could put down a 1/2" foam board with sleepers to get just a bit. With 7' height, your options are limited for floor insulation if you want to keep the headroom.

Good question, Greg. You just cut the foam around it. On their website, InSoFast shows how to deal with a lot of different obstructions: conduit, surface mounted junction boxes, pipes, and more. Check out the third and fourth videos on this page: www.insofast.com/resources/interiors-resources/how-to-videos-interiors

@@TheEnergyVanguard Awesome. Thanks. Love that system. A shame none of the contractors I've contacted have worked with it previously.

​@@greg03811, yeah, if the ones you've talked to are like my contractor, I'm not surprised. It's different, so he's raised "concerns" (read "fears") about it regarding load bearing, electrical, and drywall.

Yes, it's made of expanded polypropylene and comes from Europe. Zehnder calls it ComfoPipe, and you can read about it here: www.zehnderamerica.com/products/air-distribution-systems/

I know the feeling! We bought the house five years ago and are just now doing the basement.

That’s crazy. How come videos on this stuff don’t do very well? That is a mental fact haha

While older and cheaper systems will activate defrost based on temp only (and subsequently have a 30,60,90 minute interval setting), newer systems should do better. My cheap Chinese units have no problems detecting when it is truly in need of a defrost. I suspect it's due to the fact that it monitors the intake and outgo air temp of the condenser and when they get too close, it figures out that it's blocked and needs a defrost. Of course its hard to find specifics online regarding that unit. Not sure which type yours would be, maybe there is a facebook or reddit group dedicated to that line of units.

@@spazzman90 Did you mean to say that older/cheaper units activate defrost based on *time*?

No. I said they activate defrost on temp. Specifically when the outdoor coil reaches 32f (ambient air could still be 37f or more). Once that threshold has been reached some units have a setting to run a defrost cycle every 30,60,90 mins. Your environment will dictate what you should have that set at. @@DADoESofTX

@@spazzman90 Interesting. The circa 2004 lower-end Carrier unit that was originally at my house had the 30/60/90 jumper selection on the defrost control board. I always assumed that it triggered a defrost solely per the requisite minutes of accumulated run-time regardless of whether defrost was really needed. I sometimes noticed it running a defrost when there was no visible frost on the coils. The 2-stage Trane that replaced it a couple years ago functions much better in that respect.

I'm sorry to hear about your heat pump difficulties, Raymond. Unfortunately, it's all too common. When you're ready for HVAC design help, just reach out through our website at www.energyvanguard.com/hvac-design/. Thanks for the kind words and for buying the book! (For anyone wondering, here's the book he's talking about: energyvanguardstore.com/.)

Good eye, jwb1227! Yes, that strapping is temporary. I put it in to hold the pipes up so I could remove the wall that had been holding them. It won't be long before those pipes get replaced. Galvanic corrosion is indeed a problem in a lot of places when people put dissimilar metals together.

It's the best place for it. The rest of the interior drain is in what's going to be an apartment, so we need to have access to it.

Yep, exactly the same. I used to demonstrate this to our energy rater classes wih a plastic bottle of mountain air from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. I closed it at the top of the mountain, about 6,000 feet of elevation, and it was collapsed when I got back to Atlanta, at 1,000 feet of elevation.

Well, apparently using a great big hunting knife to open a box with something like earbuds in it is a thing in the "unboxing" world, so I thought I needed something bigger for the great big Zehnder box. ;~)