Its unlikely to be a question worth answering in areas that need much winter heating. In other words good sealing will pay for itself, its a tad academic just how long that will take.
Typical is completely irrelevant. And you will certainly get a decent payback in areas that do much heating.
If you are anal enough to care, you need to use actual values, not typicals.
How tight is "as a drum"? Our home is constructed of SIPs, has fixed glazing, and filtered ventilation. About as tight as reasonably practical. Even with the vents closed (and they're closed most of the winter), going in and out, and letting the dogs in and out, provides more air exchanges than we need for health and a clean-smelling home. For anyone who lives a normal life, I think it might be difficult to seal a home to a level that could be considered a risk to health. The idea of building-in uncontrolled leaks seems nuts to me... although there's no accounting for some tastes. For example - I can think of one couple who, between expensive visits to specialists attempting to cure severe allergy symptoms, insisted on sleeping next to an open window in pollen season. Also, many humans prefer driving with their car windows open instead of using the vents, and many dogs require their nostrils to be hanging out in the highway breeze even though their chauffeurs would be perfectly healthy with the windows shut. If dogs could type, a pack or more would be weighing in on this thread... :-)
Wayne
Anything that is politically motivated is highly suspect. The mixture of science and politics is giving science a bad name.
I am not necessarily opposed to tight construction, and would encourage experimentation, but not legislation, in this area.
A measurement is worth a thousand calculations. Show me the real numbers, preferably presented by someone without a political ax to grind, or by someone who is honest enough to set the politics aside.
First comes health, then comfort, then energy savings, preferably expressed as payback on investment.
If the strategy lives up to its billing, homeowners will want it, with or without legislation.
Gary R. Lloyd CMS HVACR Troubleshooting Books/Software
Legislated stuff can really backfire without REAL WORLD data CORRECTLY interpreted.
In MA (and many states) the EPA's Clean Air Act requires reformulated gasoline (RFG) burning gasoline was mandated. Well, they never studied what happens when deployed!
Despite intentions, the additive MBTE is causing toxic ground water contamination. Here in Eastern MA, well water is very common even for cities and towns with town water.
So much for science without extensive field tests!
gerry
gerry wrote: ...
Legislated stuff often backfires because it's implemented based on political reasons and not scientific or rational ones.
The risks of MTBE were well known long before they legislated it's use. The oil companies lobbied heavily for the use of MTBE over ethanol because it was slightly cheaper and they didn't want to give the agricultural industry more power and money. Remember, biodiesel and ethanol are the two main competitors for diesel and gas.
The toxic nature of any leakage also had the effect (in California) that nearly all gas stations had to get their tanks replaced. This produced a shakeout of almost all the independent stations because they didn't have the deep pockets to afford it.
Anthony
Thanks I hate to see electrons wasted.
Joel
>
Hey, I'm an electron hugger, all electrons recycled here! Waste not, want not ;-)
gerry
Ye-o-o-oo-w-w-w-w-ww-w-w!
Don't touch that socket!
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