Seal Your Home website

A good resource I’ve come across is called Seal Your Home. This site was created by DAP to help educate consumers about weatherizing- improving the energy efficiency of a building’s envelope. Reducing the flow of cold air into your home is an important part of weatherization and this site helps you identify air leaks and also how to fix them. Seal Your Home is a simple website, packed... 

Properly Seal your Duct Work to Save Money

Sealing your duct work is a great way to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Ducts run all through your home transporting hot and cold air. The less conditioned air lost en route, the better for your home and your wallet. Benefits of Sealing your Ducts Aside from being more comfortable, properly sealed ducts have some great advantages. Save money: Your HVAC system won’t have to work... 

2009 Tax Credits for Energy Saving Home Improvements

Here’s one good reason to put off for tomorrow what you could get done today… The energy tax credits that we all enjoyed in 2007, but expired in 2008, are now back on for 2009!  Remember that bailout bill?  When it passed on October 3, 2008, it reinstated a bunch of energy tax credits for certain home improvements.  Below are a few highlights of the savings you could enjoy.  For... 

Replacing Windows: Options and Features

I love homes with lots of windows. They feel open and bright. But old windows are terribly inefficient. By replacing your windows, you can cut heat loss in half. Here are new window options and features you’ll want to know about. R-Values, U-Values and SHGC R-Value: R-value is a measure of a materials ability to resist heat flow. Higher R-values mean better insulation. The less heat lost, the... 

Weekend Round-up: Custom Art Prize, Energy Incentives, Free Books

I’m taking the weekend round-up this time to highlight a few cool things I’ve come across recently. They are definitely worth looking into. Custom Art Gift Certificate Modernemama@Beach House is running a nice little post about a contest sponsored by Artaissance. All you have to do is leave a comment about what inspires you and you could win a piece of custom art. For the full scoop, check... 

Make Your Fireplace More Energy Efficient

Indoor fires (built in a fireplace) are a lot of fun. I’ve always enjoyed building them, sitting back and enjoying the warmth. What I didn’t realize was how inefficient fireplaces can be. The Problems There are two major problems. The first is where all that heat is going. A typical fire will generate thousands of BTUs of heat, but most of it will go right up the chimney. In fact, just... 

Estimate Energy Consumption Using Simple Math

We all know that using more energy means paying more money. But, even I (a math guy) find it hard to quickly calculate how much a device costs to run. So, I devised some quick do-it-in-your-head estimating techniques that can help. I used an electric cost of between $0.12-$0.13 / KWh for these estimates (pretty typical across the U.S. right now). If you pay substantially more or less, these equations...