Home Sick Home

by Shana Fong on September 15, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • • •

It seems like Americans are more health-conscious than ever these days, but do you ever ask yourself how healthy your home is? The Sierra Club has put together a list of 9 home health hazards to be aware of. The high points are summarized below.

1. Radon
You can’t see it or smell it, but radon kills about 20,000 Americans each year. It’s the number two cause of all lung cancers, and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in the United States.

Retrofitting most homes to reduce radon levels isn’t complicated, but you’ll probably want to hire a state-certified radon mitigation contractor. A basic mitigation system consists of a pipe and a fan that pulls radon from below your house and vents it to the outside, typically through the roof. The cost of reducing radon in a home ranges from about $800 to $2,500, according to the EPA.

2. Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are one of the main sources of air pollution in our homes. VOCs are a huge class of carbon-based chemicals that share a common trait: they are volatile at room temperature, meaning they readily release gases into the air we breathe.

The list of health effects from VOC exposure is enough to scare the daylights out of anyone: nausea; cancer; memory loss; eye, nose, and throat irritation; kidney, liver, and central nervous system damage.

3. Problems with Plastics
Although VOCs are the primary indoor air pollution culprit in our homes, they’re not the only chemical that can compromise human health. Many of the “miracle” plastics developed by science and industry in the past half-century turned out to have hidden health burdens. While completely eliminating harmful plastic items from your home may be next to impossible, you can reduce your exposure.

4. Pesticides and Herbicides
Pesticides and herbicides are biocides: they’re designed to kill living organisms. Makers of these chemicals may claim the products are safe when used properly, but why take the chance? Banning pesticides from your home and garden is an especially good idea if you have young children–their developing bodies are particularly vulnerable to pollutants.

5. Mold
You’ve probably encountered the sensationalist media stories about house-eating toxic molds. The truth is, mold spores are floating everywhere, in the air inside and outside our homes. There’s no way to keep mold spores out of the air. The trick to controlling mold in your home is controlling moisture–mold thrives on moisture.

If mold is allowed to multiply unchecked in a building, it can eventually cause serious damage to the structure. It also has the potential to affect health. Not everyone is bothered by mold but for some people, exposure may trigger allergic reactions, asthma episodes, or other respiratory problems.

6. Other Biological Contaminants
Pet dander, pollen, and feces of dust mites and cockroaches can trigger allergic reactions, asthma episodes, and other respiratory problems. Good housekeeping, especially dusting and vacuuming regularly, will help keep these particles in check.

7. Energy-related Risks
Carbon monoxide and other combustion byproducts
Devices that burn fuel inside your home are potential sources of air pollution. Burning gas, heating oil, propane, wood and kerosene produces many potentially harmful fine particles and gases, including carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide. The minute quantities emitted by a properly functioning, modern fuel-burning appliance don’t typically cause health problems. However, if an appliance malfunctions it can spew potentially harmful, or even fatal, levels of CO and other chemicals into your home.

Electromagnetic fields
Unlike fuel-burning devices, using electricity won’t create indoor air pollution (although electricity generation is a leading source of outdoor air pollution and CO2 emissions). Does that mean using electricity is healthy?

Despite the lack of evidence that low-frequency EMFs cause health problems, some people remain concerned and try to limit their exposure. Easy ways to reduce EMFs include choosing energy-efficient appliances and equipment (our site gives you lots of tips about this) and eliminating “phantom loads” by unplugging appliances and devices that draw energy even when they’re turned off–that includes anything with a transformer, a remote, a timer, or memory.

8. Banned Building Materials
Millions of homes harbor lead-based paint, asbestos, and toxic wood preservatives. All three have been banned from building products, but they continue to plague building owners and occupants.

9. Emerging Concerns
There’s lots of good news on the home health front. Lead-based paint and asbestos have been banned for three decades. Radon can be a problem in some homes, but it’s not too difficult to take care of. Mold problems can almost always be solved by drying up the source of moisture. More and more people are becoming aware of potential hazards associated with VOCs, vinyl, and pesticides and are choosing alternatives that are safer for their families.

But it’s not as if our homes will soon be completely safe. New products and technologies are being introduced all the time, outpacing the efforts of risk assessment scientists, regulators, and health advocacy organizations to keep up.

Click here for the full article on Sierra Club Green Home.

Eco-Cooling Tips for Your Home

by Shana Fong on August 18, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • • •

Here’s a piece written by Matt Golden and Jess Chamberlain for Sunset Magazine on best practices for keeping your house cool, the environmentally friendly way.

To keep a house cool, it’s really about either:

  • Keeping the sun out, or
  • Keeping the air cool/conditioned

In a retrofit situation, you have to first assess what your possibilities are:

  • Is there an attic we can insulate?
  • Are there eaves that are blocking some of the summer sun?
  • Is there an existing cooling system?

This really affects what the best approach to take is.

For an average house in a cooling climate with an attic, we’d recommend reducing the cooling load as much as possible and utilizing passive cooling:
1. Air sealing
2. Adequate attic insulation (min. R-38) to create a thermal barrier
3. Radiant barrier, if there are ducts in attic; on roof decking or in attic
4. Low-E glazing on windows
5. Whole-house fan

This route is very cost-effective from a long-term standpoint; i.e. you’re not paying to condition the air, you just pay for the equipment and installation.
The other option is to actively cool the house, in which case you’d invest in the fundamentals (such as air sealing and insulation), then install a high SEER-rated AC unit (min. 16-18 SEER rating) designed to ACCA’s manuals J, S, D & T. If air handling equipment is located in the attic we would recommend encapsulating the attic with air-impermeable spray foam and bringing the attic into the building envelope. This prevents hot attic air (150˚F+) from infiltrating the duct system.

Easy Cooling Tips:

  • Keep your AC unit in the shade
  • Keep the coils clean
  • Install high efficiency lighting (it keeps house cooler)
  • Turn plug loads off
  • Stop the sun before it gets into your house – use external shading, overhangs, and deciduous trees
  • Low-E coating on windows

Tanks a Lot

by Shana Fong on August 4, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • •

In the average American home, the water heater is the second or third largest energy user.

As long as you can get a hot shower in the morning, you probably don’t think too much about your water heater. But this mysterious appliance has a huge impact on the environment. Based on the California Energy Commission’s estimate of energy use in a typical household, water heating consumes about 31% of the energy used.

Energy Facts

  • Between 15%-30% of the energy your water heater uses goes to keeping a tank of water hot, just in case you need it.
  • Hot water heaters have adjustable thermostats. For every 10° you lower the water temperature, you can save 3%-5% of your water heating energy.
  • The heat that escapes through the sides of the tank is especially important if it’s in an unheated spot like a basement or back porch. A water heater blanket can save 5%-10% of the energy you’ve been using.

Simple Ways to Save Energy

  • Adjust the temperature setting on the water heater to 120°F. If you have a dishwasher that cannot heat water with a built-in booster heater, set the water heater to 140°F. Electric water heaters have two thermostats that should be set the same. Use a thermometer at the faucet to gauge water temperature. Don’t rely on the dial on the heater; they’re generally inaccurate. With electric water heaters, turn off power to the tank before adjusting the themostat.
  • Put your hand on your water heater. If it feels warm, install an insulating blanket around it. The colder the area the heater is in, the greater the heat loss. So if it’s in the garage in the winter, you’re going to lose a lot of heat.
  • Insulate the hot and cold water pipes leaving the tank, wherever they are accessible. Cover at least the first five feet (preferably ten) and keep the insulation three inches away from gas flues. Foam sleeves or adhesive-backed foam tape are available at hardware stores.
  • When replacing an old tank, make sure the new one is the correct size for your family and is energy efficient.
  • Electric water heaters should be turned off if you leave home for more than a few nights. It takes about four hours to reheat the water when you turn it back on.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Home energy fixes for under $100

by Shana Fong on July 21, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • •

Here are some easy and effective home energy fixes you can do around the house for $2 to $90:

  • Light switch and outlet sealers: under $5
    Two of the most frequently overlooked sources of air leakage in a home are light switches and outlets. Dodge those drafts by sealing up any switches and outlets where you can feel a draft on your hand.
  • Hot water heater pipe insulation: $2 per foot
    Use this cost-efficient fix as a quick way to reduce wasted energy on water heating. Insulating just the first 6 feet of pipe from your water heater will cost $12 and will save you over $5 a year on water heating while reducing CO2 emissions by more than 55 pounds. We typically recommend insulating the first 10 feet of pipe.
  • Monitor your meter: $20
    Purchase a Kill A Watt electricity monitor and plug in your appliances and electronics to find out which ones are the biggest energy culprits. Use this to inform your future upgrade decisions or see how much energy you can save with easy adjustments like turning down your refrigerator’s temperature.
  • Smart powerstrips: $20-90
    Cut back on phantom power by plugging electronics into smart powerstrips, such as the one by Wattstopper which turns devices on and off based on occupancy and uses a motion detector to manage energy use. Our recommended smart strip is Belkin’s Conserve.
  • Faucet aerator: $2
    These handy products are one of the least expensive ways to increase your water efficiency by mixing air into the water stream. When installed, each aerator will save 500-2,000 gallons of water a year.
  • Chimney balloon damper: $35-50
    The fireplace is a common area for heat loss in your home, as most dampers don’t work well and many older homes don’t have them. Inflatable balloon dampers fit in most chimneys to keep heated air in, and you can remove them whenever you want.

The Great Escape

by Shana Fong on July 19, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • • • • • • •

The gaps you can find around the windows and doors of the average American house add up to the equivalent of a hole in the wall that measures 10 inches by 10 inches.

Your house has more leaks than the CIA. There are cracks all over the place. Your doors and windows don’t quite meet their frames; there are tiny spaces where the walls almost join the floor; there are open areas around your electrical and plumbing outlets. And these little gaps eat energy. In fact, an amazing amount of heat in the winter – or cool air in the summer – escapes through them. But you have two simple weapons to fight with: caulking and weatherstripping.

Energy Facts

  • Caulking and weatherstripping an electrically heated home can keep some 1,000 pounds of CO2 out of the air. So if 1,000 of these homes were weatherized, over a million pounds of CO2 would be saved.
  • Believe it or not, stopping air infiltration can reduce your home’s heating and cooling bills by up to 40%.
  • People are concerned that although weatherstripping may save energy, it will keep fresh air out of their homes. While it’s true that some ventilation is necessary, it’s really not much of a problem – a typical house may get twice as much fresh air as it needs. In other words, the air is probably flying out of your house as quickly as you’re heating or cooling it.

Caulking vs. Weatherstripping

  • Cracks without any moving parts – like the places where a wall in your house meets the outside edge of a window frame, or two other dissimilar materials come together – can be sealed with caulk.
  • The places where doors and windows close into their frames can be sealed with weatherstripping – cleverly designed strips of felt, rubber, metal, or plastic that fill the spaces around doors and windows, and compress when you shut them.
  • Weatherstripping materials come in many styles. Some are self-sticking, so you don’t even need a hammer to install them. Others must be nailed on. Still others are crafted so pieces on the frame and the door lock together when the door closes.
  • One of the trickiest places to weatherstrip is where the door meets the threshold. Special “shoes” and “sweeps” are available to stop these air leaks.
  • Besides saving energy, weatherstripping and caulking have an additional benefit: By stopping drafts, they’ll make your home more comfortable.

Leak Patrol

  • Some evening, when your house is at least 20°F warmer than the outdoors, hold your hand up to various places around windows and door frames. If you feel any drafts, the windows and door frames need weatherstripping.
  • You can also use a smoking incense stick to look for drafts. Hold the stick near places you think might have cracks; if the smoke dances or gets sucked in, you’ve found a place to seal.
  • Many of the biggest air sealing opportunities are up in the attic and below your floors. For these harder-to-reach leaks, it’s a good idea to call in a trained professional such as Recurve to quickly identify and remedy your home’s major leakage areas.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Dialing for Dollars

by Shana Fong on July 16, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • • •

Is your thermostat accurate? If not, chances are that the temperature sensor is being affected by cold air coming through the opening where the thermostat is mounted.

Keeping control of your thermostat is one of the simplest ways you can save a great deal of energy – and money – all year round.

Energy Facts

  • During the winter, you can save as much as 2%-3% of the energy your furnace uses simply by lowering your thermostat 1°F (if it’s set between 65°F and 72°F).
  • In the summer, the process is reversed. You save 3%-5% of the energy used by your air conditioner for every degree you raise the thermostat setting (if it’s set between 70°F and 82°F).
  • Do you chronically forget to turn down the heat? There are low-priced, easy-to-install thermostats that adjust the temperature automatically. The simplest have built-in clocks; the more advanced models are computerized. An advanced model will, for example, turn your furnace on 30 minutes before you wake up, turn it off when you leave for work, turn it on just before you return home, and then set it for 55°F when you go to bed. Some also have a “minimum energy use” setting that monitors temperatures when you go on vacation.

Simple Ways to Save Energy

  • Keep the thermostat under control. Recommended winter settings for heaters: 68°F in the daytime, 55°F at night. In the summer, turn the air conditioner’s thermostat to 78°F.
  • Check the temperature. Using an accurate thermometer, make sure that the temperature near your thermostat is representative of the rest of the house. If it’s located in a drafty or sunny spot, you may be getting false readings and wasting energy.
  • Plug the hole in the wall behind the thermostat with a piece of fiberglass insulation.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Duct Soup

by Shana Fong on July 7, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • • • •

Leaking ducts can reduce the efficiency of your heating system by up to 20%. Ducts are a critical part of making your home energy efficient. If they’re leaking air – which they almost always do – or if they’re losing heat because they’re uninsulated, they’re contributing as much to global warming as they are to keeping you warm.

Energy Facts

  • You can save up to 10% of your heating or cooling costs by insulating and tightening up ducts.
  • Even if the air isn’t actually escaping from an uninsulated duct, you lose a lot of heat through its thin metal walls.
  • When the first air that comes out of the vent after you turn on the heater is chilly, and stays chilly for a long time, you know your ducts are uninsulated and you’re wasting energy.

Simple Ways to Save Energy
If your ducts aren’t insulated: Turn on your furnace and feel for air escaping around the duct joints. If you feel any (and you probably will), hire a certified contractor such as Recurve to seal them with mastic.
If your ducts are already insulated: It’s harder to find out if your ducts leak. You can expose the joints (where the ducts bend, for instance) to check – but it’s best to leave it to an expert.

  • Before you start examining your ducts, check to make sure the insulation isn’t asbestos (looks off-white, stiff, heavy cloth). If it is, stay away! It’s in your best interest to get it properly removed ASAP.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Making a Splash

by Shana Fong on June 24, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • •

Eight percent of American homes now have pools, which waste more energy than all the nation’s ENERGY STAR homes are saving!

Swimming pools are typically the first- or second-largest single energy user in homes that have them. California’s 1.35 million residential pools use the entire electrical output of a medium-sized power plant.

Energy Facts

  • Evaporation is the biggest source of heat loss from hot tubs and pools. When only 5 gallons of water evaporate from a hot tub, the remaining 500 gallons chill by 1°F., then must be re-heated.
  • American swimming pools contain enough water to cover the city of San Francisco with a layer of water about seven feet deep. About 30% of that water is heated, requiring as much natural gas as a city of 6 million normally uses.
  • For every hour it’s in use, an average pool heater consumes three times as much energy as a home furnace.
  • Pool blankets (insulating sheets that float on the water surface) reduce the energy consumption of pool heaters by 40%-70%.
  • Pool pumps use about the same amount of energy in an hour as window unit air conditioners.

Simple Ways to Save Energy

  • Cover your spa or hot tub. Use a well-insulated cover with an R-value rating of 12 and foam insulation that is at least 2 inches thick. It’ll prevent heat loss and evaporation.
  • Cover your pool with a floating pool blanket whenever you’re not swimming.
  • Install a highly efficient two-speed or variable speed pool pump and use the low speed as much as possible. This can cut your pool-pumping energy consumption, and the related costs, in half.
  • Resist buying a pool pump bigger than you need; it will cost more to buy and operate than a properly sized one.
  • Put a timer on your pool pump – most run longer than needed to keep pools clean.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Got a Light?

by Shana Fong on June 21, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • •

Lighting accounts for 10% of all electricity consumed in the United States. Over half of that electricity is used in business and manufacturing.

Flicking a light switch is a simple motion. You do it dozens of times a day without thinking. It’s time to give it some thought. According to the World Resources Institute, the production of energy for lighting accounts for 10% of all the emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. From 5% to 10% of your residential energy bill goes to paying for lighting. So it’s important to conserve energy by lighting right.

Energy Facts

  • Are “long-life” incandescent bulbs better for the environment? No. They’re actually less efficient than the regular ones, and can easily cost more in extra energy than they save on replacement bulbs.
  • It’s a trick: “Energy-saving” incandescent bulbs usually save energy simply because they put out less light than their regular counterparts. Check out the “lumens” rating on the package for the amount of light emitted.
  • Believe it or not: Dust on a light bulb or dirt on a glass fixture can reduce the light it gives off and make it seem that you need a brighter, higher-wattage light.
  • Even the paint color you choose can affect your energy use. The more light the walls reflect, the greater the chance that the light can be “recycled” by striking the wall, bouncing off, and still illuminating the room. A lighter wall can lead to a 25% energy reduction.
  • Opening curtains during the day will save lighting energy. Direct sunlight is 100 times brighter than the light from a strong reading lamp.
  • It used to be a good idea to leave fluorescent lights on if you were just going to be out of the room for a few minutes. But new fluorescents last longer even when switched on and off frequently.

Simple Ways to Save Energy

  • When you leave a room, turn off the lights. People commonly think it takes more energy to turn a light back on than it does to leave it on. But that’s not true.
  • Use only as much wattage as you need. Why waste energy with extra light? If you think you can get away with a lower-wattage bulb, try it out and see if it still seems bright enough.
  • Dust the bulbs and get the dead moths out of the fixture before you try a higher-watt bulb.
  • Use fewer bulbs in multi-bulb fixtures. Most people don’t realize that one strong bulb is more efficient than several weaker ones. For example: A single 100-watt bulb uses the same amount of energy as four 25-watt bulbs, but gives off about twice as much light. And it uses less energy than two 60-watt bulbs, but yields approximately the same light. Note: for safety’s sake, put a burned-out bulb in any empty sockets.

Save Energy with Light Switches

  • If any lights in your house are frequently left on when they shouldn’t be – in the garage or basement, for instance – you can install a timer to shut them off automatically. The timer plugs into the wall and the lamp plugs into the timer – simple!
  • Light timers are available at most hardware stores. If you’re a competent do-it-yourselfer, you can install them easily.
  • You can install dimmer switches wherever you need bright light only occasionally. If it’s an energy-saving dimmer switch (check it out when you buy it), you’ll have the option of using less energy on lighting at other times.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

Facts Behind the Fanfare

by Shana Fong on June 15, 2010
TAGGED WITH  • • •

Americans purchase about 16 million fans each year. In the heat of summer, fans can be a good alternative to energy-sucking air conditioners.

Energy Facts

  • Ceiling fans consume as little energy as a 60-watt bulb – which is about 98% less energy than most central air conditioners use.
  • Ceiling fans are often used instead of air conditioning. But it’s not necessarily one or the other. Fans produce air currents that carry heat away from the skin, so even air conditioned rooms feel cooler when one is running.
  • Many ceiling fans save energy in winter as well as summer. The secret: Their motors run in “reverse.” This pushes warm air caught near the ceiling down to where you can feel it. Set the fan on low speed so it pushes room air up against the ceiling, forcing warm air slowly down the walls to the floor.
  • How much difference can that make? Some rooms in your house can be 15° warmer at the ceiling than at the floor. A well-placed ceiling fan can reduce this difference to only 3°.
  • Remember: fans only save energy or make you feel cooler if you are in the room, so remember to turn them off when you aren’t using them.

Simple Ways to Save Energy

  • If you’re shopping for a ceiling fan: Purchase an ENERGY STAR-rated unit. You’ll find them at home improvement centers. Look for a fan that’s reversible and has more than one speed. Check to make sure the blades are angled at least 10°.
  • If you’re thinking about where to install one:Rooms with the highest ceilings are the best candidates. But make sure the blades are between seven and nine feet above the floor.
  • Match the fan to the room. For rooms 12 feet by 12 feet or less, you can use a 36 or 42-inch fan. For rooms up to 12 feet by 18 feet, use a 48 or 52-inch fan. For bigger rooms, you may need more fans.

Excerpted from 30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth, by The EarthWorks Group.

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »