Home Energy articles from May 2004

Home Energy archives from May 2004

John Henry just died again.(Editorial)
May 1, 2004... Most of us can still recall the legend of John Henry, the nineteenth-century steel-driving man, who died of exhaustion after winning a competition with the (then) new steam drill. Last year there was a similar kind of match--this time between...

The wisdom of experience.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I have been a subscriber for a number of years and a remodeler, builder, and maintainer of houses and buildings for over 20 years now. Regarding the article on market transformation in your Jan/Feb '04 issue ("A Successful 14-Year Experiment,"...

Pollution occurrence insurance.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I would like to thank Bob Adams for his guidance on "Pollution Occurrence Insurance" (HE Jan/Feb '04, p. 31). There is some great information here. The Colorado Weatherization program (E$P) was an early adopter of lead dust control standards...

Belated thanks.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... As I read the article I authored with Bill Beachy, "Weatherization Training Takes Off in the Southeast" in the January/February, '04 edition of Home Energy (p. 18), I was struck with a glaring omission. Without the support and funding of the...

Turn off or set back?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I have a question about programmable thermostat setting. What is the best profile to use in winter for a house with natural gas steam heat? I live in Michigan, where the winter weather can get very cold. The house is 80+ years old, so...

Dripping nails.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I'm conducting a mold investigation within the attic of a house in Colorado. During a cold spell, I have observed that the roof nails on the inside of the roof deck within the attic space are built up with ice and are dripping onto the ceiling...

Magnetic versus electronic ballasts.(House Doc)(Compact Fluorescent Lamp )
May 1, 2004... Q. I would like to know how much energy it takes to turn on a CFL with magnetic ballast, as well as with electronic ballast. For instance, take a 13W CFL with magnetic ballast. If turning it on consumes as much energy as one hour of the lamp...

What were they thinking?(House Doc)
May 1, 2004... This is not strictly a "what were they thinking"--but it is an amusing game of "spot the air conditioner." There are at least two. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a picture of a supply in a ceiling plenum not far from Home Energy's...

Confessions of a computer abuser.(Software)
May 1, 2004... When I am out in the field juggling various data collection tools, I often think of a story a friend told me from his days as a boatbuilding apprentice. He looked up to the boatbuilders who had old-school knowledge and techniques. He was...

Energy hog raises consumer awareness on saving energy.(Programs)
May 1, 2004... Do you have energy hogs in your home? If you've got high energy bills or uncomfortable rooms, chances are you do--and you've got to get them out! That's the message behind a new public service advertising campaign by the Ad Council--creators of...

Code changes bode well.(Programs)
May 1, 2004... Energy-efficient building has always been important in the Southwest. Recently, that need is escalating as local populations--and new home construction--skyrocket. According to the U.S. census, the Southwest's population will grow by 19.5 %...

Tucson blooms with less water.(Water Conservation)
May 1, 2004... Water is an increasingly precious resource that needs to be used more wisely, and there are energy penalties associated with heating and distributing water inefficiently (see "Are You Getting into Hot Water?" HE Sept/Oct '03, p. 33). Using less...

Is a machine more efficient than the hand? What are the washing-up techniques that can transform a consumer from a carefree dishwasher to a supereconomic one?(Appliances)
May 1, 2004... In seeking to understand and prevent global warming and other man-made environmental problems, the energy consumption of household appliances has come under close scrutiny. One household task--dishwashing--can be accomplished by an appliance,...

A conditioned crawlspace checklist: experience is the best teacher, when it comes to crawlspaces.(Retrofit)
May 1, 2004... About 20 years ago, I was teaching some young men and women to install insulation in crawlspaces using the conventional method at the time--batts of unlaced insulation between the floor joists, held in place by wires wedged between the joists....

Crawlspace solutions: crawlspaces in climates that have temperatures below 32[degrees]F are minibasements and should not be treated otherwise.(Retrofit)
May 1, 2004... You can't address crawlspace problems through building codes that try to fight the laws of physics. My company, The Comfort Company, is located in south central Ohio--one of the very flat regions within the state. Crawlspaces are standard...

Crawlspaces: considering the options: for crawlspaces, as for the entire house, there are house-specific, local and regional conditions to consider.(Retrofit)
May 1, 2004... A surefire way to start an argument in a group of building specialists is to bring up religion, politics--or crawlspaces. Politics and crawlspaces do have a lot in common. You can make up your own jokes. But why crawlspaces? Because many are...

Achieving high performance in affordable multifamily housing: currently, only a mosaic of funding sources make affordable multifamily housing possible.(Multifamily)
May 1, 2004... The affordable housing industry is waking up to the potential of high-performance housing, but concerns remain about whether energy efficiency and green building standards can be applied to affordable housing projects without increasing the...

Strictly-shell man converts.(Field Notes)(EnTherm, designing efficiant energy use solutions to households)
May 1, 2004... Whole-house contracting holds no mysteries for Richard Kornbluth, president and cofounder, with Frank LaSala, of EnTherm, Incorporated, in Syracuse, New York. The first time he got his hands on a blower door was in 1982. To say it was a...

Residential Energy, new and improved.(New and Notable)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A fourth and greatly improved edition of John Krigger's book Residential Energy: Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings is now available; it contains a wealth of energy-auditing information. The chapters on air leakage, insulation,...

Check that carbon monoxide detector.(New and Notable)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Thousands of carbon-monoxide alarms that were professionally wired in homes throughout the U.S. may suffer from a software glitch that prevents them from working properly. Carbon-monoxide poisoning claims more than 200 lives each year. The...

On the telly.(New and Notable)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Look for a new PBS series, "Energy Wise Healthy Home," airing nationwide this June. The 26-episode program follows the planning and construction of a home in North Carolina that saves upwards of 50% on comparable homes' energy bills. The show...

The ASHRAE Green Guide.(New and Notable)(American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A new book, published by ASHRAE and edited by David Grumman, shows HVAC&R designers how to participate effectively on design teams charged with producing green buildings. Its whole-building approach addresses the ways in which mechanical and...

HUD scores two for efficiency.(New and Notable)(Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Although U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) focuses primarily on the promotion of low-income housing, its programs also addresses the growth of energy efficiency. With greater energy efficiency, HUD reduces the annual...

A chicken in every pot ... and a turbine on every roof?(New and Notable)(wind power systems )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... A Scottish company has begun selling small wind power systems designed to be mounted on almost any roof to supplement electricity supplied by a grid. The 3 ft x 2 ft sealed box, with three rotating blades facing into the prevailing wind, sells...

More than crabs in Maryland.(New and Notable)(Maryland passed Energy Efficiency Standards Act)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... State legislators in Maryland passed a far-reaching Energy Efficiency Standards Act in January. The standards cover nine product categories. Two of these--ceiling fans and torchiere lighting fixtures--are primarily residential in nature....

A stylish new label in New York.(New and Notable)(New York Energy Star)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Awareness of the many benefits of a New York Energy Star-certified home has helped surge demand among homeowners and builders. More than 1,500 of these homes were built in the state last year. The goal for 2004 is 2,500 homes. Builders...

Community Energy Opportunity Finder.(New and Notable)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Take a look at an innovative and interactive Web site that calculates potential energy and dollar savings, air pollution emission reductions, and potential jobs a community could create by implementing an energy efficiency program. The...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... April 26-May 1 Affordable Comfort Conference 2004: Advancing the Performance of Residential Buildings, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Contact: Affordable Comfort, 32 Church St., Ste. 204, Waynesburg, PA 15370. Tel: (800)344-4866, Ext. 10; Web...