March 2011 Blog Posts (30)

There is a lot of discussion and debate in the home performance industry about why home energy audits have only penetrated such a small portion of the U.S. housing market.  We know that performance problems in existing homes are the rule rather than the exception.  We know that most reasonable comprehensive home energy upgrades will result in a minimum 10-30% reduction in energy consumption and utility bills.  We know that energy audits identify measures that can improve indoor air quality,…

This post originally appeared on Mapawatt Blog and is a great comparison of residential solar vs. wind. 

If you're a homeowner interested in creating your own clean energy, chances are you are considering installing a solar pv array or a wind turbine.  Which is…

In my last two posts, I described some basic water conservation measures we’ve taken at the Poole Ancestral Homestead. We’ll return to that topic in the near future. But for now, I’ve turned my attention to optimizing our home’s use of electric power.

Utility-provided electricity is often an expensive form of energy. And it’s seldom efficient, because coal- and gas-fired plants (from which most of us get our electricity) actually waste a great deal of energy in the form of heat…

How Oil Pointed the Way to Home Energy Savings

Don Ames

When the oil fields began to be developed in places like North Dakota, manpower was an immediate need. Manpower was needed in remote places where the oil was hiding and having enough ready housing was a problem. The cheapest and quickest solution was manufactured housing. Pull it in, set it up, and your done.

Manufactured home communities began to sprout up over…

Guest blog by Cara Miale

March 23, 2011

As if we don’t have enough phobias already, now there is range anxiety, a malady brought on by the electric car. But it’s okay; there is a cure, or rather an app for that.

Studies indicate that many electric car drivers – and those considering joining the…

Hey, HERS raters, what if I told you that you could get the volume of a multi-pitched roof for all of your home energy…

How to Shop for a New Dishwasher



Don Ames ,  March 20, 2011



The dishwasher is one of the major appliances in a home. When a new dishwasher is needed it pays to know how to shop for a new one. There is a little more to it now that the Energy Star efficient program got involved. Things like…

Come celebrate our 25th anniversary by honoring 25 industry innovators ACi national in San Francsico March 28-April 1st.  Absolutley something for everyone!

See who is being honored and come celebrate with your friends or make new ones as you build your career!!

I have to agree with the Tea Party; the US government should not choose the light bulbs I use in my home.  And fortunately, it does not.

Yet that’s the spin being pushed by those who want to roll back federal lighting performance standards. An odd mythology is developing around the standards.

Opponents claim that the…

They say a long journey begins with a few small steps. Yesterday, I unofficially initiated the long-term energy retrofit of the Poole Ancestral Homestead by simply installing a water saving showerhead.

The new showerhead is a 1.5 gallon-per-minute, all brass, chrome finished, Victorian-styled showerhead made by Danze, which I obtained from my friends at Energy Circle...[…

With the massive brain trust of geeked out intellectual bloggers found here, I was hesitant to wet my pen and speak up, nevertheless I'm going to breakdown going Green with your PC.

The Home Computer

Your average home computer uses 200 to 400 watts, depending on its hardware, monitor and use. By comparison, your average plasma TV runs around 300 watts, but a Wii uses only 18 watt. A high-performance computer…

Building Efficiency Resources is offering Energy Star v3 training online and in 2-hour sessions that are presented outside regular working hours. This approach saves travel expenses, preserves your work day, and allows you to absorb the material in manageable segments.…

Over the past couple of years I have attended many seminars mostly on topics relating to green building and the environment. In truth, I was determined to make good use of the construction down time, in this economy, with a goal to learning as much as I could about home performance improvement. One such seminar taught me that the terms sustainable building and green construction have become more than simple buzz words, they have become policies promoted by the government. Policies which at…

I don't want to seem self-serving AND I do want folks to know about the blog that Fluke sponsors. I'm one of the prime authors (yes, The Snell Group is still 100% independent of sales!) and spend a good deal of time crafting what I think is a pretty good blog, all related to thermography and much of it related to building thermography. Michael Stuart, who created the Home Energy Pros Infrared Thermography Users group, also chimes in weekly with his "what is it?" images, all good fun and a…