All Blog Posts Tagged 'efficient' (14)

Have you ever thought of heating your home with pellets? If you are one of the many individuals that pay large sums of money to fuel your masonry constructed wood-burning fireplace, you may want to consider converting your fireplace to your main home heating device. To do this, you would simply have to purchase a pellet insert, and your home will be heated by environmentally-friendly and renewable pellets.…

Before drywall was installed, I tested the infiltration (air leakage) at the Proud Green Home (PGH) at Serenbe,…

In Part I of this series on designing for high performance, we discussed the control…

We’re just a few weeks away from a computer generated, self-guided interactive virtual tour of the Serenbe Residence near Atlanta, Georgia (Climate Zone 3a). We’re using REVIT software to generate the 3D model, then  …

In years past, the idea of the “passive house” was only a dream. In concept form, the passive house was one that minimized energy losses and operated at maximum energy efficiency. The result would be a home with little to no monthly energy expenses and a fraction of the environmental impact of most homes. Amazingly, the passive house is no longer just a dream; in fact, it’s become a reality. Several companies are able to build passive homes for everyday consumers, creating a huge shift in…

How to Raise the Efficiency of Your Fireplace

by Don Ames,   www.detectenergy.com

Story tells of a gentleman that came home from work…

Wood Burning Fireplace: Energy Efficiency Loser.

by Don Ames,  www.detectenergy.com, and the eNewsletter, the Energy Spy Insider

People can have a Love-hate relationship with their wood burning fireplace. There is a lot of loving and hating going on right about now, because cooler weather has come and there are about 35 million fireplaces in the U.S. Whether we are hanging the Christmas stockings with care or trying…

If a double pane window is better than a single pane window, should I use triple pane windows?

By Don Ames,  www.detectenergy.com

Should I be using triple pane windows for my retrofit project? 

If a double pane window is better than a single pane window, should I use triple pane windows?

By Don Ames,  www.detectenergy.com…

Straw-bale houses have come a long way since Midwestern homesteaders used to stack sod on the Great Plains and call it home.  More recently, 20^th century straw-bale builders were either crunchy, granola types hand-crafting their own über-green homes, or affluent greenies seeking to create off-grid trophy houses, budgets be damned.  In all cases, though, straw-bale has been the preserve of the one-off – designed and built one at a time.  Until now.

One…

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What makes a Green Home green? Is it the bamboo floors? Maybe it’s the low-e windows or the extra insulation in the walls? What about a high efficiency heating and cooling system? Or maybe it's a plaque by your front door that says, “I'm Green!”?

How about all of the above and then…

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…