Posts tagged: energy
How to Get Free Energy from the Phone Company
By DIY Maven
Yup, if you still have a land line you can siphon off its juice for free power. According to Make Life Easy, you can still use the phone while using its extra energy. This is because your phone uses a fraction » READ MORE
NoonSolar Bags: Solar Power Your Electronics with Your Bag!
By ChrisjobNow, you can not only live off the grid, but you can walk off of it as well. Inhabitat highlights NoonSolar bags, "slick messengers and purses collect the rays of the sun and churn them into fresh juice for your PDA, iPod or other must-be-charged gadget."
They're quite pricey, but think of all the batteries you'll save.
How planting trees can save you big bucks!
By DIY Maven
According to the U.S. Forest Service, planting just THREE trees around your house could cut your energy use by a whopping 30%. It probably goes without saying, but they provide cooling shade in warmer climes and block cold wind in the wintertime. The only trick is to know where exactly to plant said trees.
Here's an abbreviated version of the why-fors:
Deciduous trees should be planted on the east, west and northwest sides of your house. Such » READ MORE
The biggest energy hog in your house....your refrigerator.
By DIY Maven
According to National Geographic's Green Guide, our refrigerators are probably the biggest energy hogs in our homes. What to do? Well, if a new refrigerator is in our future, it's best to shop for an Energy Star rated refrigerator, which use at LEAST 20% less energy than federal standards. The most energy efficent refrigerator on the market right now is the Sun Frost RF-12, pictured below. It is a whopping 51% more efficient and federal standar » READ MORE
Energy-Efficient Windows and Doors Could Qualify For $1,500 Tax Credit
By MarvinWindows
There’s good news for homeowners looking to save energy while improving the comfort, beauty and value of their homes.
The recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, popularly known as the “stimulus package,” offers a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 to homeowners who install new, energy-efficient windows and d » READ MORE
Vitamin F: How to Enhance Your Life With Flowers.
By DIY Maven
Author and interior and floral designer Jayme Barrett has teamed with the Society of American Florists to explore flowers’ ability to heal our emotional energy. So important can flowers be to our spiritual well being, Jayme has dubbed them ‘Vitamin F’. The notion is simple enough when you think about it: Like food and drink, flowers give us energy–per major university studies–so securing them a conceptual spot on the food pyramid seems » READ MORE
Added Extra Insulation Around Ducts
By tmgeorgo
Last month I finally took care of a project I've been meaning to do since I moved into my house--wrapping my ducts with more insulation.
The ducts in my crawlspace are insulated on the inside and there wasn't a whole lot of insulation in them, so they were rather energy inefficient. To correct that, I bought a tube of duct mastic, some metal foil tape, and several rolls of R-6 duct wrap from the Home Depot and spent a few afternoons sealing » READ MORE
Curbly Recession Busters: Inside an Energy Audit
By DIY Maven
House feeling as drafty as your 401K lately? No worries, an energy audit can help with both of them. ENERGY STAR defines an energy audit as an assessment of your energy uses, thereby uncovering ‘measures you can take to improve efficency.’ You can consult a professional auditor, or you can do a quick do-it-yourself with the help of ENERGY STAR and their Home Energy Yardsticks. To use the on-line audit, you’ll need to provide some informatio » READ MORE
The Wi-Fi Thermostat
By DIY Maven
Using your home Wi-Fi network, the Ecobee Smart Thermostat enables you to control the temperature in your home from miles away. Cool, huh? It clocks in at $385, but the manufacturer claims it will pay for itself in 12 to 18 months in energy savings. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat is slated to start shipping early next year. Via.
Oikos Green Building Library
By tmgeorgoI've been to all sorts of green building and energy efficiency websites, but none have really compared to the Oikos Green Building Library. I stumbled across the site by accident one day and couldn't believe how in-depth and useful the articles are. The Oikos library is not of those sparse "Green & Eco-Chic Living" or "10 Easy Ways to Go Green" sites, it is instead is geared towards homeowners and builders who look for and understand more techn » READ MORE
Energy Seed generates street light from old batteries
By Doug Aamoth
What a smart solution to the problem of improper disposal of alkaline batteries! The "Energy Seed" concept comes from designers Sungwoo Park and Sunhee Kim. It's basically a receptacle for old batteries that collectively harnesses the leftover juice from all the batteries that are placed inside and uses it to power an LED street light.
This is a great idea for just about any environmentally-conscious neighborhood, but I'd actually like one o » READ MORE
New Water Heater
By tmgeorgo
My water heater sprung a leak over the weekend, right around the seal where the pressure relief valve connects to the tank. It was 12 years old and the thermostat was flaky anyway so I decided it was time to replace it. After a few calls to the hardware store, plumbers and the local gas utility, I learned that the direct vent natural gas model I needed is a special order item at most hardware stores (except at Home Depot, which had some i » READ MORE
Make Your Own Power Bars
By ModHomeEcTeacher
My husband tries to bake his version of a Power Bar using GrapeNuts and peanut butter. Do you know how hard GrapeNuts are to chew even BEFORE you bake all the moisture out of them? Let me tell you, after they cool they're as hard to chew as, say, a piece of wood. To save my pearly new dental veneers, I'm going to copy this recipe and tape it to our pantry door. KC at PracticalHacks has provided the power bar recipe to save you money a » READ MORE
Find the right CFL color for you!
By DIY Maven
Switching over to CFL light bulbs can be a bit startling. First there’s the cost. You just have to remind yourself that they’re going to last A LOT longer than regular incandescent bulbs and use less energy to get over that one. Next is the color. When CFLs first came out, they emitted a fairly harsh blue light. Luckily, now there are a variety of CFLs on the market including ones that produce a softer, more incandescent light.
Kelvin Ratin » READ MORE
Choosing the right CFL bulb color
By tmgeorgoWired posted a nice CFL bulb color selection guide to help pick the right CFL bulb for each room/task. It's a nice and simple guide, but I will add that I don't agree with their advice on bathrooms. I use 2700K bulbs in both my kitchen and bathroom and they work fine. I got rid of incandescents from every room in my house 2-3 years ago. I don't think I could go back--the energy savings and reduced heat in each light fixture and lamp are well » READ MORE
DIY Multipurpose Seedling Raiser + Food Dehydrator
By intouchoz
Instead of buying seedlings, you can get an early start on with tomatoes, peppers, cabbages etc. by making this simple seedling raiser cum food dehydrator. The seedling raiser is simple to move around, light and compact for storage when not in use.
Manufactured from easy sourced materials that you may on hand or sourced from local recycling areas. The design illustrated was created from some spare plywood so this seed raiser was made to fit t » READ MORE
DIY Solar cooker
By intouchoz
This was made back in the late 60's as an experiment by the author's late father. The drawings have been embellished slightly, but essentially they remain close to the original concept.
According to the author, the solar cooker worked extremely well, even on a slightly overcast day. It managed to cook a large range of food items and even baked a loaf of bread, so don't limit your imagination with this brilliant DIY concept.
Over the years, » READ MORE
10 Ways to Green Your Fridge.
By ChrisjobVegetarian Times offers 10 great tips to best steward your homes' most beloved appliance. "According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the average American fridge uses around 1,383 kilowatt hours a year, which is 14 percent of your household’s electrical needs and about $90 a year. But there are simple steps you can take to lighten your refrigerator’s impact on your w » READ MORE
Twelve Tips to Conserve Energy
By Chrisjob
Reader's Digest suggests you don't have to change your entire lifestyle to do a little better about conserving energy. "You don't have to feel bad to do good. There are smart ways to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that don't take much effort. They can even simplify your life by saving you time and money. To become an armchair environmentalist, just relax and follow these little steps:"
1. Skip a Trip
2. Hire Someone to Seal Up Your H » READ MORE
Turn Green: 15 Ways to Reduce your Eco-Footprint.
By Chrisjob
You might not be too big, but your environmental impact might not be as small. It's becoming hip to measure your resource consumption as your "ecological footprint". Wikipedia claims, "Ecological footprint (EF) analysis attempts to measure human demand on nature. It compares human consumption of natural resources with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. It is an estimate of the amount of biologically productive land and sea are » READ MORE
