Check Out the New Energy Calculator

Looking to learn detailed information about where your home might leak energy?

A new and improved energy calculator has been provided by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the Department of Energy. This new tool is hip and has a bunch of great bells and whistles.

To use the calculator, plug in your zip code and select the appropriate rate for your local utility. Dominion Virginia Power is already listed as an option for you.

You can enter basic information about your home or go on a scavenger hunt around your house. The more detailed the data, the more accurate information the calculator will output.

Also on the site LBL.gov is information about general consumers’ energy consumption in their learn section. They provide a breakdown of residential energy costs such as 41% of bills go to heating and cooling while 12% goes to water heating, etc.

Have fun with the new calculator and learning about your home!

Eco Friendly Football

We’re down to the final four in the NFL, all with high hopes of playing in the Big Game!

Jets vs Steelers and Packers vs Bears look to be a couple of great games and they're taking place this weekend.

To help fans who love to partake in the tailgating tradition, especially the ones in Pittsburgh and Chicago (sites of the games), I figured it’d be kind to pass along some football eco-friendly advice…

• Before you leave the house – If you’re trekking to the game bearing the cold, consider turning your home’s thermostat down a few degrees.
• In the car to the stadium – Carpool. It’s one of the simplest ways to reduce fuel consumption (and to reduce congestion in the parking lot, every car counts).
• At the tailgating site, set up a garbage bag to collect all of the aluminum cans. When you get home, recycle them.
• Instead of bringing paper plates, bring some of your dishes from home. When you’re done, just take them back home to wash and use again. Similarly, use cloth napkins instead of paper towels. It really helps cut down on the trash generated.
• When you’re in the stadium, look for recycling bins to toss your empty bottles instead of the trash.

Simple, little things like this add up to a lot. So do your part while rooting on your favorite team to a gridiron championship and make yourself an energy conservation champion!

Landscaping Ideas - Preparing for the Spring

It’s cold outside and many people are lounging around the house, watching TV, cooking soups and staying warm. Well, at least that’s what I do!

Lately I’ve been watching DIY type shows, helping generate ideas for how I want to landscape my yard in the spring.

Style, patterns, flower bed locations, and proper water runoff are all important, but one thing you might add to your list: shade. Confused as to how shading becomes important? Depending on how you execute your landscaping, there is money to be saved.

One of the best shade providers are deciduous trees (leafy in summer, bare in winter). They provide wonderful shade for your home in summer but allow the sun to help warm your home in winter. Plant these trees on the south and west sides of your house to use them to their fullest.

According to the Department of Energy, a well-placed tree, shrub, or vine can:

• deliver effective shade.
• act as a windbreak.
• reduce your energy bills - up to 25% of the energy a typical household uses for energy.

Research shows that summer daytime air temperatures can be 3° to 6° cooler in tree-shaded neighborhoods than in treeless areas. A lattice or trellis with climbing vines, or a planter box with trailing vines, shades the home’s perimeter while admitting cooling breezes to the shaded area.

The extra shade the trees can provide can help your HVAC use less energy to cool your home in the summer, since the air the unit is bringing in has already cooled by a few degrees.

So while you’re planning out your backyard oasis, consider planting some deciduous trees!

Jumpstarting 2011 with Weatherization

This past weekend it warmed up in the Richmond area, topping off in the mid 60’s. Sure was a nice break from the cold – I even got to walk around in shorts and sandals!

I love New Year’s parties, don’t get me wrong, but I had to get down to the business of doing some work on my house. In between planning and attending a few gala events, it was time to air out my house, weather-strip my windows, change my air filters, and replace the batteries in the smoke detectors.

Saturday morning was absolutely perfect for it. After a nice cup of coffee and breakfast, I walked around the house and made a checklist:

• 2 air filters (that’s how many ‘air returns’ I have in my house), one was 12x12x1 and the other was 14x14x1
• 2 rolls of weather-stripping tape (for the windows)
• 2 packs of the small insulation rolls (for the non-operating fireplace)
• 2 new 9V batteries (Even though it’s not weatherization, it’s smart to replace the batteries in the smoke detectors)

I headed down to the home improvement stores and all in all, I spent about $40 bucks (Air filters $10, weather-stripping $20, insulation $7, batteries $3). When I got back to the house, I got straight to work:

• I opened all the windows and turned on the fans to clear out any stale air.
  
• The air filters - which should be changed monthly -took about 15 minutes to replace (I took another 15 minutes to clean the vents). They really were a breeze to install (no pun intended!)
• The weather-stripping rolls were also really simple. I found the spots in the doors and windows that I could see the light of day outside, unrolled the foam, and installed the tape. The weather-stripping took about an hour from start to finish.
• Then, since I have a non-operating fireplace, I took the insulation, unrolled it, and put it up in the chimney (this chimney doesn’t have a damper). Just high enough where it is out of sight. The insulation took about 20 minutes.
• Replacing the smoke detector batteries took about 10.

From going to the store and implementing all of the measures, it took me about 3 hours and cost $40.

And now when it’s chilly outside and the windows would have normally been drafty, it’s warm and comfortable in the house.