Articles tagged “Insulation”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Home Energy Saver Calculates Bang For the Buck By Lloyd Alter IN Home & Garden Sep 15 2010 Why does everyone like putting solar panels on their roofs when so many other things are so much more cost-effective? + READ MORE

Energy Efficient Homes Are The Stars Of The Future By Ronnie Citron-Fink IN Home & Garden Apr 23 2010 Are you in the market for a new home? If you are, you are not alone. Millions of new homes are built every year. How will all of the materials needed to build and sustain these new homes accommodate our dwindling and limited natural resources? + READ MORE

8 Ways Going Green at Home Will Save You Money By Collin Dunn IN Home & Garden Nov 5 2009 When it comes to investing, there aren't many sure things, especially in our current economic climate. While Wall Street has been a roller coaster ride lately, investing in efficiency upgrades in your home isn't subject to the mood swings of nervous investors, and, done properly, will always save you money. Here's how. + READ MORE

Can You Use Spray Foam to Insulate an Energy-Rated Metal Roof? By Steve Thomas IN Home & Garden Aug 28 2009 Steve Thomas, Host of Renovation Nation, answers some questions about insulating your attic and roof. + READ MORE

Take the Living Zero Home Tour--Coming to a City Near You By Mat McDermott IN Home & Garden Aug 17 2009 The Living Zero Home Tour will teach you home to make your home more energy efficient, the benefits of switching your lightbulbs, Energy Star appliances, tankless water heaters, and more. + READ MORE

Beat the Heat with these Warm-Weather Ventilation Tips By Josh Peterson IN Food & Health May 19 2009 We spend a lot of time writing about energy efficiency and how proper ventilation is important for indoor air quality. In this article, we'll look at how to use your ventilation to increase your warm-weather energy efficiency. By employing these tactics, you'll be able to have healthy air and a smaller energy bill. + READ MORE

The Two Best Tactics for Renovating a Historic Home By Steve Thomas IN Home & Garden May 15 2009 I've posted on renovating historical buildings before, and one of the biggest renovation problems with these buildings is that you can't change anything. My own house is in the historic district, and I really can't change very much. You can't even change out the windows, because the historic commission requires single pane, true divided light windows. + READ MORE

Caulking Tips By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Apr 28 2009 We like to promote energy efficiency here at Planet Green. One of the ways to increase your energy efficiency is by sealing your thermal envelope. One of our most stalwart allies in thermal-envelope sealing is caulk. + READ MORE

How to Make Your Room Air Conditioner More Efficient By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Apr 23 2009 I've lived in quite a few apartments without central air conditioning. In Los Angeles, the weather is so perfect, I don't need air conditioning. When I lived through the sweltering summers that the Midwest offered up, I usually stuck a room AC in my window and lived only in that one room. Of course, I'm a miserly son of a gun and would only use the AC when I felt that I would have a stroke of some sort. + READ MORE

Stop Heat Loss With Energy Panels By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Apr 21 2009 Windows account for 25% of your home's energy loss, and that's when they are closed. If your windows are drafty of if you only have single pane windows, it might be time to look at some window-related insulation solutions. You could put bubble wrap on your windows. or plastic, but you'll have bubble wrap or plastic covering your windows. A more attractive solution is energy panels. + READ MORE

Insulate Your Home for Your Health By Josh Peterson IN Food & Health Apr 16 2009 Insulation is the most important green upgrade to your home. It's more important than solar panels, unplugging your appliances or an Energy Star fridge. The majority of our energy expenditures go to climate control. Putting insulation in your attic, roof and walls can extend the life of your home. Your house will be more comfortable with insulation, and you'll spend less money + READ MORE

Convince Your Local Historic Commission to Go Green (Video) By Steve Thomas IN Home & Garden Mar 24 2009 Local historic commissions are good at preserving the character of historic neighborhoods, but sometimes their well intentioned regulations hinder green building. This was the case with the renovation of the Edgar Degas House in New Orleans. Steve Thomas talks about convincing your local historic commission to embrace new green-building techniques. + READ MORE

Renovating a Historic Structure Comes with Constraints (Video) By Steve Thomas IN Home & Garden Mar 24 2009 The renovation of the Degas House featured on Renovation Nation faced several constraints due to its historic status. Steve Thomas explains how they dealt with the restrictions and still made the project green. + READ MORE

How Insulation can Save You Money, Energy, and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint By Seth Leitman IN Home & Garden Mar 19 2009 If you are cold and want to figure some of the quickest ways to save money year round, you need to add insulation to your home. + READ MORE

Take Advantage of the Government's Weatherization Assistance Program By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Mar 18 2009 Proper weatherization can reduce your heating bills by 32%. That's over $300 dollars a year. Not bad. Of course, you may not be able to afford such niceties. The United States Government has a program that helps low-income families obtain weatherization for their homes. + READ MORE

How to Insulate Your Hot Water Heater By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Mar 5 2009 If you have a new-fangled hot water heater than has a high in-built R-factor, insulating the thing isn't going to bring your heating costs down by any large amount. (It still might be worth doing for the sake of the environment, the low cost and the ease of insulation.) On the other hand, if you have no idea when your hot water heater was built or if you are renting a house with a heater of a dubious nature, then you probably should insulate your hot water heater. + READ MORE

How to Insulate Sliding Glass Doors By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Mar 4 2009 A sliding glass door can be a great source of heat loss in the home. Many homes and apartments sport these doors. They are attractive, especially when they look out upon a splendid garden or patio where tea is served by gloved butlers, and you can get a few laughs when people mistakenly plow into them. However, they sure aren't doing you any favors energy-wise. + READ MORE

Insulate Your Fridge with Shag Carpet By Josh Peterson IN Home & Garden Feb 20 2009 The refrigerator consumes about 8% of a home's electricity. It's is far and away the single most energy-intensive appliance. But it serves an important purpose. It keeps our beer cold. Also, it keeps our food cold. There are a half-dozen ways of greening up your fridge: Keeping it full, covering the food, cleaning the compressor coils, etc. + READ MORE

6 Uses for Junk Mail By Josh Peterson IN Work & Connect Feb 18 2009 Junk mail. It's trash delivered right to your mailbox that you get the privilege of throwing away. What a deal! But what if you didn't just chuck it in the trash? What if you used it? Here's how. + READ MORE

Why You Need To Insulate and Air Seal Your Home to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint By Seth Leitman IN Home & Garden Feb 12 2009 Jamyi Heimbuch explained really clearly how much energy and carbon footprint a home leaves behind.More on Reducing Your Footprint: How to Rid Your House of an Unwanted Chill Blackout Curtains to Save Energy and Control Light and Noise Use Cellular Blinds to Save Energy Save Energy with an Attic Stair Cover 5 Ways to... + READ MORE