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Living with Ed follows Ed Begley, Jr., and his wife, Rachelle, as they green their home, family, and celebrity friends. But if you've ever wondered what kind of advice they'd give the rest of us, then the Ask Ed forum is your chance to find out. Readers submit questions and comments about the show, green living, etc., and Ed chimes in with his green answers; here, we've rounded up some highlights of the past week.
Q. I have seen the reports and the studies and I agree, radiant heat is the most efficient (in general) source of heating----but that requires solid surface floors. Here is my problem: solid surface floors + arthritis = lots of pain. I am barely 40 here and after a long day of work, it is all I can do to hobble around the house preparing a meal for my husband. Now that I can retire and we build a house, is it so much for me to ask for efficient heating and hobble free walking? Cork flooring has been approved by the Arthritis Foundation, but is generally frowned upon by green builders and my architect certainly didn't want to have anything to do with it. Cork and radiant heating don't go hand in hand. Is there a green alternative to flooring that is more compassionate for us folks that end up in so much pain from a solid surface flooring?
A. When I wanted to use hot water to heat my home, I had a similar problem of not wanting to rip up my old floors...and I already have ducting for forced air. So, with the help of an AO Smith Vertex 100 water heater and a FirstCo Aquatherm furnace, I now have forced air heat using hot water. You may find this to be a great alternative to radiant heating without having to rip up your floors or make tough flooring choices or go to the expense of radiant. Just an option.
Ed
Q. In the process of trying to recycle all the plastic we can, we have run into a problem. A lot of products come in plastic bags without a triangle on them. How do I go about recycling them?
A. Most plastic bags are #4 LDPE low density polyethelyne. Some are also #3 PVC.
You'll want to make sure you take them to a plastics recycler that has no problem with 3 or 4.
Ed
Q. How do you turn a bicycle into an electricity generator? Is it difficult for a non-electrician to do? Is there a kit? I would like to generate enough electricity to use my blender and/or toaster. (Just like Ed.)
A. Here are two kits available:
Ecoconvergence
Windstream Power
The second one comes with a battery and inverter so you can plug things in and go right from the start.
Ed
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