Magazine
Speaking My Mind
Welcome. If you have not already done so, please register and add your tip about energy-efficiency. We look forward to hearing from you. For more energy ideas, go to Wood Chart and Energy-Efficient House.
By Yankee Magazine|Oct 15 2008|
Welcome. If you have not already done so, please register and add your tip about energy-efficiency. We look forward to hearing from you.
For more energy ideas, go to Wood Chart and Energy-Efficient House.
During the first big energy crisis of the 1970’s, I made a habit of installing lined drapes in the windows of all homes in which I have lived: when the sun sets, the drapes are drawn; when the sun rises, the drapes are opened. This decades-old habit has paid for our custom-made drapes and kept our home cozy and draft-free.
Have that heating system serviced and tuned up every year, dont forget to have the heat zones purged or bleed of air, if it is a hot air system replace that air filter two or three times a season this will reflect in the wallet
If you have a furnace, it will need fresh air for safe, efficient combustion. Sealing all air leaks will will prevent this. The LAST door or window you should seal is the one closest to the furnace. Seal the ones that would have cold air blowing past your living areas on the way to the furnace. By having the furnace draw air from the closest possible source, your furnace may use air that you haven’t already heated. To be safe, check with a heating technician.
Don’t flush your heat away! Get a low-flow toilet now. Your furnace heats everything, including the water in the tank.
Imagine taking all the water in the tank, heating it on the stove to 68 degrees and then throwing it out the window. Gardyloo!
Your flushing makes the grass “greener over the septic tank” (Erma Bombeck was right), but your wallet is less green.
So, don’t let your furnace do that. The low-flow toilets today are vastly better than in 1994 when they were introduced. The rural community is the last to adopt them because we don’t pay sewage taxes, but we still pay in subtle ways.
If your last toilet cost less than $300, then you’re wasting money. You can replace a toilet yourself. All you need are common tools and a wax gasket (about $2). No building codes will be violated.
The big bonus is that low-flow toilets sweat less in the summer (see the laws of thermodynamics for more detail). You’ll save fuel oil now and your floor won’t rot later.
And your self-serving spending will save the economy.
This message was paid for by the Water Table PAC