Archive for December, 2011
December 31, 2011 at 4:48 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, DIY Projects, Off Grid
Many people – especially for décor and ambience are drawn towards “real antique “pot bellied wood burning stoves. If they are strictly for ambience – and not to be fired up – then it really does not matter. That is except for purchase price. However if you are purchasing the device either as a heating appliance along for ambience and charm , or strictly for its furnace heat output comfort giving qualities any of a number of real concerns come into play. Consider safety, your house and fire insurance policies coverage and extra fees and costs that may come into play. Its not only a question of “is it good enough “ or “safe enough” but also that the device may not meet current fire safety csa ( in Canada ) or Underwriters Listing standards or for that matter even your local building codes. Even if the heater does measure up – you may not know its full condition, its maintenance over the years and even if serious events or damages happened to occur to this one unit over its lifetime.
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December 22, 2011 at 12:43 am · Filed under Green Tech
Green credits are not incentive enough to completely quell the energy consumption required by many a cloud computing company. Even the adoption of smart grid technology is not having rapidly enough to quell the amount of energy usage which will continue to expand in server farms throughout the country. As a result, there –of necessity–need to be a number of innovations which will help until things like solar and wind become a more feasible replacement for what currently exists.
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December 16, 2011 at 6:53 am · Filed under DIY Projects
While it is true no doubt that ventilation in any home , residence or commercial property remove and serves to remove airborne ventilation, additional measures are necessary if not essential to cure any area of inherent air leaks. Remarkably more homes and buildings than ever seem to have seepages of water
into their basement or even crawl space areas. As said in the last point deforestation and denudement of covering vegetation often lead to a Rube Goldberg type of water flow. Water it seems has a remarkable ability to flow and meander far from what you think is the original source – right into the lowest areas of your home.
Natural intrinsic flow patterns are restricted and limited and as opposed to natural absorption involving natural drainage of rainfall into the earth itself, can send water that lies around residential or even business areas to flood basements and crawlspaces that previously could be counted on to stay dry overall. In some cases , the key to a dry basement may be no more complex than cleaning out rain gutters and eaves-troughs or as well taking the time and attention as sealing cracks in foundation walls or leaks up in the roof. When such routine steps are not sufficient or adequate , you may find that you may have to lay underground pipe to carry water away – perhaps to a dry well or perhaps just offshore away from your property.
Alternatively you may want to apply water-proofing to the foundation itself or even install a sump or other type of effluent pump in your basement or crawl-space areas.
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December 16, 2011 at 6:32 am · Filed under DIY Projects, Green Tech
Your home is your castle and protection from the outside elements. After all that is how shelter started . Pragmatic but all in all though one might think of a home for cosmetics , or as in investment in these days of relative low interest mortgages which allow many to afford homes , and even vacation properties that they might never of been afford previously. Still no matter where you live or reside , you want to stay snug as a rug in a bug . Weatherstripping allows this , with energy savings and reduced energy uses overall.
Yet few houses , homes and apartments demand totally full and comprehensive total weatherstripping in total. Yet no doubt over time you , your family or property will no doubt require some.
On top of that even installed – say simple caulking around windows require maintenance and upkeep on a regular , planned and ongoing basis. Every few years new weather stripping as well as caulk are necessary to replace what has worn away and now leaks. This happens over time and use , as well as settling and movement of the house as the ground surface shifts itself. It may be normal spring unfreezing ground shift or it just be may regular settling of soil after wet seasons.
Yet once properly sealed , a house may just have too little or basically inadequate air flow to carry moisture away or enough oxygen to take full advantage of modern new fuel efficient furnaces. Therefore to maintain and enhance stated furnace efficiency levels ventilators as well as heat exchangers must are often recommended to be installed and in place to take full and complete advantage of natural air currents. Alternatively extra air flow exhaust can be created by the strategic placement of electrical ventilating fans. It should be noted and driven home that intentional ventilation of this type and sort has a big time major advantage and advantages over the accidentally randomly created air currents that just drift across odd cracks and crannies. You have better control of how much air gets in and to where.
While it is true that ventilation itself removes airborne moisture, other measures are often necessary to cure a home of air leaks. Yet the real villains should be placed in perspective. For example if one lived in Toronto Canada humidity is an issue – humidity air in via cracks. There is a good level of moisture in the air due to water moisture drifting into the air from the Great Lakes especially Lake Ontario. Yet if one is in the Canadian prairies in the dead of winter , with a continental climate its exceptionally dry . Air in Winnipeg is said to be drier than the Sahara Desert during the cold – 50 January winter time periods.
On top of that due to deforestation and the building of parking lots basements that were never wet at all – seem to have much more of seeping water and resultant humidity in home basements than ever used to be the case. Large concrete covered or asphalt covered shopping lot parking lots seem to be among the worst offenders. Its as simple as that.
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December 15, 2011 at 1:59 pm · Filed under DIY Projects
What was that rustling in the bushes near the pond? It sounded like pebbles or twigs falling through the leaves, yet the air was still. The curious noise stopped me as I walked to the barn. Looking up, I could see something shaking a topmost branch of the butternut tree. Then I spotted the red squirrel knocking butternuts from the twigs and letting them fall down through the branches and brush to the ground. Later he will gather them one by one to store under the stonewall or perhaps in a tree trunk.
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December 13, 2011 at 9:49 pm · Filed under Bio Fuel, Green Tech
Finding an alternative source of energy is the need of the hour. Scientists have been engaged with the unenviable task of searching for a viable source that does not eat into our fast dwindling resources. Given the combined forces of resource depletion and environmental damage that’s caused by non-renewable energy sources, there can be little doubt about the urgency of the situation.
One source that’s being suggested, due to the fact that it would not seem to leave any appreciable carbon footprints on our overtly polluted atmosphere, is algae biofuel. Read the rest of this entry »
December 12, 2011 at 9:15 pm · Filed under Green Tech, hybrids
Recycling, energy conservation and preserving the environment are just some of the many ways you can live a green lifestyle. Extending that lifestyle to the car you drive is a no-brainer, especially when there are plenty of vehicles on the mainstream consumer market with proven green bonafides. Most of the vehicles on this list are relatively affordable save for the Tesla Roadster. Teing green might not be easy, but choosing your next green ride should be. Read the rest of this entry »
December 12, 2011 at 9:13 pm · Filed under DIY Projects
Most of the information that is available on being “green” reflects actions that you can take to reduce your carbon footprint. These recommendations focus on things like recycling, being more responsible in selecting products and using less energy. One that is often neglected is family disaster preparedness. This is an area of being “green” that we all need to spend a little time on.
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December 12, 2011 at 11:46 am · Filed under Solar
Like any other “alternative” energy sources, the sun is renewable or rather bottomless. And similar to its other elemental counterparts (water and wind), it provides energy in the safest, most environmentally-friendly way possible. But, if the sun is a reliable and clean energy source, what’s stopping us to use this? Is solar energy the way of the future?
While not all parts of the world are familiar with the use of solar power, a growing number of countries are now starting to practice using it. Extracting energy from the sun is a very efficient and environmentally-friendly method of generating power. Typically, solar panels are used to catch energy from the sun. A regular-sized panel is able to generate more or less 1,000 watts per hour during midday, when the sun is at its brightest. Of course, like anything else in this truly imperfect world, using solar energy has its pros and cons. Read the rest of this entry »
December 10, 2011 at 3:23 pm · Filed under Green Tech
Designers and architects are putting a lot of effort into environmentally friendly design. Much of this is motivated by cost-cutting measures, or a desire for good publicity, but there are other benefits to be had from eco-friendly offices too. Environmentally friendly offices tend to be healthier, and more enjoyable for the workers that spend their nine-to-five days in them.
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December 9, 2011 at 1:13 pm · Filed under The Politics
The future prospects for the UK’s gas supply do not look great. What is the scale of the problem and what does it mean for the consumer?
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December 9, 2011 at 1:02 pm · Filed under DIY Projects
Whether you like it or not, the bad weather is coming, and it’s going to arrive hard and right in your face. If last year’s winter is anything to go by in the UK then we will be in for more heavy snow, ridiculously low temperatures and high winds. The country was fairly caught out last year and many roads and railways were disrupted. Read the rest of this entry »
