Utility Companies...

..aren't as evil as once believed.

My local utility company posted an announcement somewhere, sometime, about a meeting that is to be held this up and coming Sat. about a rebate program for making your home more efficient.

  Rock  on!  This was brought to my attention while I was at work 'cause they know that I'm all into that green stuff.  Makes it sound like a disease, don't it?  Now exactly where this info was posted, I'm not sure.  I'm really curious to discover what they'll be offering rebates on.  Could it be SOLAR?  Maybe net metering?  I'm hoping for a whole slew of goodies coming down the stimulus pipeline, you never know.  So a foray is in order to the South Branch Library to find out what all the brewhaha is all about.

So check those websites and see what's being offered out there.

In other news, I have nearly finished some upgrades to the deck on my front porch.  I fixed a faulty motion detector...allright, fixed is wrong, lets go with replaced, ...so now I don't have to keep the porch light on while I'm out.  Also, I changed my regular porch light over to rope LEDs and I'm now in the process of stringing them up and all 'round to see :1:  How bright they are and 2: Where exactly I should place them due to said brightness.  The general idea is that now I'll get softer, more even illumination, instead of a single harsh light radiating from a single area.  After I finish off the railings, all that should be required is some chairs and a table and that'll be that.

5TH POST!  Whoo!

More for your viewing pleasure...

Yep, back to the window thing.  Earlier we discussed the pros and cons of the different types of windows, as stated, wood windows rock.  Say if there's a problem, then you, or a trusted professional can replace any aspect of them.  OK, but what if they are as old as the man upstairs, historically awesome, and freezing you and your butt off in the middle of winter; or roasting you in the summertime?

Go VINYL!

No.

And don't bother with exterior storm windows either.

Why not?  Glad you asked.  Exterior storm windows create an air dam; which is good in that it acts as an excellent insulator, however in doing so it allows moisture to be trapped on the outside of your window.  Which is bad for several reasons.  It leads to rotting of your sills and sashes, are permanently attached (usually), and are god awful ugly.  Whoops.  

However, the general idea is what we want.  Lets create an air dam/ insulator INSIDE the house.  The climate is controlled so you won't build up moisture.  Good.  Let's make it so the insulator can be removed when needed and easily.  Check.  Can be made to match the interior of your home so that you won't notice that it's even there and won't affect the aesthetics of you windows from the outside. Better.  What if they cost, for your whole house, the same as replacing ONE window?  Home-run!

So, how do you go about acquiring this mythical pot-o-gold?  Call up Ronco?  Nope.

If you have the skills, DIY.  Need a roadmap?  Got one right here.  This is exactly what I'm going to be doing here in about a week or two so you can be assured that I'll report my results here.  Granted, I lifted the following off the web, but hey, it's good info: http://historichomeworks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193

More later...

Rebate Alert

Raise shields!

A quick interuption from the windows saga.  How many of you read the stuff that your billing companies shove in your bills?  If your like me, then you don't  However, in perusing my electric bill this a.m., I noticed a little blurb at the bottom stating that my billing company is offering up to $400 in rebates for me to add insulation to my attic.  Score!  In these older houses, insulation is something of a joke and usually falls into the out-of-site, out-of-mind category. Time to check out the URL they sent me and get the scoop.  So, check your bills for good info.

Maybe there is a good reason to continue receiving monthly bills by snail mail.

Windows of the World

Whoa... Bold title that is.

Allright, let's settle for "a word on windows".  Hmm, I feel Guy Smilie in the air, a disturbance  in the force.  The whole point of this exercise is to achieve two things: 1 lower costs, and 2 create a more efficient home to reduce our carbon footprint etc.  The first place to start is with windows. ( I'm trying REAL hard to leave all references to Bill Gates out of this post-Ed.)  In most homes we are dealing with single pane glass.  Construction is made out either wood or metal depending on when your home was built and in what style.  Windows are indeed the most noticeable in aesthetics and  is usually the #1 culprit in efficiency loss.  They are also one of the items that people see when scoping out your digs.  So there are a-lot going on with these panes (pains) of glass on a myriad of levels, who knew?! 

Let's address construction types first.  Metal:  Inexpensive to make.  You can paint them but they don't look so great.  It has no insulating factors at.  In fact metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat very well.  This is advantageous if your in a kitchen with your pots and pans, not with windows.  Heat can seep in or out as well as the cold, with adverse effects.  Add in single panes and you can watch those dollar bills leak out faster that the National Deficit. 

Vinyl:  Vinyl has great insulating values.  They are not paintable so whatever color you get, you better like 'em.  And on that note; vinyl is , well, vinyl.  It will not last for more that a decade or two, discolor, and it's also (gasp), a petroleum product.  So given whatever you political views are or if you're really wanting to go green, this might be a turn off.  These are usually the goto types of windows for replacements.  They also used to be my favorite until I got to thinking and reading up on all this.  So that leaves us with.....

Wood:  Chances are that your humble abode came with these originally.  Mine did.  They are moderately priced.  Wood also has great insulating properties.  You can paint it whatever color you like.  In fact, usually about every 5~10 years you should do so; so there is some sweat equity involved.    And that's the catch.  This aspect often gets neglected so the next thing you know, your sills are starting to rot out, possibly even your lower sash is starting to go.  And then all the remodelers and greenies start screaming replace them with new, modern, vinyl ones.

BAH HUMBUG.

Phoowee on youee.

Here's a little secret that most people don't take the time to realize when it comes to wood windows.  Every single part can be replaced.  If you take the time to do the upkeep, the can last hundreds of years.

Allright, so wood is great and all but how does all this factor into what we want to accomplish?

Well friends, let me tell you in the next post. 

Greetings

To one and all.  The purpose of said blog is quite simple; during the following months/year I'll be taking my current house and transforming it into a green house.  As in Eco- friendly.  Another aspect of this is to sort through the morass of information about Federal grants, rebates and incentives to show that it is (with apologizes to Mr. Kermit) indeed easy to be green.   Or rather to show others a way to go green that might not be obvious.

So off the top.  I'm not an Eco-Nazi.  It's not all my way or the highway here.  The title might be Tree Hugger but that doesn't mean that I have hair down to my waist, dreadlocks, and wear tye-dye all the time.  Just on special occasions.  You don't have to even hug trees.  I mean , you can if you want to; however they tend to be rough and scratchy.  The house that I plan on greenorvating (if not a word then it is now) was built around 1958 or '48, I can't remember which.  It's located in the North Texas area of the country and is subject to all the whims of the plains, including allergies.  This poor domicile  is a true example of inefficient design.  I take that back.  It was perfectly lovely in its day when you could open the windows with the screens in place (now missing), which would allow the air to move either north to south or vise-versa.  Said house is approx. 1400 sqft. and shaped like a rectangle with a dividing wall running east to west bisecting it neatly like my very own Mason-Dixon line.  The exterior doors, one to the east and the other to the west, are hollow core.  That's right, you can punch a hole in them if you like. 

 

But that's another story.

The windows are single pane and the insulation is so thin the rafters in the ceiling stand out like ribs.  If I were to take Rudolf Nureyev up there, he would cry tears of joy.  There are many more ills to be explored, however, to do so in the dead of winter is just not fair to those suffering from SAD.

The thought here is change.  Which will entail repairs and BEYOND!!