I mostly write on saving heat through conservation and good practice. This blog speaks more on a wholistic approach to save energy. Here is a great article on ditching energy-wasting light bulbs. http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/16589850
Here is a very short but effective article on how to save energy and save money on the electrical bill. This blog is a respected authority on Home improvements in the Denver CO area. Be sure to see the video link in this article on references to get help on consuming energy and saving electrical dollars off your bill: http://www.bestinclassnetwork.com/blog/2007/04/26/energy-saving-video/
Here is an excerpt:
“It should be obvious that if your major appliances are more then 15 years old you should look to start replacing them. Better to do it before they start to fail as then it will be harder to do it. You can get a Kill-O-Watt meter that can tell you how much a particular appliance if using and replace the biggest hog first. Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) save tons of energy but cheap ones are terrible. GE makes bulbs that have very good quality light. Just make sure not to put them on dimmers.”
There is trouble with Energy efficient CFL bulbs and some brands are worst than others. The mercury contained in them is a hidden hazard. Here is a blog entry that describes the advantage and drawbacks of the bulbs and the false and true statements about them. http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/04/annoyance-of-energy-efficient-lighbulbs.html
A housewife in Prospect, Maine purchased these mercury bulbs that are now the Green fashion. She thought it would save her money, which is what was promised. But as the local paper puts it, she “is paying much more than she had ever expected to.”
When I read this blog article it made perfect sense to me. We spend much time concentrating on how to save energy in the power grid we forget the wastes of energy in our food supply. Some of the things in the article are overly simplistic but overall I think the advise is good. http://wisdomfrommywife.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-save-environment-and-cure.html
Here is an excerpt from the article:
“Food is energy, so don’t waste it. You shouldn’t throw food away. That’s wasting it. But at the same time, you shouldn’t try to put the food in your body either, that’s wasting it also. Once it gets stored in your body, you want to get rid of it, and you exercise, but you’re not doing useful work with it. You are just burning it. So here’s my tips on not wasting food…”
This is a little off topic from my usual fireplace banter, but I wanted to share a trick I learned a few years ago on how to save money on shaving razors.
Stainless steel blade shavers like the slick marketed Quatro, Sensor or Mach 4 have blades that take a long time to go dull. However, they do tend to corrode if kept in untidy or wet conditions.
That is right! Some stainless does corrode in wet conditions. You see the blades are made of a certain type of stainless that is susceptible to corrosion if kept wet. The best thing you can do to get a blade to last a very long time is to keep it clean and dry.
When I finish shaving I take a spray bottle and clean out the blades very well by spraying directly into the blade cartridge to flush out the leftover shaving cream and whiskers. Then I blot the blade cartridge on a towel and keep it in the bathroom closet (NOT the shower)
Practicing this I have kept my Quatro blades in operation for 6 months at a pop, shaving every day of the week except Saturday.
If you are an experienced shaver you know the toughest spot to shave without nicking is the chin…so grow a goatee! Then you can get maximum life from your shaver blades and keep more out of the landfill. besides those shaving cartridges are expensive little buggers – Jason
Q: Jason, How much energy will a Chimney Balloon save for an average 15 inch chimney?
A: AP, Your question is hard to answer with the little information you gave. It is kind of like asking me how much water you would save if you fix your leaky faucet. I can’t really tell unless I saw the leak and measured it. However, your question is well worth answering, but I will have to give you a ballpark figure working with averages.
The biggest factor is… how bad is your damper right now? Is it missing? Is it rusty, corroded or warped? Is it a flapper, chimney top, or a pivot style damper? There are a million variables as to how bad or good your damper may be doing currently. If your metal damper is not 100% tight, which they hardly ever are, then you are losing heat.
So let’s take a look at what the US Department of Energy and other third parties say… The US DOE estimates 14% of a home’s energy is lost through the fireplace. Here is a link to that information: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/air_leaks.html
Lets put this figure in dollars. The DOE estimates an average home in 2005 used $1300 in energy per year and 43% of that is heating and cooling. Now if 14% of that amount is lost through the fireplace then sealing the fireplace will save $80 per year on average.
Those are pretty conservative figures since other studies have pointed to a savings of over $200 annually by plugging the chimney flue.
AP, I hope this answers your question thoroughly enough…, – Jason