A Few of My Favorite Filter Photos
There's really no end to the fun stuff you find when looking at furnace & air conditioner filters. Here are a few of my favorites for this Fall Friday. Jeffrey Sauls, our HERS QAD here at Energy Vanguard, saw this…
The Energy Vanguard Blog
Let’s Stop Using the Word “Breathe” for Buildings
Breathe. It's a good thing. We need to breathe to live. Breathing consciously relaxes us. And it's a great song by Pink Floyd from the Dark Side of the Moon album. Breathe, breathe in the air Don't be afraid to…
Falling Electricity Rates, Bill Tracking, and Energy Efficiency
Like many energy geeks, I track my electricity usage and costs. I've been doing it for decades. (Unlike Danny Orlando, however, I haven't stayed in the same house and watched as the home energy improvements kept lowering that usage.) One…
Humidity in a Spray Foam Attic
Spray foam insulation can solve problems that other insulation materials can't. One of those problems is moving the building enclosure from the drywall ceiling of a home to the roofline. By doing so, you bring the attic inside the building…
The Cost of Solar Energy Keeps Dropping, But…
Solar energy has sex appeal. If you want to show the world you're doing something to reduce pollution, you put photovoltaic (PV) panels on your roof to generate clean electricity. Even better, you drive a plug-in hybrid or an all-electric…
7 Things I Learned at the North American Passive House Conference
Yesterday I returned home from the North American Passive House Conference. It was great, as it always is. Wait. No, this was the best one yet. On the 10th anniversary of the first conference, PHIUS put on an amazing conference.…
Grading an Attempt to Get Ducts Inside Conditioned Space
There's a ton of new construction and remodeling going on in Atlanta. On a lot near where I live, a developer tore down the old house and is building two new ones. This weekend, I took the opportunity to check…
How Dirty Is Your State’s Electricity?
I've been working on my presentation for the 10th anniversary of the North American Passive House Conference. It's on the global warming impact of insulation, a followup to my latest article about Alex Wilson's work on that subject. One of…
More on Air Conditioner Sizing Rules of Thumb
Air conditioner sizing rules of thumb must die. That's what I wrote in my last article. The most common rule of thumb is to use 500 square feet per ton to determine the size of air conditioner needhttps://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/more-on-air-conditioner-sizing-rules-of-thumbed. Or 400…
Air Conditioner Sizing Rules of Thumb Must Die
We design a lot of heating and air conditioning systems at Energy Vanguard. When I talk to potential clients, a lot of them tell me their contractor wants to size their air conditioner using a rule of thumb. The rule…