You Need Cooling
As a runner, I've had some direct experience with temperature regulation in the human body. In winter (and we're having a real one this year in Atlanta), I'm always faced with the choice of how to dress for the conditions…
Blog
A Bit of Confusing Heat Pump Terminology
Oh, the wonderful world of heating and air conditioning and its confusing terminology. I've been doing building science for nearly two decades now, and I still have to ask around sometimes to find out what what a particular term means. Here's…
Combustion Safety 101: Three Types of Problems
We are now ten short days from the winter solstice and many of us in the Northern Hemisphere have been in heating season for a while. That means there's a lot more combustion happening in homes than there was in…
Air Change Rates and IAQ
Let's talk about one of my favorite subjects: air. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) that spreads it, the indoor air quality (IAQ) community—researchers, mediators, manufacturers, bloggers, groupies—is having a moment. This must be the…
How to Make a High-MERV DIY Portable Air Cleaner
Twitter is an utter hellscape in some ways, but it does have a few redeeming qualities. I've seen a lot of good information about the COVID-19 pandemic there, including ways to filter the indoor air for coronavirus and the emerging…
How to Make a Good High-MERV Filter Even Better
I hate it when I don't see ahead of time what seems obvious afterward. I've assembled a lot of things in my life, including a house and two VW engines, and I can't tell you how many times I've gotten…
Understanding Manual J Occupant Loads
People complicate things. If, say, you want to sell a motorcycle, you place an ad and interested potential buyers come check it out, maybe take it for a little ride, and then one of them buys it. But every once…
10 Consequences of Keeping Your Home Really Cold in Summer
I briefly worked at a dry cleaning shop in St. Louis a long time ago. It was December, and we had a bout of super cold weather one week. The temperature dropped to 0° F at night and got up…
Ten Years of Building Science Summer Camp
Ten years ago today, I published one of the most significant articles I've written here in the Energy Vanguard Blog. Titled I Don't Need No Stinkin' Building Science Summer Camp!, this article got me invited to that invitation-only event where…
Why Do Air Conditioning Vents Sweat?
Back in the summer of 2005, I got a call to figure out a moisture problem in a new house. The homeowners took me into the master suite, where the first thing to catch my eye was the towel folded…