If you've wondered how it is that your air conditioner actually keeps you cool in summer, you've found the right place. As Earth-shattering as this sounds, I've actually spent a lot of my half-century living in it! I know, I…
Several years ago, I did a home performance assessment for a medical doctor - you know, the 'real' kind of doctor, not like those ivory tower, pie-in-the-sky, I've-got-a-theory kind of doctors who have PhD instead of MD behind their name.…
I've written a lot about HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) companies in the Energy Vanguard blog, and a lot of what I've written is pretty critical. I've ruminated about why they won't do things right, gone on a tirade…
Do you have floor joists in your crawl space that look like the one to the left? In case you can't tell how bad it really is, just click on it to see a bigger version. When you do, you'll…
I haven't done a LetsBlogOff post in a while, but when I saw the topic for today's blogoff, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist, so here goes. I haven't done a LetsBlogOff post in a while, but when…
In 1997, I helped my parents design and build their home. Early in the construction process, I had suggested that the house be built 25 feet back from where we originally had it planned, and that the fireplace be moved…
I tried to think of something clever to write today for Allison’s 50th birthday, but let’s face it I’d only embarass us both. The reason; I can't be as clever as Allison is. Period. I mean, the man wrote his own…
You may have heard somewhere that insulation works by trapping air. 'Dead air pockets' is the operative term often used. So, the logical next question, then, is, why doesn't the large dead air pocket in an uninsulated wall cavity reduce…
In yesterday's article, I wrote that atmospheric combustion appliances should not be inside the conditioned space of a home. If you have a furnace or water heater that draws air from the room, uses it in the combustion process, and…
Snow on the Roof is the poor man's infrared camera. During the snow days we just had in Atlanta, Jeffrey Sauls sent me the photo above. What you see is the roof of his own house, which he'd had insulated…