One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the type of balanced ventilation devices known as the energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and the heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is: "Can I get that in red?" OK, not really. Everyone knows that…
A few months ago, I wrote about the confusing world of dehumidifier capacity. That quantity tells you how much water a dehumidifier will produce in a given amount of time. Here in the US, we use pints per day, but…
In case you hadn't heard, we had an inauguration for a new President of the United States this week. And Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made one of the biggest sartorial splashes. Photographer Brendan Smialowski got a photo of Bernie sitting in a…
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…
That dehumidifier you see in the photo above is in the Energy Vanguard office here in Decatur, Georgia. The compressor doesn't come on often, but this past week I've heard it running quite a bit. Depending on where you're from,…
Since more people are using heat pumps these days, even in cold climates, let's spell out the three different types of heat that conventional heat pumps provide. Why not! We've just recently covered the three main sources of home heating…
I'm going to go out on a limb and make what you may think is an outrageous statement: Water is the most interesting substance in the world. Some of you may immediately respond, "Oh, yeah! What about beer?" (Or wine…
Nope. Today is not the first of April. Nor is this one of those special April Fools' Day articles I write at random times. This one's real. A white noise generator has now been used in at least one home…
I've been on a bit of a mission for the past several years. My goal is to get more people thinking about humidity in terms of dew point rather than relative humidity. Why? Because relative humidity is misleading. That whole…
Here we are in the middle of air conditioning season. So why don't we chop down some myths and misconceptions about ceiling fans. What got me on to this topic was a video of a fan with blades that hide…