Items in the Healthy Home Category
Tankless hot water – a good investment or not?
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 18 December 2011Customers looking for ways to reduce their energy consumption often ask about tankless hot water systems, having heard that they are a “greener” option than traditional water heaters. Tankless systems have certainly become popular recently, yet we rarely recommend them (unless for a very specific need). Here is our rationale on the subject: (more…)
Rid your dryer of chemicals, once and for all.
Posted in Community, Healthy Home - 11 November 2011
Often we are marketed a “green” or “natural” product touted to solve some problem we face (e.g. extract of flower used as a mosquito repellent) or replace an effective, if somewhat toxic or less-than-natural product, only to be disappointed with lackluster performance. So when we happen to come across something that actually does work, well… we can’t help but share the information.At an event last year, we happened to be located next to the ladies from “The Stoney Mountain Farm” who were showcasing their wares. Among the many products on display, were these little wool “dryer balls“. They explained to us the number of chemicals that were in traditional dryer sheets and how these balls effectively replaced these.
Well, with three young kids in the house and a general disdain for unnecessary chemicals in our lives, we figured we’d give it a shot. After more than a year of using them, we are very happy to report that they actually work wonderfully! Along with the benefit of no chemicals, they also seem to last forever. Every once in a while we have to throw them in with the laundry, but once out, they perform as good as new.
Please note that we do not receive any compensation of any kind from the makers of this product. We simply wanted to share a truly effective alternative to placing unnecessary chemicals on your clothing. Over the past year, we’ve purchased these as stocking-stuffers for most of our family. With the holidays fast approaching, we thought we’d offer this little suggestion. We hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
The Critical (And Most Overlooked) Issue of Moisture Management
Posted in Green Building, Healthy Home - 24 September 2011
Example of a roof leak using a thermal imaging camera
Today we were discussing renovation plans with a customer and as we walked through the house and her upcoming plans, we noticed some fairly pervasive and significant moisture issues. As we discussed this in the context of the other work she wanted us to bid on, a recent article in the local Chapel Hill News came to mind.
The article entitled “Home Inspector’s Top 10″, listed the top 10 most common problems inspectors find when examining homes. Two of these were moisture related and the #1 issue was “inadequate drainage”. For anyone who has built any kind of structure, understanding moisture management has always been a critical and sometimes vexing element of successful construction.
We have always maintained that durability is the first principle of ”Green Building” and the single most (more…)
Why Changing Your Air Filter Regularly Is Important!
Posted in General, Healthy Home - 4 August 2011Last night on my drive home, a friend called me to ask my opinion on his upstairs A/C unit which was no longer blowing cold air, in fact there was very little air movement at all. My first questions was “have you changed your air filter recently?”
This is a common summer problem for residents in the humid south. When your air conditioner is working properly, a refrigerant is sent to a small “radiator” by the air handler (fan) very similar to the one on cars. This refrigerant is very cold and as a result performs two functions: (more…)
Choosing An Energy Auditor (re-post)
Posted in Energy Efficiency, General, Healthy Home - 15 June 2011We don’t often re-post others work, however I have a lot of respect for the folks over at Energy Vanguard and I figured in the spirit of “reuse” we would link to an excellent post on a popular topic.
Here is an article an instructor of mine wrote on the topic of “choosing a company to do an energy audit“
Breaking Ground On An Old Concept
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green Building, Healthy Home - 21 May 2011Last week, as we broke ground on the passive solar home we are building in Wendell, it dawned on me that we’ve come full circle on concepts of energy efficient building design. When people ask us about the design of this home, I’m always a little surprised at the perception that this is somehow going to be an exotic looking home, or will be more expensive than a traditional home. If I were to line up 5 different plans, some passive solar some not, most would not be able to pick out the passive solar design. Furthermore, an energy efficient home doesn’t have to cost more, it simply requires some knowledge of building science, attention to detail and proper management of heat and moisture. In many cases, it simply requires that tradespeople do the things they are supposed to do to begin with, like a proper load calculation for the heating and cooling system. Passive solar designs have been around since people began building homes.
In fact, we’re really just building homes the way they should be built. Over the past few decades, our insatiable quest for profits through “efficiency” a.k.a. wringing every penny out of the cost of production/manufacturing and the “Walmart” effect – the disposable product – have driven builders to cut corners and standardize building plans at the expense of sound design and common sense in many cases (like the 6″ overhang). With the downturn in the economy and (more…)
HVAC Stands for “Headaches for Virtually All Customers”
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 11 September 2010When you spend enough time helping home owners diagnose comfort or health issues with their homes it’s easy to get down on the HVAC trade. There are certainly competent and conscientious companies and contractors out there, a few at least, but sadly not enough. We are fortunate to work with one such contractor “Boer Brothers Heating and Cooling” and we rely on them to help us when things are really amiss and we unreservedly recommend them to our customers, knowing full well that our reputation is on the line too. So with that said, why am I so down on the HVAC trade?
I think that the fundamental issue is that your typical residential HVAC system is more forgiving in many respects than say, plumbing, or electrical. If either of those two trades do sloppy work, you either have a light that won’t turn on, your house burns to the ground or you end up with a flooded basement or a big puddle of water on the floor. These are all things that are readily evident to even the most inattentive home owner. Sloppy HVAC work is more subtle. Maybe your house cools, just not very efficiently, (more…)
Composting
Posted in Healthy Home - 16 August 2010I once heard a farmer poking a little fun at us city folks. We put all of our food waste, lawn clippings, etc. in plastic bags, put them in a big garbage can, and pay the city to pick it up. Then we drive to a garden supply store, and pay for more plastic bags filled with soil or compost. Seems kind of funny, doesn’t it? (more…)
The Cheapest Energy Of All Is The Energy You Don’t Use.
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 8 August 2010While not as exciting or as sexy as a solar array, energy conservation is by far the most cost effective way to reduce you energy consumption. As the saying goes, “The cheapest energy of all, is the energy you don’t use.”
Like in so many other areas, the basic blocking and tackling of building sciences will give you the most bang for the buck when it comes to making your home more energy efficient. For example, air sealing and added insulation together are probably the single most effective way to lower your energy bills. New windows may be appealing, but truthfully, they may take as much as 20 years to pay back, while air sealing and insulation can pay back in as little as three to four years.
(more…)Proper HVAC Maintenance can Preserve the Planet (and Save You Money)
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 3 August 2010It’s hard to believe that just 50-60 years ago, central heating and air conditioning systems were starting to appear on the scene. How spoiled we have become since then! My wife lived for 2 years in third world country where the temperatures were sweltering – and of course there was no A/C. We are surely fortunate to have air conditioned and heated homes! But those HVAC units come with a price tag. Besides being expensive to purchase, they are one of the biggest consumers of energy in you home.
(more…)Home Performance Audit Summer Special
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 22 June 2010This special has expired. Check back soon for more specials.
A Home Performance Audit, which includes an energy audit, is a comprehensive approach to evaluating how well a home is performing, including energy use, moisture management, water use and indoor air quality. The analysis typically takes half a day and involves inspecting and testing various building components from the crawl space to the attic and everything in between.
Summary
Cost: $350 – 20% = $280
Duration: 1/2 day
Complexity: Med – HighThe resulting report provides the home owner with a detailed view of how well the home is performing and a prioritized list of recommended improvements. This allows the homeowner to determine the most effective way to improve the home’s energy efficiency and address any air quality issues or other building concerns.
(more…)Why and when should I get a Home Performance Audit?
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 22 June 2010Consider a Home Performance Audit if any of the following apply to you:
- Anytime you plan on undertaking renovations or upgrades is a perfect time to establish a baseline for your home. Anytime you modify a part of your home you have an opportunity to do well and also an opportunity to do bad. With a better understanding of how your home behaves, you can either make simple adjustments to the plans or request that the remodeler take the opportunity to improve some aspects of your home performance within the scope of his or her remodeling job. Something as simple as caulking the wall studs before putting in new cabinets can help eliminate cold drafts from circulating up the wall.
Your House as a System
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Healthy Home - 5 May 2010You probably don’t think of your house as a group of interacting components, but taken as a whole your house is actually a system comprised of several elements which at times may have fairly complex interactions, influencing each other in ways you may not expect. Here are three typical scenarios:
(more…)Live Healthier
Posted in Benefits, Healthy Home - 22 March 2010
You may have heard a statement similar to this before “The air inside our homes is more polluted than the air outside!” While this statement is extremely variable, for many of us this is true. How can that be? A house is a complex system comprised of machines and materials which all have an impact on the air we breathe. Anyone who has ever had their hardwood floors refinished knows this very well since they often have to move out during the process and for several days afterward. This is due to something called “VOCs” or Volatile Organic Compounds, which are released from materials when exposed to the air. That “new car smell”, VOCs, the headache you get after you spend time in a freshly painted room, VOCs.Additionally, it is possible to mechanically draw “bad” air into your home, with your clothes dryer, bathroom fans, furnace/air conditioner blower or your range hood. These appliances are designed to move tremendous amounts of air and can cause pressure differences in your house which seek to be balanced by drawing air back into the space, sometimes from undesirable locations, such as garages, combustion vents or storage sheds. Radon is another very real source of indoor air pollution that can pose significant long-term health issues.
Indoor Air Quality problems can be overcome or avoided altogether with a little upfront knowledge, some specialized tests and regular preventative maintenance. See our blog about pressure imbalances and VOC’s for some details on these issues.
Do Your Part for a Better Planet
Posted in Benefits, Green Building, Healthy Home - 22 March 2010Whichever side of the “Global Climate Change” debate you fall on, all you have to do is listen to our local ozone warning report during the summer months to witness firsthand how humans have an impact on the environment in which we live. In North Carolina, we see the adverse effect we have on our environment, in trail erosion to sedimentation of our lakes, in neighboring mountain tops removed for our coal to rivers we can no longer swim or fish in. With so many local examples, most can agree that it would be better for all if the water from the lakes we swam in or the air we and our children breathed every day, were cleaner.
“Greening” your home does not have to involve an expensive array of solar panels or anything that exotic. True, for some this is both a statement of their commitment to a cleaner planet, or an economically sound investment, sometimes both. For most of us however, it can be as simple as replacing our traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Are you due for a new hot water heater? Do you have good exposure on a southern face? A solar hot water system makes great economic sense. With a typical payback of 5-7 years and lifespan of 10-15 years, that system provides you with “free” hot water for anywhere from 3 to 10 years and often longer. Like most things in our lives, we get used to how things are and are reticent to change what we know.
At Sundogs Solutions, we seek to educate our customers with the facts and tailor solutions that fit their needs and goals. There are a lot of spurious claims both on the benefits and ills of various “Green” and “Renewable” options for homeowners. Sundogs Solutions will gladly work with you on any project you have in mind to assess the practicality of the implementation both from the project cost and the payback time-line.
