by Tim Snyder | Apr 22, 2014 | ABC Action Plan, Building Envelope, Conditioned Spaces, Home Systems
Making your home more energy efficient is a great way to help save the planet Thanks for visiting myHOMEscience to help celebrate Earth Day 2014! There are plenty of bigger, more-publicized places to go on this day devoted to saving our planet. But here at...
by Joseph R. Provey | Apr 8, 2014 | Attics, Basements, Building Envelope, Conditioned Spaces, Crawl Spaces, Featured Posts, Heating & Cooling
Controlling moisture has challenged builders for thousands of years. Too much of it inside a structure can lead to rot, mold, insect infestations. Consequently, roofs and siding, weather-tight windows and doors, and waterproofed basements were developed. It’s one...
by Tim Snyder | Mar 24, 2014 | Basements
Highlights from New England’s biggest construction industry trade show If you’re in the building and remodeling business, you probably know the Journal of Light Construction, or JLC for short. This Hanley Wood enterprise includes a trade magazine, a website and a...
by Joseph R. Provey | Mar 17, 2014 | Conditioned Spaces
You don’t have to wait out the payback period to reap dividends from green home investments Saving money on your household energy bill, year after year, as explained in the video Home Comfort Pays for Itself, is a compelling reason to invest in a home energy upgrade....
by Tim Snyder | Mar 10, 2014 | Basements, Featured Posts, Heating & Cooling, Plumbing
A surefire way to cut energy expenses: Let another appliance heat the water you use for washing. “Domestic hot water” –the heated water used for washing clothes, dishes and people— is the third-largest energy cost in most households, only exceeded by heating and...
by Joseph R. Provey | Feb 18, 2014 | Case Studies, Crawl Spaces, Featured Posts, Heating & Cooling
Myhomescience.com will be producing a series of energy-upgrade case studies. The first describes a job done in 2013 by Halco Energy. Halco was recently recognized as “best in the country” in a field of over 1,900 Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® contractors...
by Joseph R. Provey | Feb 17, 2014 | ABC Action Plan, Building Envelope, Conditioned Spaces, Home Systems
You can read a lot about air cleaners. They do remove some of the particulate air pollution in your home, but their value is limited. Think about it. The tiny particles of dust, soot, pollen, spores, dander, etc. in your home are not generally floating around in the...
by admin | Feb 17, 2014 | Home Insulation, Q&A
Some fiberglass insulation is yellow, while other fiberglass batts are white or pink. What’s the difference? Manufacturers use different colors to “brand” their version of fiberglass batt insulation. Owens-Corning has trademarked its pink-tinted fiberglass....
by Tim Snyder | Feb 17, 2014 | Home Insulation, Q&A
I can tell the walls of my house aren’t well insulated; they’re always cold in winter. How can I cut down on the heat loss? Many houses have this problem. The fiberglass batt insulation used in wood-frame walls can’t stop energy losses due to air leakage...
by Tim Snyder | Feb 17, 2014 | Energy Conservation, Q&A
A neighbor who lives in a house very similar to our house has lower electric and fuel bills. I can’t tell why I’m paying more than he is. What can I do to find out? The best way to find out why your house has higher energy costs is to have an energy audit...
by admin | Feb 17, 2014 | Basements, Heating Systems, Q&A
Q. Our house has forced-air heating and AC, with two zones. We replaced our old thermostats with programmable models to save energy, but we haven’t seen any significant savings this winter. What are we doing wrong? A. Research has shown that programmable thermostats...
by Tim Snyder | Feb 17, 2014 | Heating Systems, Home Insulation, Q&A
We live in an older house that isn’t well insulated. The furnace is old, too. Which problem do we deal with first? It’s usually better NOT to replace the furnace before upgrading insulation levels. Recommended insulation levels for different parts of the...
by Tim Snyder | Feb 14, 2014 | Attics, Building Envelope, Home Systems
To solve a common comfort & energy problem, it just takes equal measures of innovation and determination. The extremely cold weather that’s been buffeting most of the country has many homeowners thinking about insulation. More specifically, attention is focused on...
by Tim Snyder | Feb 14, 2014 | Home Insulation, Q&A
We live in an old house that has a stone basement foundation. Because the wall surface is irregular, we can’t install rigid foam panels to insulate the basement. What other methods should we consider? If your aim is to finish the basement, a good approach would be to...
by Tim Snyder | Feb 14, 2014 | Electronics, Q&A
I’ve read about phantom loads – how they waste energy and increase your electric bill. How much of a difference will it really make if I cut out some of the phantom loads at home? Phantom loads waste electricity by allowing electronic devices to consume power in...
