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Learning Green and keeping warm

I was sitting around the house today catching up on my favourite news, blogs and of course celebrity gossip when I started thinking about the home projects I need to get cracking on.  Besides trying to green up the place, there are other things that the wife wants me to do.  Looking over my list I decided that before taking on any project I would take 10 minutes to plan it out first and look to see if there was any way to make the project green, either with the finished project, the way I will complete it or with the tools and services that I use to complete the task.

As part of my planning I did a few searches and stumbled upon a fantastic site that I already knew about but have been neglecting…One Million Acts of Green. This site has countless ways to improve your carbon footprint.  It also lets you add to the acts of green, challenge yourself and other groups to be more green, read what other people are doing and contribute ideas and photos of what you are doing.

My first task today was to seal up any drafts my house has.  With the help of this site I picked up some caulking for the windows, weather stripping for the doors and a plastic window insulation kit.  This should seal up my house and will have an excellent impact on my energy bills over the winter and next summer.

What green projects do you have around the house?  Next for me is putting up the L.E.D. Christmas lights. 

- Jo e k

My House is an energy black hole

I guess that seems a little harsh considering this really is my wife and I’s first family home.  But after being here for a year we have both realized the house was built for comfort and attractiveness.  It’s a large single home with three bedrooms, 2.5 baths and an open concept kitchen family room.  The ceiling in these rooms varies from about 12 feet up to about 17 feet.  The living dining rooms have 9 foot ceilings as do the rest of the house except the master bedroom with peaks at 13-14 feet.

Now, why is any of this important?  It’s not like I’m selling the thing.  We love our home.  THIS HOME SUCKS UP ENERGY and is nowhere close to being green.  We are so on the grid that we should probably get more of it. WE NEED MORE GRIDS!

Ok, maybe not, but winter is coming and I need to take action. What am I going to do immediately (in the next 5 days) to lower the tax we are putting on the environment and my wife’s wallet?:

• 1) Program the thermostat properly and change it by at least a degree. Cool daytimes and nighttimes.
• 2) Improve the air tightness of the home. Re-caulk all the windows and put the plastic window wrap to reduce air flow. Make sure all outside doors fit tight and if not go to your local hardware store and get a repair kit.
• 3) Changing old light bulbs to Energy Star Compact Florescent Lamps (CFL’s)

I think this a good start to prepare the home for winter.  And some of these even allow you to get grants from the Canadian government.  Check out http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/energystar/english/consumers/products.cfm?PrintView=N&Text=N  to see what you can do to qualify.

 And I know there is more to do, and it’s exciting.  If feels good to know that we are making a small improvement to our world as well as our wallets.

Do you have any winter heat saving tips?  Drop us a line!!

- Jo e k