Ed the Energy Miser was dancin' on July 14th, 2011 after hearing that Ottawa renewed the ecoENERGY Retrofit - Homes program, an initiative that provides grants of up to $5,000 to help make energy efficient home upgrades. We replaced doors, windows last year (see video below) and installed a heat pump. We kept the gas furnace as a backup. To benefit from the program this time around, … [Read more...]
Google Power Meter Bites the Dust
Just learned that Google will be terminating it's Power Meter service, according to this announcement: In the coming months, we’re going to retire two products that didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped, but did serve as influential models: Google Health (retiring January 1, 2012; data available for download through January 1, 2013) and Google PowerMeter (retiring September 16, 2011). Both … [Read more...]
Should I Use a Programmable Thermostat?
The easiest way to save heating dollars is to lower the temperature setting on your house thermostat, when possible. As a general rule, you will save 2 percent on your heating bill for every 2°F you turn down the thermostat overnight. Programmable thermostats have electronic timers that allow you to preset household temperatures for specific periods of the day and night. In a typical … [Read more...]
Why You Should Use Smart Power Bars
Did you know that monitors, printers, scanners, DVD players, televisions, cable/satellite boxes, PVRs, stereo amplifiers and other electronic devices draw as much as 70% of their total power even when they are in stand-by mode or switched off? Phantom loads are created by devices that continue to draw small amounts of power, even when they are off or in sleep/standby mode. Smart Power … [Read more...]
Home Sellers: Top 5 Home Improvement Projects Based on Cost and Return on Investment
Make note of these tips from HomeGain to improve and increase the value of your home - especially the point about plumbing! RISMEDIA, November 10, 2009—HomeGain.com, one of the first websites to offer Web-based free instant home values, announced that it has released the results of its nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer survey. HomeGain’s recent survey shows the top … [Read more...]