More Heat, Less Waste

November's Sustainable Living Tip

Turning down your thermostat during the heating season is the easiest way to save energy. Lowering your setting by one degree for eight hours every night will save one percent on your heating load. For the average Maine household, that will conserve 25 gallons of fuel oil over the season, keeping 550 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!

But once you've taken the easy step of lowering your thermostats, what else can you do to save energy? Read on for our "greatest hits" list of the most effective ways to enjoy more heat with less waste.

"Greatest Hits" More Heat, Less Waste Ideas

1. If you have an oil boiler or furnace, clean and tune it up every heating season. Watch your technician inspect and clean your boiler once, and you'll have a good understanding of why this is necessary every year!
   
2. If you have a natural gas or propane system, have it inspected annually. These fuels burn more cleanly than heating oil, so you won't have the same loss in efficiency over the course of a heating season. But have a trained professional inspect your system to make sure it is in proper working order nonetheless.
3. Close your flue. A chimney that is open directly to your house, such as in a working fireplace (not a wood stove), is your largest single source of heat loss. Whenever you don't have a fire in your fireplace, the tighter you can close your flue, the better.
4. Cover your windows (part 1). Windows intentionally let energy into your home (in the form of light), but they also unintentionally let energy out. Between September and March, the night is longer than the day here in Maine. If you have curtains or blinds, close them whenever sunlight is not coming in.
5. Cover your windows (part 2). Installing storm windows with good weatherstripping will greatly improve the insulating value of your windows. In older homes, one of the easiest approaches is to install custom-made interior storm windows. These can be made to fit snugly, preventing wind from blowing around loose double hung windows. Install them in the winter, then remove them in warmer weather. Storm windows improve comfort as well as saving energy: they stop cold drafts and they cut down on noise. Interior storm windows are especially helpful in older apartment buildings in urban environments.
6. Cover your windows (part 3). Pay special attention to your indoor humidity levels in rooms where you install insulating drapes or interior storm windows. Your window glass will become much colder, potentially leading to condensation issues. If condensation is a problem, exterior storm windows are a better solution. They will keep your window glass warmer, reducing the condensation problem. Remember, condensation forms when warm moist air reaches a cold surface.
7. Seal your attic hatch. If you have a hatch or door to your unheated attic, make sure it closes securely and has weatherstripping all around it to prevent warm air from escaping up into your attic. For ceiling hatches, a good design is to install weatherstripping around the edge of the hatch and use latches to press the hatch closed on the weatherstripping. Warm air that gets into your attic and reaches the underside of your roof decking will melt snow on your roof, leading to ice dams. Keep warm air out of your attic!
   
8. Seal your foundation walls, windows and doors. If you have a bulkhead door, make sure it has weatherstripping around it. Cold air that seeps in below your house will get sucked up into your home. A tube of caulk and spray foam will go a long way toward preventing frozen pipes, cutting down on cold drafts, and lowering your heating bills.
9. Wrap your ducts and hot water pipes. If you have air ducts or hot water pipes in an unheated part of your home (such as your basement or garage), make sure they are wrapped securely in insulation all the way from the heating source to the destination.
10. Add a mud room. Every house in Maine needs a room for taking off muddy boots! Enclosing a porch so that it acts as an "air lock" will keep cold air from pouring into your home whenever someone comes or goes. It will also cut down on the drafts coming in and around your door all winter long, since wind won't be blowing directly against your exterior door. If you can't add a mud room, an exterior storm door with proper weatherstripping is a good alternative.
11. Hang dry your clothes. You're probably aware that an electric clothes dryer is one of the most power-hungry appliances you can use. But did you ever consider how much air an automatic dryer sucks out of your home? It's about equivalent to leaving a kitchen window wide open. When an automatic dryer runs, it blows hot air out of your home. Cold outside air finds its way in to replace the air that the dryer is sending out. A better alternative is to invest in a high efficiency washing machine that spin dries clothes, then hanging them to finish drying overnight on a wooden drying rack. Drying clothes indoors works especially well during the winter because indoor air humidity levels are low.
12. Clean your screens. Fall is a great time to take down the screens in your windows on the southern side of your house. Clean them and put them away for the winter. Unless you plan on opening your windows, the screens are useless and simply shade sunlight that would otherwise be helping heat up your home. While you're at it, clean your windows, too. You won't notice a huge difference on your heating bill, but every little bit helps! You might also prune branches or bushes that are shading your southern exposure.
13. Look for leaks. As the weather turns colder, air flows more quickly through any gaps in your exterior walls or ceilings. It's easy to feel for cold air leaking in on lower floors, but sometimes more challenging to find how hot air is leaking out upstairs. Just remember that cold air comes in downstairs, and hot air leaves upstairs. If you feel cold air blowing in under a door or around a light switch on an exterior wall, you know that an equal amount of hot air is being squeezed out of your house somewhere else. Spider webs are a good tip off for places where air is leaving. Spiders like to build webs where they will catch dinner, so they look for places where air currents send small insects. Once you find a leak, a bit of caulk is often all that's needed to fix it. If you have access to your attic, you may find that your electricians and plumbers cut holes for their handiwork. These holes are probably letting warm air up into your attic, which can lead to ice dams. You can safely use spray foam to seal gaps around any plumbing or modern electrical wire in good repair. If you find frayed wires or knob and tube wiring (i.e. two wires running through ceramic tubes and wrapped around ceramic knobs), you'd be well advised to call an electrician to replace it. (Knob and tube wiring is safe if properly installed, but often is not properly installed. Hire a professional to inspect it to find out.)
14. See how low you can go. Save energy and money by lowering your thermostat even more. The lower you go, and the longer you stay low, the more you save. If you don't believe it, try experimenting yourself. Most households can safely (i.e. without freezing pipes) turn down their thermostats to 55 degrees at night and during the day when no one is home. You might be able to go even lower. Just make sure everyone in your household is ready for the experience before you touch that thermostat!

Sustainable Home Tour and Talk

Join us on Thursday, November 12 for "Sustainable Home Tour and Talk." Homeowner Dave Tilton will lead a tour and discuss the design features and performance of his high-efficiency, low-impact home. The tour will start at 4:30 pm in Brunswick; a carpool will be arranged to visit the Tilton residence. The talk will start at 7 pm in Brunswick. Both the tour and talk are free and open to the public.

"We wanted to build in terms of what we believe is best for our environment, our earth, and our responsibility for being a part of the human community," says Tilton. "That's why we are continuing to share what we have done and what we are learning about the performance of our energy systems so we and others can improve on what we have done."

The tour gives participants the chance to see how the owners have integrated sixteen design principles into the specific requirements of working with timber frame strawbale construction in a passive solar orientation. This integration includes three active energy systems: grid tied solar photovoltaic power, solar hot water, and a propane fired condensing boiler. All support a full radiant heating system and the usual domestic hot and cold water systems. Installed cost data as well as follow-on performance information will be available. In addition, participants can see how principles of universal design -- handicapped accessibility - have been included where appropriate and feasible.

The Tilton home has been in process since 2005. Occupancy began in October 2006 and "detailing" has been the major task since. The home is a full traditional timberframe with interior revealed structure, wrapped by strawbale walls in a solar orientation. This permits both passive solar supplemented by active solar grid tied PV and an Apricus solar hot water system. Heat for the full radiant floor system is furnished by the integrated solar hot water and Baxi-Luna propane fired condensing boiler system. Main house windows manufactured by Thermotech of Canada are triple paned. There are 588 bales in the house walls and 332 in the garage producing walls 18 inches thick with an R value of 50. The roof system consists of ship lapped boards exposed on the interior, with roof guard, Nudura insulation (7 inches on the house and 3 and 1/2 inches on the garage and connecting section) with strapping and steel roofing on top. The heating system can be supplemented with wood heat with an antique kitchen woodstove and a Vermont Castings Intrepid.

The house is handicapped accessible with three-foot-wide doors, lever handles, pedestal bathroom sinks and interior ramps from garage to main house. Electrical outlets, where possible, are placed higher in the walls. Composting toilets by Sun Mar are in use even though Richmond has town sewer and water systems.

Those wishing to tour the Tilton residence prior to the talk are invited to meet at the F.W. Horch store in Brunswick at 4:30 pm. A carpool to Richmond and back will be arranged. The talk will begin at 7 pm in Brunswick at the F.W. Horch store, 56 Maine Street.

Seating is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a space.

This presentation is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month. December's presentation will be on the topic of home composting of kitchen scraps during winter.

For more information, please call (207) 729-4050.

Early Bird Sale

Join us Halloween morning for the annual Brunswick Early Bird sale.

6:30 - 7:30 20% off

7:30 - 8:30 15% off

8:30 - 9:30 10% off

Everything in the store is on sale.

(Sorry, no rainchecks or special orders.)

Happy Halloween!

Carbon Free Heating

October's Sustainable Living Tip

Instead of burning fossil fuel or wood, use "carbon free" solar energy and clean electricity to heat your home and protect our climate. Start by signing up for clean electricity. Aggressively set back your oil boiler's thermostat. Then stay toasty warm with electric or solar space heaters.

More Facts About "Carbon Free" Heating

1. Burning oil, propane, kerosene, natural gas or wood emits carbon dioxide gas into our atmosphere. Scientists believe that this pollution is accumulating and destabilizing our global climate.
2. You can switch your CMP or Bangor Hydro bill to "clean" electricity that is generated from hydropower dams or wind farms by signing up with Maine Renewable Energy in three easy steps online.
3. Clean electricity is generated from naturally-renewing energy sources without consuming any fuel or producing any air pollution.
4. Maine has abundant and inexhaustible supplies of clean power: water, waves, wind and sun. The more people who sign up for clean electricity, the more capital is available to harness these renewable sources. Paying for clean electricity is investing in the energy future of our state.
   
5. Once you have switched your electricity account to clean electricity, you can use electric heaters for comfort and safety without contributing to climate change, air pollution or resource depletion.
6. If you have an oil boiler, you can easily minimize the amount of heating oil you burn this winter by turning down your thermostat and using electric space heaters instead.
7. Heating with electricity does more to protect our climate and air quality than heating with wood. Burning wood, no matter how efficiently, pumps carbon dioxide and other pollutants into our atmosphere. Trees naturally capture carbon dioxide from the air and store carbon in their tissues; when you cut them down and burn them you release that carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.
8. Allowing trees to grow allows them to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Until trees reach their maximum stature, they reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere by storing carbon in their tissues. Trees "clean up" green house gases and help to stabilize our climate. A white oak, for example, can provide 200 years of "carbon cleaning" service if allowed to live its natural lifespan.
   
9. The best use of harvested wood, from the perspective of climate protection, is for furniture or buildings. This keeps the carbon "locked up." Burning wood or allowing it to rot releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
   
10. Whether you live with or without electricity, you can easily and safely heat your home and other buildings with a solar space heater.
11. Solar space heaters are direct air heaters that do not require plumbing or electricity.
12. Solar space heaters are much more affordable than solar domestic hot water systems or solar photovoltaic electric systems. A 1.5 kilowatt solar space heater costs about $2,000 and provides decades of reliable service with no fuel costs.
    
13. A solar space heater can be installed on a sunny southern-facing wall or roof.
14. Solar space heaters blow warm air into your building when the sun shines. A thermal mass, such as a brick interior wall, tile floor, or water barrels strategically placed, absorbs heat during sunny days and releases it at night.
15. Combining solar space heaters, electric space heaters, and good building practices permanently lowers heating costs. Switching fuels (for example, replacing "expensive" electric heat with "cheap" oil heat) only saves money temporarily while the relative price of the energy sources remains constant.
    
16. Eliminating combustion heat (i.e. anything that burns any type of fuel) allows homes to be more snug and safer.
17. Electric space heaters and solar space heaters do not require vents. They do not consume oxygen and do not produce carbon monoxide gas. They do not require the delivery or storage of fuel or wood.
18. You can minimize the risk of pipes freezing by replacing hydronic (water) baseboard heat with electric heat. In a typical hydronic baseboard heating system, pipes filled with water are located around the periphery of the building. If the power fails, the electric pumps used to circulate water through these pipes no longer work. If the temperature drops enough, the pipes burst as the water inside them freezes. Electric heaters are not filled with water. They can tolerate below-freezing temperatures without damage.
19. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, many all-electric homes were built. Unfortunately, many of these homes were not properly weatherized and insulated, so the owners incurred unnecessarily high heating bills. Proper weatherization and insulation can cut heating bills in half.
    
20. If the 80% of Mainers who burn #2 heating oil would switch their electricity accounts to "Maine Clean Power" and replace their oil-fired boilers with electric heaters, we would have an extra $1.5 billion circulating domestically in Maine's economy and we would keep 12 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year.

Storm Windows Clinic

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, will host a clinic by Rendon Sabina of Downeast Interior Storms, titled "Make Your Own Interior Storm Windows," on Thursday, October 8, at 7:00 p.m. The clinic is free and open to the public.

Interior storm windows are transparent, insulating storm windows that can be installed on the inside of any window. They are simply made using wood, polyolefin film, and open cellulose foam. They are affordable, reusable, and will save energy costs year after year.

Interior storm windows are designed to keep heat in and stop drafts. Properly measured, made and installed, interior storm windows will significantly reduce heating bills, particularly in homes with older double-hung windows. In general, they are much less expensive than replacement windows. Unlike plastic films, interior storms are reusable year after year. They can be installed and removed without the use of tools or fasteners.

Attendees at Thursday's clinic will learn how to measure, make and install interior storm windows for their own homes or for friends and family. Storm windows may also be custom ordered through F.W. Horch for those not wishing to make their own.

Free refreshments and handouts will be provided.

Space is limited. To reserve a seat or for more information, please call 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.

Common Ground Fair

Common Ground Fair is this weekend, so we'll be closing the store early on Wednesday, September 23 to pack up. Thursday the store will be closed as we travel up to Unity. We'll be at the Fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25, 26 and 27, returning to our regular store hours next week. See you at Common Ground!

Super Efficient Home Course

For those who missed Al Heath's "Design and Build/Retrofit Your Own Super Efficient Home" talk last week, he will be teaching this topic as an adult education course in Bath from October 1 to November 19.

Here are the course details:

Should you build new or renovate/retrofit your existing home to new energy efficiency standards? Which standards should you use? How tight should it be and what about indoor air quality and moisture? What is the best way to insulate? How much heat will you need and where will you get it? Solar? Wood? These and more questions will be addressed. This class will take an in-depth look at every type of energy use in your home. We will consider and evaluate all possible approaches to significantly reducing your home's energy budget while saving you money, increasing comfort, improving indoor air quality, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Savings of 50-80% are achievable. Al Heath has been a carpenter/builder in the Bath area for 12 years. Four years ago he and his wife designed and built a super-insulated, passive solar home that uses one quarter of the energy used by new standard construction homes. He is a Maine Home Performance Energy Auditor and consults with builders and homeowners on energy efficiency practices.

Cost: $50
Instructor: Al Heath
Course ID: 200602.210

For more information, visit the Maine Adult Education Association web site.