I've been reading the experiences of Popular Science staff photographer John Carnett as he has chronicled them in Popular Science in The Green Dream feature for over a year now. While I think it is a great project, I thought that some of the steps taken may have been a bit extravagant (like $55,...
The PowerCost Monitor (and Black & Decker Power Monitor) from Blue Line Innovations is now on Google Powermeter! In July of 2010 I wrote about the PowerCost Monitor teaming up with Microsoft Hohm with the addition of WiFi gateway.
From the Blue Line press release on the PowerMeter...
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll keep this one short on text. Your task is simple: Send me some pictures of the energy and/or water conservation and/or clean energy installations in your home. Feel free to add a few sentences or paragraphs about your installations and...
In the post I wrote a few months ago on picking the right lighting occupancy sensor I thought the old Leviton sensor I was using had gone bad when I wrote the following:
And this worked well and good up until October 2010 (it was 2.5 years old) when the sensor started acting up. As you can see...
I just found out that 3M has partnered with Radio Thermostat to release a Wi-Fi programmable thermostat called the 3M-50 under the Filtrete brand (I was reading a reader's blog post on it here: Sandeen.net 3M wi-fi thermostat).
Currently, the 3M thermostat is selling at Home Depot for $99, which...
I recently heard about the website TopTenUSA.org. The goal of the website is to list the top ten energy efficient products in the following categories: TV's, Refrigerators, Computers, Dishwashers, Freezers, Cars, and Clothes Washers. The problem is that I don't think the information provided to...
Now that Plug-In Hybrids (PHEV) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) are starting to go on sale, some potential owners may be intimidated by the initial cost of this yet to be proven technology. The Chevy Volt (PHEV) is starting at $41,000 and the Nissan Leaf (BEV) is starting at $32,780 Some...
Earlier this summer I saw an ad for a "free" AC unit called Mira-Cool, all customers had to do was buy 1 at the regular price of $298 and then you got one free! But you still had to pay shipping on both. The year before they called the product Cool Surge. The company behind that little bit of...
Last Friday I mentioned the GE Nucleus, GE's effort to help homeowners manage energy and appliances. Not only is GE focused on energy consumption in the home, GE is also active on the electric vehicle (EV) front as well. On the GE Reports site they have some nice articles on EVs. We...
Microsoft, GE, Google : Home Energy Monitoring
In January of 2010 we put up a post on the efforts of Google, Microsoft and Apple in the area of energy monitoring titled Energy Monitoring and the Big Three. In the past 1o months, improvements have been made, deals have been signed, new products...
The Good Flush Valve that works
As a follow-up to my blog series on upgrading to high efficiency toilets, I'd like to provide some feedback on my choice of Glacier Bay 1.28gpf toilets. As you can read in my second post, I received a solid recommendation from the Home Depot employee on their...
*Update* - the below post was originally published in November of 2010. The below graph shows how U.S. electricity production has shifted in 7 years. In early 2015 Natural Gas took over from Coal as the leader in US electricity generation! Also, in Jan of 2014 solar PV production finally...
2 Guys with a beard does not equal credibility
It was almost exactly a year ago when I first saw the EdenPure heater advertised and I warned readers to take caution when believing some of the claims. Well, it looks like EdenPure is at it again, this time with a TV commercial! But this time,...
I recently had a reader, David Lipschitz of My Power Station, ask if I wanted to cover one of his solar installations in South Africa, and at first I thought, "What's the big deal? It's just another solar installation." But then I watched the 8 minute video covering the solar PV installation...
Recycle your old Toilets
As a follow up to my post on upgrading to high efficiency toilets to reduce water usage, I have now completed my toilet upgrade in all four bathrooms in my home.
After my last post, I took a trip to my local home improvements store and looked at several HET...
IECC Climate Zone Map
I recently learned about the Climate Zone Map put together by the folks at the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The climate zones help energy professionals decide which building materials work best in which regions to help optimize energy efficiency. You can...
ChargePoint America Program
In my post from this summer about the Nissan LEAF, I mentioned the Transportation Electrification Initiative (TEI) that is funding several companies and programs to spread EV charging stations across the country. This week, the first ChargePoint EV Charging station...
The following is a guest post written by Elizabeth Smyth, a writer for Precision Paragon, an energy efficient commercial lighting manufacturer and leader in lighting retrofits. She contacted me with a guest post and I agreed because I like their simple lighting payback calculator for business....
Reduce Reuse Recycle
In my local newspaper last week, there was an article on water utility rates. In Georgia, specifically the Atlanta suburbs, we have enjoyed low water utility rates for a very long time. I live in a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath 3200 square foot home. I don't have a lawn...
The DOE and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have just released the Home Energy Score. From the blog post on Home Energy Pros (which is another DOE program in partnership with Home Energy Magazine):
The Scoring Tool is a key component of the U.S. Department of Energy's residential...