Energy Efficiency
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Building Green taking into account “Embodied Energy”
Catherine Mohr discusses how she and her husband have considered the embodied energy of each material they’ve put into their new, green home in Silicon Valley and the trade-offs they’ve made during the process.
Putting the Kill A Watt to work to detect phantom power loads
Want to know how much power your electronics use even when they’re turned off? I did, so I used the Kill A Watt to find out and then used a Smart Strip to reduce phantom load.
Hot Water Heater Options
I know, I know, I write about the most thrilling things in green home building! Insulation, energy efficiency rebates and now, hot water heaters! Wow! will the excitement ever stop! It's hard to get excited about things like hot water heaters and insulation but if...
Home Improvement Grants and Rebates Available in Toronto
A guide to grants and rebates available to Toronto residents for energy efficiency upgrades.
Plug Load Measurement for your Home — Energy Efficiency at its Easiest and Cheapest
You might not have thought about it, but if you look around your home and think back to 20 years ago, we have a lot more stuff plugged into our walls than we did then. There are cell phones and Blackberrys, cordless phones, several TVs , at least one or more personal computers, think of the number of iPods your family has, gaming consoles, DVD/VCR players, surround-sound systems, alarm systems, coffee makers with built-in clocks…a lot of these gadgets didn’t even exist 20 years ago.
Benchmark Your Home’s Energy Consumption By Hiring an Energy Auditor
If you’re interested in cutting your home’s energy use (not to mention your monthly bills), you have to know where your energy is going in the first place, and much of it might be out the window (or through the door, roof or basement). An energy auditor can help you pinpoint your home’s worst insulated areas, discover air leaks and help determine your furnace’s efficiency rating so that you can figure out the best places to spend your money to make the biggest difference to your home’s overall use of energy.
Get the Guides for Energy Efficiency
This is a series on how to measure, evaluate and reduce your electricity consumption at home
Benchmarking your Electricity Use
The first step to decreasing your electricity use is calculating how much you use. This article is a step-by-step guide to help understand home electricity use. This is part one of four articles to help you reduce your electricity consumption.
A Do-It-Yourself-Electricity Audit
Evaluating which of your devices (including appliances) are using the most electricity will help you figure out where the most cost-effective changes can be made. This is the second in a four part series of electricity efficiency guides.
Observing Your Family's Behaviour
You can have all the efficient lighting in the world, a programmable thermostat for your heat, Energy Star rated auto shut-off power bars, but if you’re not using the equipment properly, they’re not giving you the benefits you bought them for in the first place.
Energy Efficiency at Home: Creating and Implementing an Action Plan
It’s time to synthesize that information from the first three guides and take concrete steps towards lowering your electricity consumption. You’ve done the research, now do the footwork
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