Get Your Ducts in a Row

Did you know that today is Blog Action Day? Lucky me, I still needed to blog about last week's energy efficiency class :-) Get Your Ducts in a Row was all about making sure the ducts in your house are sealed properly. Here are a couple of the key things I took away from the class:

• Energy audits are more than just seeing if you need to seal your ducts or replace your windows - they look at your entire building plus your lifestyles and habits (i.e. do you take 30 minutes showers).
• Air sealing - where is air getting into or escaping from your house. A couple of places that I want to check it behind my plug-ins and my floor vents. Is there a way that I can caulk or foam to prevent leakage?
• Metal tape or mastic can help seal up small leaks in your ducts - some of the pictures that we saw had ducts completely separated from each other, allowing huge amounts of air to escape.
  

The Office Sticky Notes

My boss is pretty cool. I stepped away from my desk for a couple minutes earlier today, and when I came back, there were these fun "Office" sticky notes on my desk :-) She knows me well! Thanks Kris!!!

CFLs Light the Way to Savings

CFL light bulbs are pretty cool. I have replaced almost every light bulb in my house with these energy-saving, long-lasting compact fluorescent light bulbs. It's true that these bulbs often cost a little more at the store than regular bulbs, but they last up to 13 times longer, so they really are a better value for your money. Not only that, but they will save you money on your power bill as well. CFLs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent light bulbs. Did you know that if every home in America replaced just one incandescent light bulb with an Energy Star-qualified CFL, the EPA says that we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and would eliminate some 800,000 cars' worth of greenhouse-gas emissions annually? So I challenge you to change a light bulb today!

PS - If you want to read more, I borrowed most of my info for this post from an article I read in this month's Costco Connection

Domination!

Wahoo! I love Boise State football! I think I decided that next year I'm going to buy season tickets. I just love watching those boys dominate the competition :-) I lucked out tonight and got to attend the Boise State game with my friend Diana (her husband was out of town fishing, so I got his ticket - thanks Ben!) It was a beautiful night for a game. It was televised on ESPN, and to make things a little more exciting, the fans in the upper bowl wore orange while the lower bowl wore blue. The game was not disappointing - Boise State creamed New Mexico State 58-0. We only punted once the entire game, and held New Mexico State to less than 90 yards total offense (while we had over 600 yards!) We even had our third-string offense in at the end of the game! All I can I say is that Boise State football rules! An added bonus - I get 58% off a Chicago Connection pizza tomorrow, as they promised a discount equal to the point differential :-)

Cleaning up Mother Earth

Boise State's Division of Student Affairs recently adopted a stretch of highway just outside Boise. For those of you familiar with the area, it's the last mile up the summit before Horseshoe Bend, and then the first mile down the hill. Yesterday was our first time of cleaning the highway, so there was lots of trash to be picked up. We spent 1 1/2 hours picking up garbage, collecting total of 12 bags of garbage and 3 bags of recycling. I had a good time, and I got to know some of my colleagues a little better. It's always nice to feel like I can make a difference - I'll definitely be joining in next time around!

Beyond the Green

Last night I attended the second energy efficiency workshop. This one was focused on building or remodeling with sustainable products. I learned about some cool green building products - I am excited to implement some of these as I update my house!

• Typical carpet backing, paint, and cabinetry have loads of toxins, which affect indoor air quality. In fact, indoor concentrations of volatile organic compounds are often 2-5x greater than outdoors!
  
• Bamboo is a great flooring product. It it not only beautiful and super hard, but bamboo is fast growing - so when it is cut down to create flooring materials, it replenishes quickly.
• There is this cool insulation on the market that is made of recycled denim - it won't irritate your skin like fiberglass does! It's also very sound absorbent, unlike regular insulation.
  
• There are certain brands of paints that are low in odor and toxins.
  
• There are some great sustainable countertop options. My favorite is paperstone - made of 50-100% recycled paper!!!
• A lot of people think that they need to upgrade their windows to cut back on air leakage. The truth is that leaky ducts can cause 30-60% of air loss in a house (compared to about 15% from your windows). So we should get our leaks fixed/sealed first, then get new windows if there is money left over!
  

Be an ENERGY STAR!

Okay, I know you've all been waiting for this one :-) A couple weeks ago I posted about an energy efficiency workshop series that my sister-in-law organized. Well, I attended the first workshop last week and learned some interesting tidbits. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring note paper to the workshop, so I don't have all the cool facts & figures, but here are a few of the tips I learned:

• Did you know you're supposed to clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator? Wow - that one had never crossed my mind. They suggest you clean them annually...
• Check the placement of your air conditioning unit - is it on the west side of your house getting direct hot afternoon sunlight? If so, consider trying to shade (without suffocating) your unit. This will make it more efficient.
• Considering replacing your windows? I'd never thought about this one, but it makes sense... you may need different windows on the different sides of your house. For example, you may want one type of windows on the north and south sides of your house and a different type for the east and west sides that see direct sunlight. There are websites that can help you determine this, and I'm sure window companies may have suggestions as well.
• Insulating your attic is important! You should also make sure that it is ventilated so that air can circulate up there. If there is no circulation and poor insulation, all that heat can seep into your house.
• Idaho Power offers several incentive programs, including rebates for purchasing energy efficient air conditioners, monthly discounts during the summer if you sign up for the A/C Cool program, etc.