Dear Mr. Energy, What are some things I can do to my windows in lieu of replacing them? Breezy in Burlington Dear Breezy, So glad you asked that question! If you’ve read any of Mr. Energy’s earlier columns, you’ll know that I do not consider window replacement as a top priority for most homeowners who [...]
Dear Mr. Energy, I want to know how to make my home Energy Star so I can get credit for my utility company. Do I get an energy audit? My house is only about ten years old. Because it’s fairly new shouldn’t my house easily qualify? –Bargain Shopping in Benson Dear Bargain, Isn’t it great [...]
A couple of months ago we audited a historic home inside the beltline in Raleigh in conjunction with Preservation NC to create a video showing the benefit of an energy audit and weatherization for historic properties. When asked to do the audit, we jumped at the chance because this is truly our passion: making older [...]
Dear Mr. Energy, My wife and I are renovating an older home and I am wondering if there is any way to get an existing structure rated “green” or “energy efficient,” etc. LEED and Energy Star only apply to new construction, right? That doesn’t make sense to me – isn’t reusing an existing structure the [...]
Caulk Caulk Caulk Caulk. That’s the answer to one very effective way we’ve made our 100 year old rustic Carolina farmhouse more energy efficient. To weatherize our home after our disastrous 1st winter in which we heated all of lower Pittsboro, North Carolina, we caulked and caulked and caulked some more. Oh – did I [...]
In a previous blog post I wrote an explanation of how replacing your windows was not the smartest way to spend your energy efficiency budget. Green Building Advisor, a wonderful, comprehensive website on all things green-building related, has published an article that backs me up on it. Here’s what they say: Window replacement isn’t the [...]
This is a great little list by Peggy at Energy Circle: Ten reasons to have a home energy audit I especially like #6: 6. You will understand the interconnectedness of your house. Learn what no contractor working on your house ever told you – that every action you have ever taken has caused a reaction… somewhere in [...]
In my last post I explained what we did to initially improve our house (or rather, what we thought were improvements), and the resulting exorbitant energy bills. By adding central heat and air to a house that was essentially, a giant colander, we were wasting tons of heat and tons of money. After that first [...]