Personal Choices, Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

Changing Habits

No matter what you believe about the causes of global climate change, it’s a fact of life on earth. The climate trends of the past hundred years may be the result of natural phenomena or entirely caused by human activities. Both factors are probably contributing, and we can’t know for certain in what proportions. But some things are clear:

• Global climate change affects all living things.
• Weather patterns of all kinds are becoming more severe.
• Human activities contribute to global climate change.
• We can’t affect the long-term processes of nature.
• We can learn more about the effects of our daily decisions.
• We can make decisions that reduce our carbon footprints.

What “Carbon Footprint” Means

The term is used in slightly different ways, depending on the context. Here’s a definition that works in most situations: Your carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere as a result of the direct and indirect consumer choices you make. Some causes, such as driving a car with poor gas mileage, are obvious; others, like buying produce out of season that must be imported from far away, can be harder to recognize.

Consumption Affects Emissions

Carbon dioxide is a by-product of combustion, which means human civilization has created carbon dioxide emissions since the first people learned to use fire for heat and cooking. It also means that countries with relatively low levels of industrial development can also contribute high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. In some parts of less-developed countries, the air has a blue tint from coal burned by hundreds and thousands of individual households.

Greater mechanization, however, creates even more carbon dioxide emissions. The fuel used for manufacturing, transportation, and electric power for modern conveniences results in higher amounts of carbon dioxide generated per person. As more people around the
world gain access to cars, air conditioners, refrigerators, and other machines that consume fuel directly or indirectly, the global production of carbon dioxide will continue to rise.

The parallels with population growth are striking. Countries that developed industrial economies sooner also saw improvements in quality of life, including health care. Death rates fell sharply; then, within a few decades, birth rates fell also. The driving force was
technology, which means these countries are now the best positioned to reduce carbon emissions.

The reasoning is simple: countries that are focused on economic development give less attention to the undesirable effects of growth. A country with a growing economy and consumer culture may well ignore the downside of industrialization. Western countries did exactly that in the twentieth century. The good news is that anyone, in any country, can help reduce carbon emissions, and the benefits reach around the world.

Global Causes, Global Effects

The atmosphere does not stay in one place or belong to anyone. It covers the globe. What affects the atmosphere in one part of the world reaches all others. So reducing carbon dioxide emissions anywhere on Earth will help everywhere else. But as with any distributed problem, no single change in human activity will make all the difference needed.

Some people call this a “non-point-source” situation. In other words, millions of individual actions, taken without any intent to cause harm, contribute to a recognizable result. That also means millions of conscious, deliberate actions are required to offset the others. This is the most encouraging thing about the situation: every one of us can make a difference.

Past, Present, and Future

We can compare the current composition of the atmosphere with the way it used to be hundreds or thousands of years ago. By taking core samples from ice at the poles, scientists can measure the levels of carbon dioxide and other compounds accurately for different periods in history. This information helps us understand how much the climate is changing, and how quickly.

According to these measurements, current levels of carbon dioxide emissions are 40 percent higher than they were before the development of mass production and machine-powered transportation in the 1800s. While that’s a significant increase, some of it might
be natural and cyclical. But viewed over a longer term, the carbon dioxide levels we have now are the highest they have been in more than half a million years. Because the effects we’re seeing today are negative, we have an obligation to reduce our part of this change.

Decisions, Not Sacrifices

When you’re accustomed to consumption, any reduction can feel like deprivation. That makes any change uncomfortable. It’s even harder to give up something you enjoy for some concept of greater good that may never touch your life. But many environmental improvements also bring immediate benefits—things that make your life noticeably better.

Consider the examples here a starting point. Adopt the ones that are easiest for you, and think about other ways to accomplish the same goals. At home:

• Maximize your insulation and weather stripping.
• Switch from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents.
• Install a programmable thermostat and reduce the temperature when possible.
• Use a consumption meter to identify inefficient or unnecessary appliances.
• Replace water-wasting fixtures with low-flow models.

At work:

• Use lighting for work and safety only. Wherever you can, install motion-sensor switches.
• Shut your computer all the way down when you won’t be using it for an hour or more.
• Print fewer documents, and print two pages to a side, use both sides of the paper, or both.
• Take a bus or train to work, ride a bike, or telecommute if that’s an option.

On the road:

• Make sure your car is tuned up and maintained on a regular schedule.
• Keep your tires inflated to the recommended pressures; this improves safety, too.
• Adjust your driving habits to follow speed limits and maintain steady road speeds.
• Avoid unnecessary car trips, and combine errands as you can.
• For shorter distances, consider walking or riding a bike.

Everyone Wins 

All the suggestions above require you to choose and act, changing ways you might still be doing things. There’s also one thing you can do by asking someone else to change habits, and everyone involved will be pleased to accommodate you.

According to 41pounds, a non-profit organization, the average American receives 41 pounds of unwanted commercial mail (“junk mail”) every year. They claim that the energy used to produce, deliver, and dispose of all that junk mail produces more greenhouse gas
emissions than 2.8 million cars would create in the same time. For a fee, the group offers to have your name removed from as many mailing lists as possible, and will donate part of the fee to Carbonfund, another group dedicated to reducing carbon emissions.

You’ll be spared the nuisance of discarding offers you don’t want, your letter carrier and recycling collector will have less material to handle, and the marketers themselves will be grateful not to spend money on advertising that is unlikely ever to result in a sale. Everyone wins.

Washing, Horizontal Axis Washers and Dryers

Getting More from Less

Energy-efficient technologies are designed to help you reduce your consumption of limited resources. This also means they save you money over the long term, but the initial investment is often higher. The time required for you to realize a financial benefit is called the payback period. Horizontal axis washers and dryers, more often called front loaders, can save enough water and energy within a few years to justify the additional cost. Another kind of payback, however, takes place almost immediately.

Front loading washing machines can handle larger loads than many top loaders, but use less water and electricity. And even while you earn back the extra money spent on a front loader, it gives you the same results or better, but more quickly. Their spin cycles also
remove more water from freshly washed clothes, which means they need less time in the dryer—indirect savings of energy and time.

How Front Loaders Work

The axis of a traditional washing machine is vertical—a cylindrical drum with an agitator in the middle. The agitator is necessary because the clothes would not circulate from top to bottom without its help. Because a front loading machine uses gravity to keep the clothes
moving, it doesn’t need an agitator. This saves room in the machine and allows you to run larger loads.

Gravity also lets a horizontal axis washer make more efficient use of water. Instead of filling the entire drum, as a top loader does, it cycles the clothes through water in the lower half of the machine. Because a front loader uses less water, it also uses less energy to heat
the water. When the wash and rinse stages are complete, the drum spins at high speed to force out as much water as possible—generally more than a top loader can extract.

The water and energy savings are substantial. According to figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), horizontal axis washers use 40 percent less water than top loaders, and as much as 50 percent less energy.

Increasing Availability

Until a few years ago, horizontal axis washers were difficult to find in the United States. Homeowners who were determined to buy them found they had to import their own, or buy them through distributors at high cost. The sales volume was too low for major retailers to carry them. One reason is the initial cost of front loaders. The least
expensive models, which meant those with the lowest capacity and fewest features, had prices comparable to the most well-appointed and expensive top loaders. The scarcity of front loaders made parts and qualified repair service very difficult to find.

In the past decade, three things have changed to make horizontal axis washers more widely available. The first has been a steady increase in the costs of providing municipal water and electricity. The second is a consequence of the first: greater awareness of water and
energy consumption. Consumers, municipalities, and manufacturers have all learned that conservation is the key to managing the future costs of our essential utilities. The third is enthusiastic recommendations from owners of front loaders. These personal endorsements
have inspired more consumers to consider new technologies than any promotion or rebate ever could.

Homeowners who manage their own appliances will find front loaders just as easy to install as traditional top loaders. They have the same kinds of water supply inlets and discharge hoses, and most use 110 to 120 VAC household current.


Benefits of Horizontal Axis Washers

By reducing your consumption of water and energy, a front loader saves you money. Publications from the EPA estimate that a family of four saves up to $100 per year in utility costs. A larger family, or an especially active one whose clothes need washing more often, will realize even greater savings. Reduced needs for detergent and drying time help as well.

The U.S. Department of Energy conducted a field study of 103 horizontal axis washers, called the Bern Clothes Washer Study. The results showed that front loaders used 56 percent less energy and 38 percent less water, on average, than top loaders.

Government information on horizontal axis washers estimate savings of $550 in operating costs over the life of the appliance compared to a top loader—but this figure is conservative. Reduced consumption of water, energy, and detergent for washing, plus reduced energy consumption for drying, would provide that much saving in five years. If the washer lasts longer than five years, or the prices of water, energy, or detergent go up, the savings will be
greater still.

Choosing a Horizontal Axis Washer

All large retailers that sell major appliances now offer horizontal axis washers. They generally cost more than traditional models, but as you know now, the difference is paid back over time. Aside from price, almost everything is the same as for top loaders. For example, warranties vary by manufacturer, but most cover the entire washer for one to three years, and some cover individual parts, such as the motor or drum, for longer periods.

By law, all new washing machines must display a yellow-andblack EnergyGuide label. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires all manufacturers to provide energy use data, which helps you calculate operating costs and compare different models.

Remember that EnergyGuide and Energy Star are not the same thing. Energy Star is a program of the EPA that sets guidelines for efficiency and performance. All major appliances must have EnergyGuide labels, but not all are “qualified” for Energy Star status.
A few other things to keep in mind:

• Energy Star qualified washers range from 1.6 to 3.8 cubic feet in capacity; instead of buying the largest model you can, choose one that meets your needs.
• Horizontal axis washers are made as stand-alone appliances, in stacked combinations with matching dryers, and even for installation under a counter.
• Some models allow you to adjust water levels to fit the load. If water conservation is already a high priority for you, this feature will be worth looking for.
• Modified Energy Factor (MEF) and Water Factor (WF) are important measurements; higher MEF values are preferable, while lower WF values are better. That’s because MEF measures efficiency while WF measures consumption.

Finally, although most retailers carry horizontal axis washers, no single seller offers more than a few models. This makes true side-byside comparisons more difficult. However, the EPA Energy Star web site offers lists of models, manufacturers and retailers to help you
find the best front loader for your needs.

Choosing a Clothes Dryer

Washing machines are more complicated and have more options than dryers. Case in point: even though some models of clothes dryer are designed for energy efficiency, none of them receives Energy Star qualification. That’s because most of them use roughly the same
amount of energy. The best single feature a dryer can have to help you conserve energy is a moisture sensor. Using this sensor instead of a timer, you can have the dryer stop running as soon as the clothes are dry enough. This saves energy costs and prevents unnecessary wear to clothes.

Cooking, Induction Cooktops

New Methods for Old Chores

In some ways, preparing food on an induction cooktop is unlike any other way of cooking. Instead of heating a gas burner or electric resistance element, magnetic induction cooking uses electricity to produce a magnetic field. Within this field, iron atoms react to electric
current by vibrating at high frequencies. The resulting friction causes the object containing the iron—in this case, the pan—to heat up quickly.

In other ways, however, cooking with an induction cooktop is pretty much the same as using a traditional range. You still put ingredients in a pan and use heat to help mix their flavors and change their consistency. By itself, having a cool cooktop surface while the
pans are hot is little more than a novelty. The greatest benefits are in using the device, rather than in the results it produces.

Understanding Induction Cooking

A traditional electric cooktop uses a coil through which electricity passes. The coil is designed to convert electricity into heat. Like the filament in a light bulb or the element in a toaster, the coil can’t handle the entire current load, so it gives off excess energy in another
form.

An induction cooktop also uses an electric coil, but a different kind. This coil converts the electric current into a high-frequency electromagnetic field, to which ferrous materials react as if they are heating elements. Instead of shedding excess current, though, heat results from vibration of the atoms within those magnetic objects. Strictly speaking, electricity is passing through the pan, and resistance within the magnetic material generates heat. If there’s no ferrous material in the magnetic field, nothing gets hot.

The Biggest Differences

Cooks who are fond of natural gas ranges often mention the features they like best about it, at least compared to electric resistance elements. A gas flame is easier to start and stop quickly, and the cook can judge the amount of heat generated by the height of the flame. Those who prefer electric resistance cooktops mention their consistent performance
and safe fuel source, which is also a convenience in locations without natural gas service.

Both gas and electric resistance cooktops provide a hot surface, and the user places a pan on top of it to transfer heat from the cooktop, through the pan, to the food. An induction cooktop does not get hot by itself, but causes the pan to heat up. The pan itself becomes the heating element. This has several benefits; the most obvious is energy savings.

Because little heat is lost to the surface underneath the pan or to the air around it, the food is heated more quickly, and with less energy consumed. This transfer of energy from electricity to heat through induction is much more direct than either electric resistance elements or gas flames. Manufacturers estimate the energy efficiency of induction cooktops at 80 to 90 percent—far better than the 55 to 65 percent efficiency of electric resistance or gas cooktops.

Additional Capabilities

Underneath the glassy ceramic surface of an induction cooktop, a set of elements convert electric current into a magnetic field. The heat results when a cooking pan with magnetic properties is placed in that field. This means only ferric pans—those containing iron—will work with induction cooktops. Many of your current cooking pots and pans may still work, but those made of copper, tempered glass, aluminum, and other materials will not.

When there’s no magnetic material on the surface, it will be cool to the touch, even when it’s switched on. An induction cooktop only gets hot when heat is transferred from a pan to the cooktop. Because the pan and its contents are hot, you will still need to use care, but your risk of accidental burns will be lower.

Along with more direct heating comes greater control. Some induction cooktops include sensors that detect the size of pan being used, and can adjust the power as needed. The result is greater precision through finer adjustments, something any cook will appreciate.

Potential Drawbacks

Despite its efficient operation, an induction cooktop has a long payback period. That’s because most models cost three to four times as much as traditional electric resistance ranges or gas cooktops. As induction cooking becomes more popular, more manufacturers will offer these products, which should drive quality up and prices down. For the moment, though, the initial investment is high.

The other most likely problem with induction cooking is adjusting habits. New users have to set aside nonmagnetic pans, learn how unfamiliar controls affect cooking times, and remember to keep some items away from the cooktop. Aluminum foil, for example, will bond to the surface if it is in the magnetic field when the current is on.

Definite Advantages

An induction cooktop is as easy to install as one that uses electric resistance, and easier than one that uses natural gas. Models are powered by either 110 to 120 VAC household current or 220 to 240 VAC current, which is common for electric ranges, dryers, and some air conditioners. If you need to add a new outlet for an induction cooktop, make sure it has its own circuit—and hire an electrician if you’re not confident about working directly in the service panel. Once you have a power supply in place, induction cooking is plugand-play.

Although they are catching on, induction cooktops are still more common in other countries than in the United States. If you can’t find the model you want through a domestic distributor, you may be able to import one yourself. Of course, an imported model may not have certification from a third party such as Underwriters Laboratories. Check its specifications with your local building inspector to make sure the cooktop and your installation plans will meet code requirements.

Cooks who are accustomed to using gas ranges appreciate the ability to control the temperature quickly. They also value the high output of higher-end models for professionals and serious amateur chefs. Induction cooktops offer equally fast changes in temperature,
and comparable heating properties. Instead of measuring output in therms, however, the power of an induction cooktop is rated in watts. Natural gas also has some drawbacks, such as carbon monoxide and related combustion gases, plus potential health risks and explosion
hazards; induction cooking has none of these.

For now, induction cooktops may seem strange to traditional cooks. But just like microwave ovens, they provide results cooks want, and will only grow in popularity.

Insulating, Spray-Foam Insulation

Benefits beyond Warmth

By now, you have a good idea of how important ventilation is to your comfort and health. And in order to have control over ventilation, you need to seal your house against unwanted airflows. That means adding or improving your insulation.

The financial and environmental benefits of insulation are clear. If more than half of the money you spend on energy goes to space conditioning, as it does for most of us, any amount you can save there will have great impact. And by reducing your consumption of heating fuel, you both conserve resources and cut down on emissions from combustion.

Insulation does more than just keep indoors warmer in winter and cooler in summer, though. Combined with a thoughtfully designed ventilation system, it helps you manage the flow of air, moisture, and heat between the indoors and the outside. That includes exhausting stale air, filtering out allergens, preventing mold and mildew, and maintaining a comfortable balance of temperature and humidity.

In other words, the real value of insulation goes beyond savings on heating costs; insulating products that seal air leaks effectively provide the greatest number and degree of benefits.


Other Properties of Insulating Materials

All insulation should help keep heat on one side of a wall and cold on the other. Beyond that, it can have several other characteristics, which you should bear in mind as you consider different materials. Here are the most common features mentioned for insulation:

• R-value—resistance to heat flow; a reference for comparing different materials
• Resistance to fire—marginally increases safety within the insulated spaces
• Moisture control—determines effectiveness at preventing water damage and mold
• Weight—affects ease of installation and likelihood of settling later
• Stability—provides estimated loss of insulating capacity from settling
• Convective heat loss—transfer of heat through solid materials, not air

Common Insulating Products

Most insulating products currently available fall into these categories:

• Structural insulated panels made of various materials
• Loose fill, such as recycled cellulose
• Rolls and batts, usually fiberglass and often with paper or foil facing
• Rigid foam boards, using polymers such as expanded polystyrene
• Radiant barriers, panels that help reduce convective heat loss
• Reflective insulation, which resists conduction, convection, and radiant heat transfer
• Insulating concrete forms, wall sections that combine concrete and insulation

All these products are effective, and any of them may be the best for your building or remodeling project. One other material, however, deserves special attention: spray-foam insulation, best known by the brand name Icynene.

Spray-Foam Insulation

The most visible difference between spray-foam insulation and other materials is the way it is installed. The foam begins as a liquid, and is sprayed on wall cavities, between joists, and in other open spaces with a high-pressure, low-volume applicator.

This liquid fills even the smallest gaps and contours in the receiving surface, and expands by 100 times its liquid volume to form a semi-rigid layer of light foam. As it expands, it continues to fill small spaces, sealing the area against air infiltration. When the foam dries, it can be trimmed flush to the studs or joists with just a handsaw.

By sealing the open spaces, spray-foam insulation reduces fuel consumption and costs, keeps out allergens and pollutants, and prevents some outside noise from entering the house. One thing it doesn’t do is trap moisture.

Managing Indoor Air Quality

The spray-foam insulation known as Icynene has open cells, like a sponge. It’s breathable. Because it minimizes air infiltration, though, it does not draw moisture from the outdoor air. When water gets in a space insulated with sprayed foam, the moisture runs through or
evaporates freely. This reduces condensation, and the growth of mildew and mold.

This also means spray-foam insulation helps you focus on the intentional flow of air through your house, which gives you control over pollens and pollutants. Following the builder’s motto of “seal it tight and vent it right,” you can keep respiratory problems, such as
asthma and allergies, in check.

Even during application, spray-foam insulation makes breathing easier. For example, Icynene is water-blown, and contains no HCFCs, HFAs, HFCs, HCs, formaldehyde, or VOCs. It does not cause corrosion, is the only insulation certified by the Envirodesic air quality
improvement certification program, and meets energy efficiency standards set by ALA Health House, EarthCraft, and Energy Star.

Also, thanks to its efficiency at filling spaces, spray-foam insulation helps reduce noise entering the house, and even noise transmitted from one part of the house to another.

Saving Energy and Money

All insulation products, correctly installed, will help improve indoor comfort and reduce heating costs. Spray-foam insulation is particularly good at sealing the envelope, so it brings the added benefits of minimized air infiltration.

In new construction, spray-foam insulation can seal a house well enough for a smaller, more fuel-efficient boiler or furnace to provide all the heat the house needs. This may also help the homeowner qualify for favorable mortgage rates, rebates on heating equipment,
or even tax advantages. The payback period is short, and, amount you save on fuel will only increase as energy prices rise. And, any house built for energy efficiency will both cost less to own and bring a higher resale price.

Remodeling projects that include the use of spray-foam insulation may require a different application method. Using Icynene as an example again, it is also available in a pourable version, which can be added to existing spaces without tearing out walls or floors. The
liquid can be poured through small holes, but will expand to fill and seal large areas. This makes expanding foam an effective material for insulating irregular and hard-to-reach spaces.

Back to Basics

R-value is the one characteristic on which all insulating materials are judged. Numbers are given in value per inch of thickness. Sprayfoam insulation has inherently high R-values, higher than fiberglass batts or loose fill and comparable to rigid foam sheets. But its sealing
properties virtually eliminate airflow, so it is more effective than its R-value alone indicates.

The U.S. Department of Energy acknowledges the limits of information provided by R-value. Real-world conditions such as material compression or settling, air gaps, and conduction through adjacent materials—including the building’s framing members—all affect the performance of insulation.

Perhaps a better measure is actual energy costs after installation. A house sealed with spray-foam insulation costs less to heat than one with batts, loose fill, or rigid foam sheets. Estimates vary from 10 to 50 percent, but one thing is constant: a house with spray-foam
insulation always saves more on heating.

Air Conditioning, Whole-House Fans

Keeping Your Cool

A well-designed ventilation system helps you control indoor temperature and humidity, as you have read in Chap 16. With a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) or energy recovery ventilator (ERV) unit added, it can reduce your heating costs and improve overall health and comfort. But as you read in the last chapter, most HRV and ERV units work best with forced-air heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. They provide less of a benefit in houses with hydronic or radiant heating.

Houses without forced-air systems generally rely on ceiling fans and window air conditioners for cooling in the warmer months. Unfortunately, ceiling fans only affect the air in one room—and while window air conditioners can cool and dry more air, they are generally expensive to run. This is where a whole-house fan makes a huge difference.

Energy Efficiency

During warmer months, a well-sealed house holds in heat. As soon as the temperature outdoors is higher than it is inside, the house begins to store heat, and stays warm even after outdoor temperatures go down. Outdoor temperatures are generally cooler in the evening, at night, and in the early morning. These are the best times to draw in cooler air to replace stale, heated indoor air.

Depending on the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures, and on your personal preferences, a whole-house fan

may be all you need to cool your house even at the height of summer. In the hottest climates, it can supplement your air conditioning to give you better cooling at lower cost

The chief benefit of using a whole-house fan is that it provides cooling for large areas at relatively little expense. The initial cost of a whole-house fan can be as little as $150; models with automatic features, higher flow rates, and advanced noise reduction cost more,
but are worth a look. Air conditioners cost at least $250 for small window-mounted models, and central air conditioners start in the thousands.

Operating costs for whole-house fans are much lower as well. Comparative studies of the two cooling methods have shown that air conditioners cost 4 to 20 times as much per hour to run as wholehouse fans. Granted, whole-house fans do not remove moisture the way air conditioners do, but the difference in operating cost remains significant. And whole-house fans may be better for your health.

Health Considerations

If you’re like most people, you spend most of your time indoors. And although you may notice outdoor airborne pollution such as smog, exhaust fumes, smoke, and so on, indoor air is more likely to contain substances that can harm your health. For example, the following pollutants are much more common indoors, and in greater concentrations
than outside:

• Asbestos
• Combustion gases
• Formaldehyde
• Lead
• Pesticides
• Radon
• Tobacco smoke

A publication from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html) includes this warning:

“Air inside our homes is up to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air. If too little outdoor air enters a dwelling, microorganisms can collect to levels that pose health and comfort problems. This problem can be especially serious in the energy efficient homes built
in the last twenty years. These homes may not allow enough air changes, keeping contaminated air in and fresh air out.”

In fact, the EPA lists indoor air quality as one of the five most urgent environmental risks to public health. Other organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, also cite indoor air quality as a leading public health concern. While you can reduce the number and volume of these pollutants, the best way to handle them is to keep the air moving.


How Air Flows through a House

Older houses are generally not well sealed. That’s partly because traditional building techniques and materials were less airtight, and partly because of the way structures age. In warmer climates, where heating concerns have been less of a priority for homeowners, houses can be almost porous.

Houses like these allow outdoor air to enter in several ways. One kind of airflow is called infiltration. That’s where outdoor air enters the house through intentional and accidental openings, such as joints between walls, floors and ceilings, and around the edges of doors and windows. Another kind of airflow is called natural ventilation, which just means the movement of air through windows and doors as a result of wind, or differences in temperature and pressure. The third kind of airflow is mechanical ventilation—forced-air systems, air conditioners, exhaust fans, and so on.

If your house has many air leaks, you get less control over the indoor environment. But if your house is well sealed against air leaks, not much indoor air goes out, and not much outdoor air comes in, which results in stale, uncomfortable, and potentially unhealthy air.
The ideal balance is a “tight envelope” with a system in place to circulate the air on purpose.

Calculating Air Exchange Rates

The amount of time it takes to replace indoor air with outdoor air is called the air exchange rate. The Home Ventilation Institute (HVI) recommends installing a whole-house fan, also called a comfort ventilator, powerful enough to replace the air in any room within two minutes.

A simple formula for calculating this airflow is to multiply the square footage of your house, including unoccupied areas, by the height of the ceiling. In this example, that measurement is eight feet. Choose a fan that moves at least half that figure in cubic feet per minute at 0.1 inches static pressure. Here are three calculations using this formula:

• 1000 square feet × 8 feet = 8000 × 0.5 = 4000 cubic feet per minute (cfm)
• 2000 square feet × 8 feet = 16000 × 0.5 = 8000 cfm
• 3000 square feet × 8 feet = 24,000 × 0.5 = 12,000 cfm

As you can see, larger houses require much higher volumes of air to be moved. Some whole-house fans are available in these greater capacities, but their cost is generally higher as well. You can also supplement a smaller whole-house fan by using your existing ceiling
fans or an oscillating fan in each room.

Another consideration is where the indoor air will go. If you exhaust a whole-house fan into an attic space rather than directly outside, you will need somewhere for the air to go until it disperses through roof, gable, and soffit vents. To find the exhaust area you need in square feet, divide the capacity of your whole-house fan by 750. For example:

• 1000 cfm ÷ 750 = 1.50 square feet
• 2000 cfm ÷ 750 = 2.67 square feet
• 3000 cfm ÷ 750 = 4.00 square feet

If your whole-house fan vents directly outside, these figures will not matter. In fact, a powerful fan can create enough negative pressure within a house to make it uncomfortable. Be sure you have an adequate supply of incoming fresh air before you switch the fan on.

Features and Options

Traditional whole-house fans operate at one speed, and are controlled by a single switch. Newer models offer a range of choices, from multiple speeds to automatic controls and motorized dampers.

A fan with optional high-speed operation will let you cool a heated house quickly, then turn down the speed for normal circulation. A timer or thermostatic switch will let you choose whether to let the fan switch on or off by itself. And motorized dampers help prevent
air from flowing back through the fan when it is idle. All of these are impressive, but remember to choose the features you believe you will really use.

Ventilating, Heat and Energy Recovery Ventilators

Keeping in the Heat

Every house that uses fuel for heating loses some of its heat through exhaust airflows. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) uses a heat exchanger to heat or cool incoming fresh air, which can reduce the energy consumption of a ventilating system by more than half. This
makes effective use of heat energy that would usually be wasted.

An HRV that also exchanges moisture between indoor and outdoor air is called an energy recovery ventilator (ERV). This technology takes moisture from incoming humid air and puts it in the exhaust air to reduce the humidity level indoors. An ERV is best suited for use in climates with both high heat and high humidity.

Both HRVs and ERVs use fans to circulate indoor air. They create a slow but steady flow of fresh air into the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and draw stale exhaust air out. An HRV or ERV with one exhaust fan relies on displacement to bring in
a supply of fresh air; a system with two fans is called balanced, and the fans are meant to provide equal flow on exhaust and intake.

How an HRV Works

At the core of each HRV is a heat exchanger, which is made of materials that conduct heat quickly and efficiently. The heat exchanger has two ducts—one for incoming fresh air, the other for outgoing exhaust air.

The two ducts remain separate, so while heat is transferred from one to the other, the air streams do not mix. Instead, heat from the exhaust air is used to raise or lower the temperature of the incoming air.

The incoming air, once it has been heated or cooled, is routed to the existing HVAC system. There, it can be filtered and further heated or cooled, then mixed with other indoor air to provide a steady flow through the house. Most experts recommend a complete change of
room air every three hours. With the help of an HRV, this can be accomplished with lower fuel costs because the fresh air requires less heating or cooling.

Differences between HRV and ERV

An HRV uses a recovery core that exchanges heat between incoming and outgoing airflows. The core is usually made of several aluminum or plastic plates. An ERV also uses a series of desiccants or permeable plates to transfer moisture between the two airflows. In other words, an ERV works in the same way as an HRV, except that it also transfers moisture from the incoming air to the outgoing air.

This helps control the humidity of indoor air, which can have as great an effect on personal comfort as the temperature. While ERVs are most often recommended for use in hot, humid locations during warmer months, they can also help prevent dry indoor air in cold climates during the winter.

Benefits in Comfort and Health

A regular flow of fresh air helps make a house more comfortable— and healthier. Newer houses, built to be virtually airtight, need active moisture control to prevent the growth of mildew and mold. These organisms can spread throughout a house and contribute to respiratory problems for the people in it. Opening a window or running an exhaust fan in the kitchen or bathroom will help circulate air for a moment, but these do little to manage the indoor climate over the long term.

Installation Options

Heat recovery ventilators depend on airflow, so they are most often used with forced-air systems, not hydronic or radiant systems. While it’s possible to add an HRV to a house without a forced-air system, the HRV then needs one or more fans to circulate incoming and outgoing air. It must also depend on the difference between denser, cooler air and warmer, less-dense air—just like the gravity furnaces of a century ago.

Because it is designed to affect all the air that flows through a system, an HRV is most often installed as a whole-house unit. Some models of HRV or ERV are made for placement in a window or on a wall, but these are best for specific applications that are restricted to one room or area. For example, the exhaust fan from a bathroom or kitchen may also draw significant amounts of heat out of the room, and therefore the house. If the main HRV system is too far removed from one of these locations and the heat loss is great enough to require one, a separate HRV may be worth installing.

Reasons to Use an HRV

In new construction and in remodeling, one goal for builders is to create a “tight envelope.” That means sealing the indoor space effectively from all outside elements. Many products mentioned in this book, such as spray-foam insulation and structural insulated panels, are valued for their ability to keep spaces isolated from unplanned airflow.

A tight envelope is desirable because it gives you greater control over the indoor climate, keeping heat in and moisture out—if that’s where they are already. But if you need to change the temperature or humidity of an indoor space and it has no natural airflow, you need mechanical ventilation. In fact, building codes require it for most new houses.

As long as you need to have a method of cycling your indoor air, an HRV or ERV brings numerous benefits for little extra money. Adding an HRV to a new forced-air system will increase the cost by $2000 to $3000; working one into an existing system, of course, will
require more time, effort and expense. If you’re building a new house and are not ready for an HRV yet, you can have the ductwork roughed in for use later on.

Finding the Right Model

The models of HRV and ERV units available to you will depend on the brands carried by your local distributors. And each model may offer a range of configurations, which can make choosing more difficult. For example, the same basic models may offer optional air filters, speed controls, or air quality sensors; in colder climates, they may also have defrost controls or preheaters.

To compare the specifications of different models, get information from the manufacturers—but be sure to look for independent test results as well. The Home Ventilation Institute (HVI) provides performance ratings on HRV and ERV systems, including airflow capacity, recovery efficiency, and sound levels.

Before you decide what kind of HRV to install, talk with HVAC contractors in your area. They should know which systems are appropriate for the climate you live in, and whether the added control over moisture makes an ERV a good investment. Another source of information is a distributor of HRV equipment, who will have broader knowledge of the
industry, and may be able to recommend the best qualified installers. Also, your local building inspections department will have an HVAC specialist, whose advice can be both valuable and free.

Before You Install an HRV

Professional HVAC installers know what will affect the success of a new system. They recommend you take the following factors into consideration as you make your plan:

• Install the fan component in an accessible location for easier cleaning and service
• Make sure the fresh air intake is well away from chimneys, exhaust vents, and driveways
• Provide a separate supply inlet for each bedroom, plus one for each shared space such as a living room or study
• Provide a separate return outlet in each room with high humidity, such as a bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room
• Place each return outlet near the ceiling, and well away from any range or cooktop
• As with any air-handling system, use smooth, round ducting and the shortest routes possible
• Where ducts pass through uninsulated spaces, insulate the ducts themselves
• Seal any joints where ducts meet plenums, tees, wyes, registers, and so on
• If the system is likely to collect condensation, install a drain to draw moisture away from the heat exchanger

Heating, Radiant In-floor Heat

No More Cold Feet

By now, you know that space conditioning—heating or cooling living areas—accounts for about half of your household energy costs. Insulating and weatherproofing will help you control the indoor climate, but you still have to decide how to provide heat and cooling.

One method of heating that has become popular in recent years is radiant in-floor heat. It involves either wire mesh that converts electricity into heat, or flexible tubing through which hot water is circulated. Both versions provide easy, invisible comfort. They have different requirements, though, so consider the details carefully before you decide which to use.

Traditional Space Conditioning

Early furnaces and boilers used gravity to help circulate heated air and water through a house; later models added fans and pumps to improve range and control. Both methods involved large, bulky, complex conduits: ducts and registers for air heat, or pipes and radiators for hot water. Air supply and return registers take up little room in your living spaces, but the ducts shape the way the entire inside of your house is put together. And pipes that run to and from hot water radiators take up less space than air ducts, but the radiators are large, heavy, obtrusive, and generally immovable.

These traditional methods of heating have other drawbacks as well. Forced-air systems create excess pressure inside the house, which increases the flow of indoor air to the outside. This contributes to heat loss in the winter and reduced cooling efficiency in the
summer. Moving air also keeps dust, pollen, and other irritants in circulation, aggravating allergies and asthma.

Hot water radiators will not disturb the air, which makes them better suited for people with respiratory ailments. But they can’t be used for cooling, and are often part of an older boiler system that may no longer be efficient. Hot water radiators can be moved if the entire
system is shut down and drained, the pipes are disconnected and reconfigured, new holes are drilled in floors and walls, the system refilled, and air bled from all the radiators. For practical purposes, hot water radiators are an all-or-nothing proposition.

In-floor Heating Systems

Electric floor heat has several features that make it an appealing do-it-yourself project. First, it only requires standard 110 to 120 volt household current. Some kits consume as little as 120 watts, about the same as two incandescent living-room lights. The wire mesh can be
attached directly to a wood subfloor, or to concrete with special fasteners. As soon as the mesh is in place, you can install the main flooring surface right on top of it. If you only plan to add radiant heat to one room, this approach is the simplest.

Radiant heating that uses hot water is called a hydronic system. Installation is more involved than for electric floor heat. Instead of a wire mesh in a fixed size that is simply spread out to cover an area, a hydronic system requires tubes to be routed in a way that covers the area without overlapping. To hold the tubing in place, special brackets are fastened to the subfloor. The tubing then has to run to and from heating and regulating equipment. This scale of project is usually, though not always, more appropriate for new construction.

New Construction

When you are building an entirely new floor, you can plan for radiant floor heating with few compromises. The area will be open and available for a thorough installation without shortcuts or deviations. This provides the best setting for a hydronic system. With full access, you can route the tubing exactly where you want it to go, and create the framing necessary for pouring a gypsum cement or concrete floor around the tubing. Then, if you install ceramic tile as the top surface, your floor will be strong, stable, and warm.

Hydronic systems offer some advantages over electric ones. They can be powered by a variety of energy sources, which can make a significant difference if electricity is expensive in your area. To provide the hot water needed for a hydronic system, you can use a water
heater that runs on natural gas or liquid propane, a boiler that burns wood or runs on electricity, or other sources such as solar collectors, heat pumps, or geothermal energy.

Once the water is heated, it circulates quickly through the tubing—but you won’t hear it the way you can a forced-air furnace or even a hot-water pump. It’s almost silent. And because the water retains heat for a while after the heat source switches off, it cools down gradually, not suddenly. Also, because the heat comes from below, you can have the thermostat set a few degrees lower than usual but feel just as warm as before.

The trade-off for radiant floor heating, especially hydronic systems, is between the initial investment and the benefits that follow. A hydronic system will cost more per square foot than most other heating methods. But once installed, it will provide greater comfort
and reliability than any other source of indoor heat. And hydronic systems are as much as 30 percent more efficient than forced-air systems for heating the same amount of space.

Remodeling

If you are renovating or adding on, and your project includes creating or removing and reinstalling a floor, an electric radiant system is easy to add. Once you decide what flooring surface you want, check to see if it is compatible with electric heating mesh. In general, electric radiant heating works with floating floors, most laminates, and vinyl. Two cautions: if the top flooring surface requires nailing, don’t use electric mesh because you could easily damage the mesh underneath; and heated asphalt felt paper smells terrible, so use rosin paper as part of the underlayment instead.

In addition to the electric heating mesh, a floor-warming system has a hard-wired connection to the household electrical supply, a thermostat and a timer. The thermostat lets you control the floor temperature. Depending on the model of timer you get, it can switch
off the heating system automatically after a specified period, or turn it on and off at predetermined times.

This method of heating has its limits. To prevent damage to the flooring surface, the mesh should not exceed safe temperatures for the chosen material. In some installations, that means the radiant floor heating will not be enough to warm the entire room. The amount
of current you need to run the system will depend on its size. If you want or need to create a separate circuit for radiant floor heating, either be sure you can work safely with the electrical service panel, or hire an electrician to help you.

The resistance wires that provide the heat must not be bent or cut. Few rooms provide neat rectangles, though, so most manufacturers will create a mesh to your specifications. Make sure you have this option before you choose. During installation, check the resistance
often to be sure the wires have not been damaged.

Retrofitting

There’s one way to add radiant floor heating without tearing up the old floor or building a new one. If you have access to the underside of the subfloor, as you might in the basement under the main floor, you can add a hydronic system from below. You can find special aluminum plates, designed to be fastened under the floor with self-tapping screws. These plates have integral channels to hold hydronic tubing, which can be routed to a source of hot water. Because the temperature of a single-loop circuit like this has to be carefully controlled, you will need to connect it to a separate boiler, or to a dedicated zone on a
boiler system with an appropriate manifold.

Plumbing 2, Tankless Water Heaters

Supply Meets Demand

The water heater in an average house has a storage tank that holds between 30 and 50 gallons of water. When cold water enters the house, from a municipal supply or a well, it is split in two parts. One goes directly to the cold taps in the plumbing fixtures, plus any toilets. The other goes to the water heater, which in turn supplies hot water to the house. A few dishwashers and clothes washers can use just cold water because they have their own heating elements, but all fixtures with hot water inlets draw from the water heater.

Saving Energy

Whether it uses a gas flame or an electric element for heating, a water heater with a tank consumes energy even when the hot water is not running. That’s because the water in the tank eventually cools down, and needs to be reheated so it’s ready to use. Insulation, both built-in and added on, can help keep its contents warm. Even so, this arrangement means a water heater with a tank is using energy all the time, whether or not you need it to.

One other large item in your house consumes energy all the time, even more often than your space heating and cooling systems: the refrigerator. Water heaters and refrigerators both use large amounts of energy. After space conditioning, they are the largest energy consumers in most households.

The difference in energy needs between a refrigerator and a water heater is that one has to run all the time in order to preserve food and

drinks for freshness and safety. The contents of your refrigerator have to be kept cool to avoid spoiling, while the contents of your water heater do not. When you need hot water, it doesn’t matter whether it was heated last week or just a minute ago.

Viewed another way, the practice of keeping a tank full of hot water makes little sense. You may run the hot water for an hour a day to shower, bathe, wash hands, and wash dishes. On laundry day, you use more hot water, but still only a few hours out of the day. Yet the
tank on your water heater consumes energy 24 hours a day, just to be ready for the few hours of supply you actually use.

By operating only when it’s needed, a tankless water heater saves all the energy that is otherwise consumed keeping a reserve supply warm. That can be as much as half of the energy a water heater uses. Tankless water heaters also make more efficient use of fuel.


Energy Factor

One way to compare the performance of water heaters is to check their energy factor (EF) ratings. Energy factor ranks energy efficiency by the average amount of hot water produced for each unit of fuel consumed. This number is made up of cycling losses (loss of heat as
water circulates through the tank and pipes), recovery efficiency (how efficiently heat is transferred to the water), and standby losses (the amount of heat lost each hour from a storage tank, compared to the heat content of the water).

Higher EF numbers translate to greater energy efficiency. When you are considering several choices, such as different fuel sources and tank options, the EF is a useful guide. It won’t tell you how much a water heater will cost to operate, but it does provide a common reference. Comparing models that use natural gas or liquid propane, for example, water heaters with tanks range from EF 0.59 to 0.65, while tankless heaters get 0.69 to 0.86.

In general, gas-fired tankless water heaters provide more heat faster than electric models. Because the use of natural gas or propane involves combustion, though, you will need to meet code requirements for venting, combustion air, and gas lines. Most electric models use
110 to 120 volt or 220 to 240 volt current. If possible, an electric water heater should have its own circuit breaker on the service panel.

Saving Time

When the water in a storage tank cools down, you need to run the tap until the cool water is flushed from the pipes. And once you use as much water as the tank had stored, you’re out of luck until it heats another tankful. By contrast, a tankless water heater has a startup time of just a few seconds, so barely any water passes through the system before hot water is available. If you have chosen the right size tankless heater for your needs, it will keep heating water on demand, as long as you want.

Newer models of tankless water heaters have internal thermostats and flow meters. They adjust the heat according to the volume of water being used, which provides consistent temperatures and uses only as much energy as required. When you turn off the hot water at
the fixture, the tankless heater switches off automatically.

Tankless water heaters can save time over the long term as well. Water heaters with tanks are only expected to work for about 10 years. Only the most expensive models are warranted to last longer. The leading tankless water heaters available today promise useful life spans of 20 years or more. Once you reach the payback period, which will depend on the efficiency of your current water heater and the tankless model you choose, the remaining service time is pure savings.

Saving Space

Most of the bulk in a conventional water heater is the tank itself. Without a large storage tank, all you need is a heating element with a pipe running through it. Of course, tankless heaters also contain valves, control circuits, safety guards, and so on, but even the largest
tankless heater is much more compact than the smallest model with a tank. Most can be mounted on walls, freeing up the floor space required by a heater with a tank.

Another side effect of storing water is that mineral deposits can form in the tank. Over the lifespan of the tank, these deposits can build up to critical levels, then reduce the energy efficiency of the heater, or even cause the tank to corrode and leak.

Choosing the Right Model

If you choose a water heater with a tank, you should probably buy the largest one available. That sounds like strange advice, but it makes sense. Because larger tanks hold more water, the greater mass of the tank’s contents will help maintain the temperature. More importantly, larger tanks often have thicker insulation and longer warranties.

For a tankless model, consider how much hot water you need each day, how much you need at any one time, and whether the water heater is for part of the house or all of it. According to manufacturers, tankless water heaters are about 30 percent more efficient than water heaters with tanks in households that use no more than 40 gallons of hot water each day. Households that use twice as much water will get about half as much improvement.

Plumbing 1, Low-Flow Plumbing Fixtures

Slowing the Flow

More of our blue planet is covered with water than with land—yet only about one percent of that water is available to us. Fresh water is in greater demand than ever, while the supply is not changing. Along with household uses such as drinking, bathing, and washing, water is used on lawns and gardens. All these uses add up, and waste increases the numbers.

Two converging trends point to likely water shortages in parts of the United States. Areas with higher population growth also have higher per capita water use. More people using more water each will accelerate the pace of consumption. Reservoirs in western states are
already running low, and we have no way yet to replenish them. The best way to ensure an adequate supply of fresh water in the future is to conserve it now.

Having WaterSense

The standard rating system Energy Star helps consumers see two things on every labeled major appliance: how much the average operating cost will be, and how a given product compares to others in its class. Now, a similar system provides common points of reference for homeowners as they look for plumbing fixtures that save water.

The WaterSense program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes criteria for water efficiency and performance. Each product category has a different set of testing and certification

protocols. These serve as benchmarks for licensed third-party groups to use in testing. Products that meet all criteria for their category are allowed to use the WaterSense label. The program helps consumers find products that meet their expectations for performance and efficiency; it also encourages manufacturers to continue looking for ways to create better products.

To participate in the WaterSense program, each manufacturer must form a partnership agreement with the EPA. If the agency has established a specification for a category in which a company makes a product—for example, garbage disposal units—the manufacturer
has one year to pursue certification for that product. The manufacturer must then have the product certified by an independent, licensed body approved by the EPA.

Product categories that can currently earn WaterSense certification include home plumbing fixtures such as toilets, bathroom sink faucets, and showerheads. Landscape irrigation services, including drip irrigation systems and irrigation control technologies that use
sensors or weather-monitoring systems, may also qualify. And, because so many plumbing products are made for commercial and industrial use, the EPA has categories for commercial valve-type toilets, urinals, and steam sterilizers.

WaterSense Basics

WaterSense began as the result of meetings held in 2004 by the EPA. In those meetings, agency officials asked various groups for suggestions on creating a voluntary national program to promote the manufacture and use of water-efficient products. WaterSense was launched in 2005 with a specification development process for high-efficiency toilets (HETs) and with criteria for endorsing certification programs for irrigation professionals.

Since then, the EPA has used a set of principles from WaterSense as it selects products for evaluation, develops product specifications, and makes choices about label use, partner status, leader recognition, and marketing efforts. In order to qualify for the WaterSense label, products must

• Perform as well as, or better than, their less efficient counterparts
• Be about 20 percent more water-efficient than average products in the category
• Realize water savings on a national level
• Provide measurable results
• Achieve water efficiency through several technology options
• Be effectively differentiated by the WaterSense label
• Be independently certified

Certified Products

Most of the plumbing products we use are in the bathroom and the kitchen. Most households also have plumbing for a washing machine, and some use water in radiant heating systems. For the majority of homeowners, though, the bathroom has the greatest concentration of plumbing fixtures, so this is where the WaterSense program was originally focused.

The first three product categories to be evaluated for improvement criteria were toilets, bathroom sink faucets, and showerheads. The requirements for high-efficiency toilets are established, while those for bathroom sink faucets and showerheads are forthcoming.

High-Efficiency Toilets

Toilets account for roughly 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption. According to WaterSense, inefficient toilets are responsible for most of the water wasted in American homes. That inefficiency can be the result of leaking, excessive water use by design, or both. For several years, federal law has required new toilets to use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush. The law does not apply to older toilets, though, which may still use much more.

From 1980 to 1994, the law required toilets to use no more than 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf). In 1994, that was reduced to 1.6 gpf for two reasons: the need to reduce water consumption in order to sustain our supply was becoming clear, and most manufacturers had found ways to make toilets that worked correctly using less than half the water that older models consumed. Before 1980, little attention was paid to water consumption by toilets, and some models used as much as 5 gpf. Replacing one of these would bring immediate and substantial savings.

Leaking is also a serious problem because it can be difficult to detect. Like the slow drip from a faucet, a leaking toilet can consume hundreds of gallons of water every year, adding to your water bill and reducing the available supply. However, a leaking toilet is easy to fix with inexpensive replacement parts, which you can find at any hardware store or building supply center.
 
The best way to solve both problems is to install a newer toilet, particularly one that meets WaterSense requirements. These highefficiency toilets go beyond the expectations of current laws. Instead of using a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush, they are limited to 1.3 gallons. That’s less than a 20 percent improvement in water consumption—but just like leaks, those small amounts add up quickly. The WaterSense program estimates that replacing older, less efficient toilets with HETs would reduce our national water consumption by 2 billion gallons per day. The agency puts it in dramatic terms: “If every home in the United States replaced one old toilet with a new HET, we would save more than 900 billion gallons of water per year, equal to more than two weeks of flow over Niagara Falls!”

The benefits for each household are significant over time, too. The WaterSense program calculates that if you install a certified HET, you can save 4000 gallons per year. Based on an estimate of 140,000 flushes in an average lifetime, each of your children can save as much as 300,000 gallons using an HET installed now.

Translating gallons into dollars, the savings are easier to understand. A family of four that replaces a 3.5 gpf toilet with a certified HET can save more than $90 a year on water bills, and $2000 over the lifetime of the toilet. This means a new WaterSense labeled HET can pay for itself in only a few years—sooner if the local water utility offers incentives for replacing older toilets with HETs.

Of course, a toilet that uses less water will only seem like an improvement if it works as well as an older model that uses more water. That has been one of the requirements of the WaterSense program. Besides, manufacturers know that if the first hundred HETs don’t perform well, they won’t sell the second hundred. Many HETs have proven better than standard toilets in consumer testing.

Bathroom Sink Faucets

In the United States, more than a trillion gallons of water are consumed through faucets each year. That represents more than 15 percent of indoor household water use. Current laws require faucets to consume no more than 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm), but older faucets may flow at rates anywhere from 3 to 7 gpm. High-efficiency bathroom sink faucets and accessories, such as aerators, can help reduce consumption by 30 percent or more.

Bathroom sink faucets that earn WaterSense certification are required to perform as well as the high-flow models they replace— even in houses with lower water pressures—but use no more than 1.5 gpm. By installing at least one WaterSense certified faucet or aerator in each household in the country, we could reduce our annual national water consumption by more than 60 billion gallons.

Showerheads

About 17 percent of residential indoor water use goes to showering, which adds up to more than 1.2 trillion gallons of water consumed each year. WaterSense has issued a notification of intent (NOI) to develop a specification for high-efficiency showerheads. The NOI outlines water efficiency and performance criteria for showerheads, and the standards to be created will involve input from industry and water-efficiency experts.

Electrical 2, Timers and Motion Sensors

Improving Safety and Security

No matter how you measure your consumption of electricity, you know how to save on your power bill: turn appliances off when you’re not using them. Saying it is easy, but doing it is sometimes a challenge. For example, you may have family members who don’t pay attention to the use of electricity, or you may be so busy yourself that even one more thing to think about is one too many.

Automatic switches, whether controlled by clocks, photo cells, or motion sensors, won’t do your thinking for you—but they will turn electric items on and off without your actions. They can help minimize the unnecessary use of electricity in your house while improving
your comfort, safety, and security. The amounts you save using these devices will quickly pay for them; after that, it’s money you get to keep.

Photo-Controlled Switches

In winter months, the work day is longer than the daylight. You might leave home and return in the dark without changing your schedule. But just as you wouldn’t leave your thermostat set to full warmth while you’re gone, you wouldn’t leave the lights on all day.

A simple photo-controlled switch will turn on a light when the surroundings become dark. Early models often flickered, because the light that was switched on would affect the photo cell. This is no longer a problem. A modern photo control turns lights on and off as surely as a hard-wired switch. At least one model currently available turns lights on at dusk, and off again six hours later, so the light won’t be left on overnight.

Just one photo-controlled switch, paired with a lamp near the door you normally enter, can help welcome you home. Two photocontrolled switches can help you illuminate front and back doors, or the main entry plus an interior room, making your house look occupied. This extends the benefits from safety to security.

Indoor Timers

For appliances other than lights, your needs are less likely to depend on the changing daylight hours. For example, you may need to run a dehumidifier while you’re out, or start an air conditioner an hour before you expect to get home. For tasks like these, a timer is a better choice.

Timers are available in analog and digital models, with anywhere from one on-off cycle per 24 hours to as many as a cycle every hour. Different models can handle varying current loads; the most basic timers will control light fixtures, while heavy-duty grounded models
handle high-demand appliances such as air conditioners and heaters. Special models are made for 3-prong, 220- to 240-volt grounded appliances.

Most timers plug directly into the wall, but some have cords and table-top controllers. These models are designed to help users who may not be able to reach an outlet. Others can be mounted in the wall, in place of switch boxes, for easy access with no cords to manage.

As timers have become more reliable and versatile, they have also become more affordable. Even the most basic models allow manual overrides without disabling the timer. Many offer random pattern switching for greater security. This feature varies the time at which a light or other appliance is switched on and off, so anyone watching your house won’t notice the same things happening at the same times every day.

For an automated switch that uses a timer and tracks the cycles of daylight, you can now find models with “astronomic” features. That doesn’t refer to the price, but to the timer’s capability to follow a year-long calendar indicating sunrise and sunset times for each day.

Outdoor Timers

If you have outdoor lighting, an outdoor timer can help you save electricity by leaving the current off until it’s wanted. For example, if you use 110 to 120 volt current to power walkway lights for greeting visitors, you won’t want the lights to stay on all day. Or if you have a water feature to attract wildlife, but only want the pump running during certain hours, a timer will save you the trouble of remembering to switch it on and off. Or if you enjoy putting up holiday lights, you want to keep your tradition going while saving energy.

Fewer outdoor timers are available than indoor models, but any building supply store will have several from which to choose.


Power Failure Lights

In case of a power failure at night, you will need a way to see. Special lights designed for just this purpose stay plugged in, drawing a small amount of current. When normal power is interrupted, the lights switch on automatically, giving you a beacon in the dark. The most
likely place for a power failure light is near the master bedroom; you might also consider placing one in a stairway, hallway, kitchen, or bathroom.


Motion Sensor Switches

Already common in neighborhoods across the country, motion sensor switches switch on outdoor lights only when a large object moves nearby. These have become popular for both energy savings and security; in fact, they are often given away by crime prevention programs. A basic model replaces an outdoor light fixture, and has a sensor and one or two bulb sockets that mount directly to the electrical box. Most motion sensor switches are designed for outdoor use; they should have rubberized gaskets to protect the electrical box and the bulb sockets.

Despite their value in improving safety and security, most outdoor lights with motion sensor switches have one flaw: The lights usually point directly at the people moving toward the house. To prevent this inconvenience, aim the bulbs outward from the fixture, or use a
separate motion sensor and mount the lights so that they illuminate the entryway, not the approach.

Home Automation Controllers and Modules

If you like the idea of automating your use of electricity, and have more than two or three devices you would like to control with timers or sensors, consider investing in a home automation system. Until a few years ago, these were complicated and expensive, requiring
professional installation and specialized equipment. You can now find do-it-yourself home automation kits with comprehensive programming options for surprisingly little money.

Using a single controller, you can create and change settings for as many items as you like—up to 16 devices on each of 12 channels. The system has modules for outlets, sockets, and wall switches, all receiving commands from the controller through radio frequencies.
That means you don’t have to run any new wiring.

Such a system includes the most advanced features found in timers: programmability, manual overrides, multiple on-off cycles, random timing for security, automatic adjustment for daylight savings time, multiple dimming levels, and astronomical figures. It even has self-diagnostic functions so you can be sure it’s set up correctly

Now and in the Future

The payback period for energy-saving devices will depend on the cost of the resource, the price of the device, and how much it helps you save. The cost of electricity is increasing, and the prices of motion sensors, photo controls, timers, and home automation systems have come down within reach of most homeowners. If you need to leave any electric lights or appliances running when you’re not home, chances are you’ll earn back the price of any of these items—and soon.

Electrical 1, Power Consumption Monitors

Keeping Tabs

People who heat their houses with wood, coal, heating oil, or LP gas generally know how much fuel they consume. They see how often they need to restock, and are reminded of the price each time. Natural gas and electricity, however, are delivered constantly and on demand. That’s convenient for homeowners, but they can lose sight of how much they use.

In order to save on utility costs and reduce your consumption of natural resources, you need a better picture of your energy use habits. Because you directly control most of the appliances and fixtures that use natural gas, you can estimate what percentages are consumed by your range, boiler or furnace, clothes dryer, water heater, and so on. But electrical consumption is harder to guess, and impossible to see.

Until recently, you could review your total use of electricity and estimate how much went to each appliance or fixture. Larger items such as refrigerators and washing machines have carried Energy Star ratings for several years, so their consumption is easier to calculate.
Items like baseboard heaters are also simple to identify as heavy users. Knowing whether your kitchen, family room, or home office used more electricity was pure guesswork.

Thanks to the introduction of recent products, you can now measure your electricity use more accurately. Some show real-time consumption of your entire system to give you immediate feedback on what you’re doing; others measure the rate of consumption so you
know which fixtures use the most current. These devices show where the electricity goes, the way a check register shows where you spend your money. Like check registers, these products give you a starting point for creating a budget and taking control of your household.

Getting the Big Picture

A product called the PowerCost Monitor shows how much electricity your house is consuming in real time. It has two parts: a sensor and a display.

The sensor, which is designed to work with all standard digital and electromechanical meters in North America, is fastened to an existing household utility meter with a ring clamp. Adding the sensor will not change the way the meter works; it is only attached to the outside. The display, which you can place anywhere you like, receives signals wirelessly from the transmitter and shows consumption information in kilowatt hours—and in dollars and cents. The display also shows other information, such as the time and outside temperature.

According to the manufacturer, real-time feedback helps homeowners reduce their consumption of electricity by 10 to 20 percent. As with any measuring device, the PowerCost Monitor only shows the results of your actions; you still have to decide what things you want to do differently. Information from a monitoring system like this can help you determine the effect that different actions will have on power use, and on your electricity bill.

Another whole-house power monitor is called The Energy Detective, or TED. This device reads overall energy consumption from within the house, rather than on a meter mounted to the exterior.

It includes a chart that describes its functions and provides tips on saving energy. The chart shows current electrical use in watt seconds, daily peaks, and totals, as well as monthly usage, in kilowatts and in dollars.

Like the PowerCost Monitor, TED has two parts—a transmitting sensor and a display. The sensor is attached to your electrical service panel, and the receiver with display can be plugged into any outlet in the house. Because installation requires direct contact with the service panel, only qualified homeowners and electricians should install it.

TED also calculates nighttime loads—how much energy is being consumed when switchable appliances are turned off. This shows the consumption rate of appliances and fixtures that remain on all the time.

One more device for measuring electrical consumption, this one from Australia, is the Cent-A-Meter. In addition to electrical current, it displays in-door ambient temperature, humidity, and the equivalent greenhouse gases generated in producing the power consumed. Its functions are similar to those of the PowerCost Monitor and The Energy Detective.

Seeing the Details

A product called the Kill-A-Watt EZ Plug Power Meter measures electricity use by plug-in appliances, showing the rate of consumption in watt hours and kilowatt hours. It goes between an electrical outlet and the appliance it powers, displaying how much electricity
each item consumes. In addition, it measures the quality of your power source by checking the line frequency, voltage, and power factor.

The device also shows running and projected costs. It lets you see what each appliance costs to run for a given period—day, week, month, or year. This lets you distinguish between constant costs for items that run all the time, such as refrigerators, and those you only run some of the time, such as air conditioners.

A similar device called the Watts Up Pro Portable Plug In Power Meter offers roughly the same functions, with optional software that lets you create charts of your electrical use. Like the Kill-A-Watt EZ, the Watts Up Pro shows consumption in watt hours, with automatic conversion for cost, based on a rate you enter. The Watts Up Pro Monitor shows

• Current watts
• Minimum watts
• Maximum watts
• Power factor
• Cumulative watt hours
• Average monthly kilowatt hours
• Tier 2 kilowatt hour threshold (used to calculate secondary kilowatt hour rates)
• Elapsed time
• Cumulative cost
• Average monthly cost
• Line volts
• Minimum volts
• Maximum volts
• Current amperes
• Minimum amperes
• Maximum amperes
• Power cycle

This seems like more information than most homeowners need, but customers who use these devices become curious about the details of their energy use, and apply that knowledge to better manage their households.

The Watts Up Pro stores data in nonvolatile memory, which you can retrieve even after a power outage. It samples use over time, for up to a thousand data points, so you can download the information to your computer and see trends in your power consumption. You can also export the data in comma-delimited format for use in any spreadsheet program.

Predicting the Future

Because the Kill-A-Watt EZ and Watts Up Pro are portable, you can take them along when you shop for new appliances. If a demonstration model of an appliance you consider buying is plugged in, put the power monitor in the circuit and see how it compares to your existing
appliance. The Watts Up Pro even has a payback calculator that figures the time required for an energy-efficient appliance to pay for itself. It shows monthly savings compared to the purchase price of the new appliance.

All these devices measure the way you use electricity; none will control any appliances or make any decisions for you. Once you have a clear picture of where your energy money goes, though, you will have a much better idea what to do.

Efficiency, Recycled Insulation

Reducing Waste

Whether you use electricity, natural gas, oil, or another energy source, at least half of the fuel consumed goes for space conditioning—in other words, heating and cooling. That’s because some of the indoor temperature leaks outside, and the outside temperature leaks in. To gain better control over your indoor atmosphere and reduce your energy costs, make sure you have the right kind of insulation, and enough of it in the right places.

Choosing an Insulating Material

When most homeowners think about insulation, they picture fiberglass batts. This makes sense, because fiberglass insulation is practical, affordable, and relatively easy to handle. By comparison, loose fill insulation involves more effort and sometimes more expense. Once the insulation is installed, however, loose fill has several advantages that make it worth the trouble.

The first of these is recycled content. Loose fill insulation can be made from

• Recycled paper: The most abundant material available for recycling.
• Mineral wool: Either the manufactured material called rock wool or the metal by-product slag wool.
• Fiberglass: It can be reclaimed from previously discarded insulation.

Loose fill is either blown in to confined areas such as attics and crawl spaces, damp-sprayed into wall cavities, or poured into areas where access is easier. Moisture is sometimes added to the loose fill to keep the material from blowing where it doesn’t belong. This evaporates
quickly once the insulation has settled.

One weakness of cellulose insulation is that it can absorb more moisture than most other types of insulation. If it doesn’t have a chance to dry out again, it will lose some of its effectiveness and perhaps become a place for mildew to grow.

Reducing Waste

In some ways, loose fill is only on par with fiberglass batts. For example, they all have roughly the same fire ratings, and cost about the same for the amount of R-value they provide. Factor in the recycled content, and the balance tips toward loose fill. Then take into account the potential health hazards, and the recycled products look better still. For the greatest number of environmental benefits, consider cellulose insulation.

Not only is cellulose insulation made from up to 80 percent recycled fiber, it can be recycled again. By using cellulose loose fill, you keep unwanted air and sound out of spaces in your house, and keep cardboard and paperboard out of landfills.

Made from paper products and wood fiber, cellulose insulation fills in spaces large and small. It can be packed into tight places, such as the points at which the roof decking and rafter ends meet the ceiling joists. It can be laid down in thick blankets where there’s more room, and gravity is on your side. The insulating value of cellulose loose fill is about R-3.7 per inch. It guards well against sound transfer, too.

Protecting Health

The binders used in most fiberglass insulation contain formaldehyde, which is widely considered harmful to your health; its vapors are classified as potential carcinogens. Once installed, fiberglass can still emit formaldehyde gases. Fiberglass is also listed as unhealthy, both for the long-term effects of exposure to airborne particles, which some sources consider another possible cause of cancer, and the immediate result of respiratory irritation.

To make cellulose loose fill more resistant to fire and infestation, manufacturers use chemical additives. Up to 20 percent of cellulose insulation is made of ammonium sulfate or boric acid, both of which are low in toxicity. Ammonium sulfate gives off a stronger odor, and some installers believe it may corrode copper pipes. Boric acid, meanwhile, is also used in baby clothes and cotton batts as a fire retardant; it is less likely to cause irritation.

If you’re concerned about the potential health hazards of these additives, either during installation or afterward, ask the manufacturer or retailer for health and safety information—or check for competing products.

Hidden Hazards

When you evaluate your existing insulation, watch out for vermiculite— a lightweight mineral shaped like grains or nuggets, in colors that range from gray-brown to silver-gold.

Vermiculite was commonly used as loose fill insulation in houses built before 1990. Some contain asbestos, which is well known as a carcinogen. If asbestos fibers are released into the air and inhaled, they can lead to serious respiratory illness or cancer. The threat to your health is great enough that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a warning about vermiculite insulation.

If you find vermiculite in your house, call an insulation professional for advice. You may have to decide between having it removed by a licensed contractor and just leaving it where it is. For more information, visit the EPA web site at www.epa.gov and type “vermiculite” in the search box.

Installing Loose Fill

While fiberglass batts have the same R-value as cellulose loose fill, they are made in fixed widths and thicknesses. Any variation in the space you fill with fiberglass batts may prevent them from forming an adequate barrier to air infiltration and high-frequency sound transmission. Remember: the R-value of a gap in your insulation is zero.

Loose fill, however, conforms to every bump and dent, sealing the space with as much material as you choose to apply. Over the months and years, cellulose insulation settles further in, which improves its thermal performance. That also means the installed depth must be adjusted for the predicted density once the loose fill has settled, not just the total depth at the time of installation. Don’t worry about making these calculations; manufacturers provide them in their product literature, and sometimes right on the bag.

For installations in open wall cavities, you will need to use a damp-spray method. While this may be within the range of skill you already have, the requirements are strict and the consequences of mistakes can be serious. The dampened mixture should not have more than 25 percent moisture when it is enclosed, and will need enough ventilation to finish drying out. Otherwise, mold and mildew become likely. This is one project you should probably give to a professional installer.

The installed price of cellulose insulation can be higher than for fiberglass batts, because loose fill requires special equipment to reach tight spaces. As a percentage of total building or remodeling costs, however, this difference in price is relatively small. Given the performance characteristics of loose fill, you will save that much and more in heating costs over time, without even calculating the value of environmental and health benefits.

Finding Your Number

To determine how much insulation you need, ask your local housing inspection agency or power utility for recommendations. Another valuable source of information is the Home Energy Saver, an online calculator created by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It’s
available at http://hes.lbl.gov.