We discovered a new garden-related nuisance this year: artillery fungus. It shoots tiny cannon ball-like spores up to 20 feet, where they stick to siding and cars. While some people clearly care more than others about the damage this fungus can do, it is not hazardous – just annoying. With that in mind, it’s important to consider a solution that matches the scale of the problem.
Physics, cooking, energy efficiency, and public health: so many of my passions are the ingredients of this blog post about our new induction cooktop. Magnetic induction cooking equipment has recently been getting cheaper, more accessible, and more popular, but it has long been safer, cleaner, and more energy efficient than the conventional alternatives, such as gas flames and electric coils.
Every homeowner has to battle termites at one point or another, in one way or another. The only thing notable about our situation is the stubborn public health professional and organic gardener who refuses to allow bee-killing pesticides on her property. After some research and a couple informed conversations, we revisited a method we tried several years ago — with better results after following the instructions.
After deciding to replace our gas-powered tank water heater with an electric tankless model, it took us about six months to actually make it happen. The process was reasonably easy and cheaper than it would have been otherwise, thanks to my husband’s DIY skill set. Now I’m thrilled that our hot water is coming to us thanks to renewable energy, not fossil fuels.
I certainly didn’t notice any news about the global transformer shortage until there was a possibility we would need a new one on the pole outside our house and wouldn’t be able to get it. Demand is exploding for this critical piece of basic technology, but supply will be a limiting factor in how quickly we can bring new renewable energy projects online worldwide.
It’s been a while since electronics lab in college, but upgrading our electric service served as a good refresher course for me. Unfortunately, many people who want to move away from fossil fuel use in their homes often don’t know where to start or even what to ask a potential contractor. I’m hoping that detailing our journey – starting with our electricity upgrade – will help.
I was skeptical of the term “beneficial electrification” when I first heard it, mostly because I knew that more than half of our electricity in Pennsylvania was generated using fossil fuels. But when electric appliances are used in concert with energy efficiency measures, cleaner energy sources, and smart grid technology, beneficial electrification represents a meaningful step in addressing the climate crisis.
We will soon have to replace our hot water heater, and I want to invest in something that will save energy and reduce our demand for fossil fuels, while also recognizing an inevitable shift toward home electrification. Initial and ongoing costs were a consideration in the debate between gas and electric models, meaning that this decision called for a comparative analysis. Spreadsheets were used.
After years of intermittent research and data collection, I’m ready to share what we already knew: we’re saving money by using less energy! But how much, and how long until we recoup the costs of the weatherization work we had done in our attic in May 2021? We’ll never know for sure, but this exercise was a fun exploration of that complex question.
I finally got my hands on our gas usage data, thanks to a very patient husband and a helpful customer service representative. With this information, I’ve been able to take a look at how much we’re saving since our attic weatherization work in May 2021. I’m looking for ways to at least reduce our use of this fossil fuel until we’re in the position to eliminate it.