Taking Care of Your Garbage Disposal

Your garbage disposal is a great piece of plumbing technology. It makes cleaning up after cooking or a meal a lot simpler. But garbage disposals do need some maintenance to continue to function well. And if you do this maintenance on a regular basis, you probably won't have to call for expensive repairs to your garbage disposal later. Here are some great tips on garbage disposal care from Resolve Rooter:

TAKING GOOD CARE OF YOUR GARBAGE DISPOSAL: A GUIDE FROM CLINTON

The garbage disposal is one of those innovations that we generally take for granted in Clinton, but was probably absolutely amazing to the guy who first saw one in action. The convenience of having a whirring blade just below your sink to pulverize food into pipe-friendly paste is pretty incredible.

However, because we sometimes take disposals for granted, we forget to take care of them properly. Disposals don’t ask for much, just a little attention now and then to keep them performing at their peak. There are some pretty simple maintenance tasks you can do periodically to keep your disposal happy:

When using the disposal, be sure to run water down the drain and leave it running for 15 to 20 seconds after you turn the disposal off.

The smaller the pieces going down the disposal, the better. Those blades may be powerful, but they can still sputter and stall against a formidable foe.

Grease, corn husks, potatoes and anything made of paper or plastic are not suitable for the disposal or plumbing in your home. Throw them away instead.

To subdue unpleasant odors, throw some lemon peels down the disposal.

To clean your disposal and remove mineral deposits, pour in a cup of vinegar and let it sit for about an hour, then flush with hot water.

Never use bleach or other chemicals to clean your garbage disposal, as it can damage the machinery.

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Wood and Pellet Stoves

Are you looking for a new way to heat your home this winter? A wood or pellet stove is one cozy option. There are some questions that you should ask before you get one installed in your house. Is it legal in your area? Do you want it as a supplemental heating source or as a primary? And what size is right for your home? To help you answer these questions, Energy Savers helps us yet again with an excellent article:

Today you can choose from a new generation of wood- and pellet-burning appliances that are cleaner burning, more efficient, and powerful enough to heat many average-sized, modern homes. It's also important to use a properly sized appliance for the space to be heated. When an appliance is too big, residents tend to burn fires at a low smolder to avoid overheating, which wastes fuel and is one of the biggest causes of air pollution. A reputable dealer should talk with you about size requirements, but a good rule-of-thumb is that a stove rated at 60,000 British Thermal Units (Btu) can heat a 2,000 square foot home, while a stove rated at 42,000 Btu can heat a 1,300 square foot space.

Wood-burning appliances and fireplaces may emit large quantities of air pollutants. Wood smoke contains hundreds of chemical compounds including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, organic gases, and particulate matter, many of which have adverse health effects. In many urban and rural areas, smoke from wood burning is a major contributor to air pollution. Because of this, some municipalities restrict wood heating appliance use when the local air quality reaches unacceptable levels. Others restrict or ban the installation of wood-burning appliances in new construction. Before installing a wood-burning system, you should contact your local building codes department, state energy office, or state environmental agency about wood-burning regulations that may apply in your area.

If you have an older wood-burning appliance, consider upgrading to one of the newer appliances certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They include a catalytic combustor that allows combustion gases to burn at lower temperatures, thereby cleaning the exhaust gas while generating more heat. All woodstoves sold today should bear an EPA certification sticker. High-efficiency appliances not only have lower emissions but they are also often safer, since complete combustion helps to prevent a buildup of flammable chimney deposits called creosote.

For the full article, click here to see it on their website.

Green Your Home's Heating

When you are trying to make your own more green, you should think of you HVAC system first. There are many things you can do to make your heating system use less energy, from sealing your house to geting mroe energy efficient equipment. One family in Roxbury, MA is taking it to an extreme by trying to do without heat in the winter. Here is the article from Boston.com:

At a time when most people are contemplating whether to give in and turn up the thermostat, Simon Hare and his family are embarking on a bold experiment in green living: a winter with no heat.

Their modest, two-story cottage in Roxbury will be warmed by the sun, the body heat of Hare, his wife Damiana, and his 16-month-old daughter Lulu, and even the heat thrown off by its energy-efficient appliances. The airtight, well-insulated house is part of a small but growing movement to design and build extremely green dwellings by rethinking what is essential in a house.

“You make it really efficient; you design your house to do your work for you,’’ Hare said. “On a February day of 6 degrees, if it’s getting cool, we can heat the house by making a second batch of pancakes for my daughter.’’

As world leaders prepare to negotiate a new climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December, some homeowners are taking matters into their own hands, building structures that show just how far it is possible to shrink a house’s carbon footprint. While many green buildings are built from scratch on lots ideally situated for sunlight, a growing number of builders and designers are, like Hare, working with existing buildings, and studying the best ways to integrate green building techniques to densely populated, built-out urban areas like Boston.

Hare - owner of a small design and build firm called Placetailor - had hoped to save the original building, a gunsmith’s cottage from 1850, but the structure was too damaged. Instead, he salvaged portions of the chimney and some of the timber, and built his 750-square-foot house in the same footprint.

Hare has yet to spend winter in his new abode, but based on preliminary data and his own calculations, he believes the house will stay around 63 degrees. That’s a level he and his wife are comfortable with, in part because the temperature will be constant with no drafts. The house project is a match for Hare’s ideals. He travels to jobs on a bike, not by company truck, and took his own house as the first project, both to demonstrate these techniques to future clients and to provide for his family.

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Heat Pump Systems

If you live in a moderate climate, you might have heard of people talking about heat pumps. Heat pumps are a great technology that are easy to install and can help keep your home comfortable. To learn more, check out this article on Energy Savers that explains how they work:

For climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. Like your refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space into a warm, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. During the heating season, heat pumps move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors. Because they move heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can provide up to 4 times the amount of energy they consume.

The most common type of heat pump is the air-source heat pump, which transfers heat between your house and the outside air. If you heat with electricity, a heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating by as much as 30%–40%. High-efficiency heat pumps also dehumidify better than standard central air conditioners, resulting in less energy usage and more cooling comfort in summer months. However, the efficiency of most air-source heat pumps as a heat source drops dramatically at low temperatures, generally making them unsuitable for cold climates, although there are systems that can overcome that problem.

 Click here to read the full article.

Easy Ways To Winterize Your Home

Keeping out the cold is not just about turning up the heat. You can also do a few simple things to your house to keep the cold air out and the warm air in. An example is a draft snake, which can be as simple as a rolled up towel, placed in front of a door can help prevent air from blowing in. Another thing you can do is put plastic over your windows to add another layer of air insulation, or insulate your pipes to keep the water hot. All of these things will keep you house warm and save you money on your energy bills. For more great tips, check out this slideshow on The Daily Green: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/winterize-home-tips-energy-461008 .

Controlling Indoor Air Quality in Schools

For years, we have heard tale of the risks that indoor air pollution can bring to our families, but what about our children when in school? After all, with indoor pollutant levels usually 5 times higher than outside pollutants, and 55 million children and adults inside elementary and secondary schools for 180 days a year, the risk of pollutants can be quite high.

Fortunately, in most states, laws are being adapted to ensure the chronically low indoor air quality of schools is fixed. In 1995, for example, the EPA estimated that as many as half of the nation’s public schools had indoor air quality problems. Today, that estimate is much lower, but there are still problems to be fixed and illnesses left unexplained. Moreover, there is a very real cost benefit to improving indoor air quality in schools. Preventative maintenance and cleaning can severely reduce the cost of eventual repairs and liabilities if the situation gets out of hand.

Managing Indoor Air Quality in Schools

The first step for many schools is to determine what problems need to be fixed. School districts are recommended to hire someone to coordinate indoor air quality systems with on-site follow-ups. A full evaluation should be completed to determine if there are any specific risks to be aware of, including:
• Asbestos in the insulation of classrooms, pipes or wiring in the school.
• Lead paint, solder, or pipes in older buildings.
• Proper ventilation in each room of the school.
• Proper cleaning and maintenance of ductwork.
• Frequent testing for potential dangers like mold, radon, and exhaust fumes.

Most schools built in the last 15-20 years comply with modern EPA recommendations but because the majority of public schools are much older, some of them 50 or more years old, the risk of indoor air pollutants existing in the building materials is high. So too is the risk of poor ventilation, contaminants getting in through poorly sealed walls and windows and much more.

Teachers and parents should pay particularly close attention to the health of students and watch for unexplained symptoms. If multiple students show signs of respiratory distress, it may be an indoor air quality issue and should be inspected immediately. Combined with the ongoing efforts of schools districts and legislatures, the air quality in our schools should only continue to improve.

Save Money with Better Windows

Everyone likes their windows, which bring light and beautiful views into your home. But unfortunately, they can also can account for 10 to 25 percent of your heating bill. This especially true if you have single-pane windows, it might be time to upgrade to double-pane. the US department of energy also suggests that: "You can use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Remember, the plastic must be sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration." They have a bunch of great tips, check out their website to learn more.