Welcome to the Green Detective Blog
Come here as often as you like to learn tips and tricks of how and why to make your home more energy efficient.
How Low is Too Low to Setback my Thermostat
If you don’t know, a programmable thermostat allows you to ‘setback’ your home’s temperature for the nighttime while everyone is in bed, or during the day while everyone is away at work or school. So how low is too low? That all depends on what kind of furnace you...
3 easy ways to lower your electricity bill
Heating and Cooling are the biggest energy draws on a typical home. But do you know how much energy your home consumes when you're not heating or cooling it? It's still probably a lot, and this is the place you can have the biggest effect on your utility bills with...
Energy Efficiency While Making Tea
If you use your stove-top to boil water for tea (or coffee), you are using more energy than you need. All the moreso if you are making just one cup at a time. I'm not a big one for pushing a particular product by a particular manufacturer, but when there's one that's...
The Danger of Condensation To Your Home
This was a beautiful birdhouse that we had up on a post for about 7 years. Eventually it got engulfed by wild growth (including poison ivy, unfortunately for me). So I endeavored to save it and move the birdhouse to a better location.What a surprise then when I...
Finding Air Leaks With An Infrared Camera
A blower door is an essential tool to discover how much air leakage your home is suffering from. It also helps to locate where that air leakage is coming from. Some air leakage is healthy to maintain a good indoor air quality but too much is just money down the drain,...
Central AC: How big is too big?
Before I began working in the field of energy efficiency, I had no idea that air conditioners dehumidified a home's air. In fact, as it turns out, the majority of the benefit one feels from the use of an air conditioner is from the dehumidification it provides. If an...
Video Gaming Systems Use More Electricity Than You Realize
Video gaming systems in the United States alone use $6 billion of electricity each and every year. That is equivalent, in terms of Carbon Dioxide emissions, to 2.3 million passenger cars running for a year. In fact, "video gaming is among the very most intensive uses...
LED Bulb Buying Guide
LED bulbs are a no-brainer these days. LED bulbs use about 2/3 of the energy of a CFL bulb and about 1/6 of the energy needed to power an incandescent bulb. And, if you haven't noticed yet, they also cost as little as $2 each - a far cry from the $20 LED bulbs of 10...
Is it time yet to invest in solar?
The answer to that question is simple. It depends on you and the reasons you want to install solar photovoltaic panels on your home or business. The fact is solar panels are 6.5% cheaper than they were last year and about 25% cheaper than they were 6 years ago (when...