A Greener Life: January 2009

In addition to the many benefits of living in a green home, there are many financial incentives that can help make green homeownership even more affordable.

Funding opportunities and incentives:

* The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) provides a comprehensive database of state, federal, and utility incentives, rebates, and tax credits for using materials and practices that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. The information is searchable by a number of variables, including state, technology, type of incentive, and more.
* The ENERGY STAR program includes among its many resources a listing of tax credits for consumers and homeowners, home builders, and manufacturers.
* The Green Building section of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) website features a directory of green building funding sources targeted for several audiences including consumers, and industry sectors.
* Be sure to consult your Local Program website; your local home building association may maintain local contacts and a directory of applicable incentive opportunities.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries, Clean Your Dryer Vent!

Each time I venture out to my garden bench, I inadvertently pass my dryer vent exhaust.

The cracked hood surrounded by moss and mold covered caulk and rusted screws never fails to catch my attention. Knowing that hot and cold air must be escaping through that hole has put this home repair on the top of my fall to-do list.

What originally began as an aesthetic and energy saving fifteen-dollar-fix, has turned into a little research and a lot of shocking statistics! The USFA (United States Fire Administration), released a report regarding residential building clothes dryer fires. Between the years 2002-2004, an annual average of 12,700 clothes dryer fires occurred in residential buildings. These fires were responsible for an estimated 15 civilian fire deaths, 300 civilian fire injuries, and $88 million in property loss each year.

According to this report:

Clothes dryer fires account for about 15,600 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 400 injuries annually.

Eighty percent of clothes dryer fires in structures occur in residential buildings.

Annually, 12,700 clothes dryer fires occur in residential buildings resulting in 15 deaths and 300 injuries.

“Failure to clean” is the leading factor contributing to clothes dryer fires in residential buildings.

New home construction trends place clothes dryers and washing machines in more hazardous locations away from outside walls such as bedrooms, second-floor hallways, bathrooms, and kitchens.

A clothes dryer works by forcing hot air through a turning drum. Wet clothes dried by the moving hot air. Lint is created from the clothes as the water is removed and the clothes dry. While much of the lint is trapped by the dryer’s filter, it is also carried through the venting system, with the moist air. The accumulation of lint, both in the dryer and in the dryer vent, reduces the airflow and creates a highly flammable fuel source.

In addition to the accumulation of lint, blockage in dryer exhaust vents also occurs from the nests of small birds and animals or from bends in the venting system itself. A compromised vent will not exhaust properly to the outside and overheating is a common result; when enough heat is produced to ignite the lint or nearby items, a fire can occur.

Proper maintenance for clothes dryers involves removing the lint from the traps, vents, and surrounding areas of the dryer. Not unexpectedly, the leading factor contributing to ignition for dryer fires is operation deficiencies, specifically “failure to clean.”

Though dryer fire prevention is important no matter where you do your laundry, here’s an even more important reason to pay attention to this report:

New construction trends now situate washers and dryers in nontraditional areas of the house, such as upstairs bedrooms, hallways, bathrooms, kitchens, and closets. These new sites generally require longer dryer vents in order to reach an outside wall. These routes contain sharp turns and bends that navigate through the structure of the home. When lint has to pass through an exhaust that is under a floor or through walls and is more than 6-feet long, it is almost impossible to propel all the lint out of the vent. As a result, lint can accumulate in pockets along the vent where they are harder to reach and clean. Thus, it is crucial for homeowners to also regularly inspect and clean out the dryer vent.

All manufacturers now state in their manuals not to use plastic flexible dryer ducts between the vent and the clothes dryer. The plastic itself can provide additional fuel for a fire.

If you notice heavy clothes such as blue jeans or towels taking a long time to dry, or clothes feel hotter than usual at the end of the cycle, then a clogged dryer vent exhaust is likely the problem.

Keep fire extinguishers and working smoke alarms near the clothes dryer.

As a good fire safety practice, combustibles such as clothing, boxes, and other items should not be placed near or around the clothes dryer.

If you do not feel comfortable cleaning or inspecting the dryer vent yourself, you can call a duct cleaning service. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), a nonprofit educational organization, also provides information on clothes dryer fires and can provide a list of CSIA-certified dryer exhaust duct technicians.

Exhaust should vent directly outside the house.

Hot Water Heaters: Tankless vs. Traditional Which Is Right for You?

As the Fixie Chick, a newspaper columnist, blogger and frequent guest on radio and television, I have noticed a recent flood of inquires about “tankless” hot water heaters, very common in Europe and other parts of the world. So, I did a little research, asked a lot of questions and here is what I’ve found.

Most homes in our part of the world use a storage type hot water heater; an insulated tank with an electric or gas heating unit. This conventional hot water heater will typically heat 40 to 80 gallons of water, and will keep it hot 24 hours a day. It’s true; stand-by heat loss (heat escaping through the tank jacket) and a steady pilot light does cause a loss of energy. It’s fair to think we are wasting money running the pilot and heating the water over and over again.

A Greener Life

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Earth Hour 2009

Change Your Clock, Change Your Batteries, Clean Your Dryer Vent!

Hot Water Heaters: Tankless vs. Traditional Which Is Right for You?

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