Most window blinds are used to keep the sun -- and heat -- out of the home. These SolarChoice blinds do the exact opposite -- they increase the heat in the home. The "Heaters", as they are called, are winter window treatments that purportedly reduce heating costs up to 35%. How does it work? Each plastic vane has a hollow channel running its length. Cold air enters the channel at the bottom of the blind, warms up through passive solar heating, and exits out the top of the vane -- at temperatures as high as 140 degrees.
The website has a video to teach homeowners how to install the product, as well as measuring guides for ordering. Installation looks pretty straight-forward: Drill a few holes, fasten a few clips, hang the header and blinds, and presto! Thousands of BTU's of heat are exhaled into the room with zero emissions, zero operating cost and zero maintenance needs.
As if that wasn't enough to pique your interest, the Heaters qualify for Federal Solar Energy tax incentives.
The design isn't fancy -- a brushed aluminum-style finish faces the interior of the room -- and you'll probably want to be removing them during the warmer summer months, which is a slight bother. Oh, and the blinds aren't cheap -- one 6'x8' treatment sells for close to $1500. That certainly had me whipping the calculator out to determine how quickly the Heaters would pay for themselves, given a 35% savings in heating cost.
Here's one last consideration: there's really no point in having them installed on windows that don't see the sun, so your home decor may suffer from a slight imbalance, at least as window treatments are concerned. If you can get beyond that, I'd say the Heaters are worth taking a look at.
Would you consider the SolarChoice Heaters for your home this winter?
When dealing with a carbon footprint as large as the Big Apple's, replacing residential conventional heating oil with biofuel to reduce the city's emissions seems like bailing out the Titanic with a Dixie Cup.
Still, that's what Brooklyn-based Boro Fuel is doing, by introducing BioGreen™, an alternative heating fuel for residences. Available on the market November 1, BioGreen™ is a blend of traditional heating oil and 10% soybean oil. With only traces of sulfur, the green fuel's emissions are reduced; BioGreen™ also lubricates the home's heating system parts, which may reduce the number of service needs even as it adds to the heating system's lifespan. According to Boro Fuel's new website, BioGreenNY.com, the alternative fuel costs the same as traditional heating oil, and New Yorkers will actually earn a 10 cent tax credit for every gallon purchased through 2011. Even better: Your home's heating system doesn't need any alterations to run on the stuff.
It sounds like Brooklyn residents don't have a reason not to try it. Personally, I think every little bit helps. And last time I checked, Brooklyn had a population of about 2.5 million. That's a lot of Dixie Cups...
We've all searched Craigslist and Freecycle for roofing, flooring and other home renovation scraps. Sometimes we hit the jackpot and sometimes we get sidetracked and buy a new TV instead. Whoops. So we were really psyched to hear about Diggerslist.com, dedicated to buying and selling excess from construction sites.
Recently launched in 15 top metropolitan areas, DiggersList allows big construction companies to sell their unused building materials online at discounted prices. Flooring, roofing, tile -- it can all be found.
The new service aims to reduce nationwide construction waste, allow suppliers to offload surplus inventory and make materials available to the DIY enthusiast at reduced cost. Contractors can also post their services on the site, and property owners can post projects they're looking to have professionally done. It's people meeting people, hammer meeting nail, bargain building materials meeting the bed of someone's pickup.
The construction-centric DiggersList can be aptly compared to the beloved CraigsList. The UI has some similarities, although DiggersList features additional info like "Recent Users", "Recent Photo Albums" and a "Recently Listed" section. It's worth checking out, particularly if you live in one of the DiggersList areas. For everyone else, the wait is on.
If you had DiggersList in your area, what would you use it for?
It might be too late to spare China's embarrassment over the contaminated drywall mess, but apparently it isn't too late to right their wrong.
That's what Sabre Technical Services is doing, with their chlorine dioxide decontamination process which -- once injected into the tainted drywall -- renders the problematic reduced sulfur compounds inert.
The company claims that the process requires homeowners to vacate their home for less than a week and costs less than the "rip and rebuild" alternative, which doesn't sound like much fun at all.
What would you do: Hope this is a great fix or start from scratch with new drywall?
The company that redefined "clean" is taking the flu head-on, by giving away 1,500 free shots at the South Central Family Health Clinic in South Central, Los Angeles, on Wednesday, October 21. The free flu shots will be available from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, and both adults and children will be eligible.
Clorox seems intent on preparing its faithful customers for Outbreak 2010, with an entire page on their site devoted to the latest flu strain.
With homeowners sealing up their windows, doors and walls against the oncoming winter and all its accompanying germs, viruses, and what-have-you, it's a good time to evaluate the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the home. Now might be a good moment to consider an air purifier, or run down this list of the top 10 contributors to poor indoor air quality.
In the meantime, are you getting the flu shot and/or the H1N1 shot this season?
Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. is popping up all over these days promoting his show Living with Ed and his new book Living Like Ed (read an excerpt here). Momentum is on his side, as the NY Post puts it "this guy went green long before it was trendy."
Begley's show was recently picked up for another 13 episodes by HGTV. Entering its third season, Living with Ed shows the virtues of "green living" and audits other celebrities' homes. Take a look at his home in this photo series from the BBC. There are lots of good ideas in there for improving your home, including bricks made from recycled tires and a solar oven.
New products from Evolve Shower Heads came across my desk recently -- and suddenly my family of four was given a new challenge: take greener showers.
The concept is simple: No more waiting for the water to reach a comfortable temperature before hopping in. The ShowerStart technology pauses the water flow when it reaches 95 degrees. Once undressed, pull the valve cord and your shower is at maximum comfort level. No more wasted water down the drain. Now we just have to get my wife and kids to get out of there.
Results: Because of the old shower valve system I have, we had to buy one additional product to allow this to work. $20 and minimal work later, everyone was loving their shower experience. We used to wait three minutes before our water was at a comfortable temperature, now we could jump right in(Please no actual jumping in the shower). This also lead to less mirror-fog -- making it easier to shave, and less house humidity that the air conditioning had to remove (I live in Florida so low humidity is key). Plus, the water pressure and rain-head style makes this experience a great way to start the day. The annual savings is about $75 a year. If only it automatically, completely shut off in five minutes, forcing us to take shorter showers, then we'd really have gone green!
These are the three products we tried:
The Lady Bug: An adapter that sits between your current showerhead and the supply pipe. It would be practically invisible if it did not have the restart cord hanging down. If you already love your showerhead, this is your fastest fix.
The Water Lily: A standard 2.5 gallon per minute rain-type showerhead with multiple flow levels and a built-in Lady Bug adapter. This was our personal favorite as it had a great full shower feel and it made me feel green with no sacrifice.
The Roadrunner: The greenest option, this provides a lower flow at 1.5 gallon per minute. Though it has a regular shower spray pattern and the water flow felt full, my wife and I both like the larger spray pattern of the Water Lily.
All said and done the ShowerStart technology was a hit in our house, allowing us to take greener, cleaner showers without impacting our lifestyle. The only small problem: Our 5-year old daughter needed assistance with the pull cord.
Have you bought any green appliances or gadgets -- or completed any green challenges? Tell us.
