Benefits of Home Maintenance

Some of the benefits of recommended home maintenance include:

• Save money by eliminating avoidable repairs and failures.
• Extend the life of home components, equipment, and systems.
• Reduce safety and health risks in your home.

STATISTICS - 

• 15,600 clothes dryer fires occur each year resulting in damages exceeding $75 million dollars in personal property damage, the leading cause was found to be clogged vents and poor maintenance.*
• 20,000 people are treated annually in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to overhead garage door. *
• 15,260 injuries and 2,660 deaths occur annually due to failure or problems with smoke alarms, sprinkler systems and fire extinguishers.*
• 38,300 residential home fires including 120 deaths and 390 injuries are reported annually, the leading causes are found to be electrical wiring, circuit breakers, fuses and faulty meters. * and **
• An estimated 49,200 residential home fires each year are related to heating systems. **
• 14,000 deaths occur from radon each year, as estimated by the EPA.

* - Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission;
** - Source: National Fire Protection Association

 

• Shorten your ‘to-do’ list.
• Maximize your home’s value and resale potential.
• Improve your homes appearance and appeal.
• Take pleasure in your beautiful home where everything works as designed.
• Enjoy peace of mind knowing that your home is professionally maintained.
• Satisfy all maintenance requirements specified in your appliance and home systems manuals.
• Receive the benefits of having an expert available to represent your interests when it comes to everything about your home; from consultancy and advice to hiring a contractor.
• Put proactive and preventive maintenance to work for you to lower your Total Cost of Home Ownership. The benefits and savings of preventive and proactive maintenance programs are well understood by Fortune 500 companies and the US Government. Preventive and proactive maintenance programs have been in place for decades delivering tremendous savings and increased efficiencies for large corporations and many agencies of the US Government.
• And perhaps most important, you receive that most precious gift of Extra Time to do the things that are most important to you!!!

From a Jones Lang LaSalle study Determining the Economic Value of Preventive Maintenance: “The results of the analysis were overwhelmingly positive for performing preventive maintenance (PM). The analysis shows that an investment in preventive maintenance produces a huge return on the investment.” One sample analysis in the study resulted in a Return On Investment of 545%. This greater than $5 return for every $1 spent on Preventive Maintenance is not unusual. “Maintaining all the equipment produces the significant returns identified by the analysis and offers a powerful argument for the value of preventive maintenance and the dramatic impact preventive maintenance can have on real estate.”

From C. Idhammar, President of IDCON, a reliability and maintenance management consulting firm, commenting on preventive maintenance programs: “In the last year we have verified the Return on Investment to be between 5 to 10 times the initial investment, and after that, 10 to 30 times the cost to run the program.”

Helpful Hints

Use our service - We are more than ready to help you with your "honey-do" lists, so you can go on about your day knowing your house is as ready as you are, for quality home maintenance and repair, Call Your Neighborhood Handyman today!

Smoke Detectors - Be sure to test your smoke detectors at least once a month. Change the batteries every 6 months to ensure you have a good safe fire detection system!

Leaks - If you notice a leak beneath one of your faucets, don't wait, get it stopped or fixed ASAP, waiting can only add to the cost of repair to your cabinet, floor or even the ceilings beneath the faucet! Examine the grout and caulk around your bathtub/shower every 6 months. Make sure there are no cracks. Water can seep in through the cracks and get behind the tile and you will not notice any damage until the tiles start falling off the walls......then you will have a really expensive repair job.

Furnace Filters - Change your furnace filter at least every month, this prolongs the life of your furnace and keeps the air being sent through your vents clean and safe to breath!

Carbon Monoxide Detectors! -Michigan requires in newly constructed or renovated single-family or mulit-family dwellings.  a carbon monoxide detector in each area where a mechanism is present that provides a common source of heat from a fossil-fuel-burning furnace, boiler or water-heater , at least one carbon monoxide device in the vicinity of bedrooms and recommends having one on each floor of the house! Why wait to sell or rent, Your Neighborhood Handyman Service, Inc. can install Carbon Monoxide detectors in your home now for your safety and security as well as if you need to put the house up for sell or rent! Just another piece of mind Your Neighborhood Handyman offers!

Garbage Disposals - One of the most abused appliances in the home is the garbage disposal. Many manufacturers will tell you that you can put anything down a disposal. Doing so will cause an early breakdown of the disposal and then you have to buy a new one. First of all, put plate scrapings only in the disposal. Do not put vegetable peelings in the disposal, especially potato. Large quantities of cooked noodles and rice should not go into the disposal. When running the disposal, give it at least 15 seconds to wash the debris all the way down the sewer pipe. You can use hot water to get rid of greasy debris. Hot water will not harm your disposal’s blades. Be sure to run the disposal at least once each evening. Not running the disposal regularly will also cause damage when you finally do run it. If your disposal blades are not turning and you hear a humming sound, you may be able to fix it yourself. Turn the disposal off. Get a wooden handle broom. Put the handle in the disposal at an angle and catch one of the blades. Grab the broom handle high enough in order to give you leverage and torque (twist and turn) the handle. This should free the blades. Remove the broom handle, turn on the water and run the disposal for about 30 seconds. If this does not work (80-something year-old ladies have had success with this), call Your Neighborhood Handyman.

Clogged or damaged gutters cause a myriad of problems. Water can seep under your roof and then you have ceiling and wall damage. Left unattended, the damage can be extensive and costly. Clean the gutters every fall to prevent a water dam from building up in the gutter and also to prevent costly rust from forming. If you need to rake leaves in your yard, you probably have leaves in your gutter.

Insulation - Although it is recommended that attics in Michigan homes be insulated to R49, we recommend that you add insulation to bring your insulating properties to R60. You will notice a vast improvement in the heating and cooling of your home. Hire an insulation company who will seal the attic and then blow-in cellulose material. Your Neighborhood Handyman Service does  this kind of work, we will be happy to give you a quota.

More leaks - If you notice a new water stain on your ceiling, take a screwdriver and punch a hole in the center of the stain. Place a bucket underneath to catch any drips. This will allow the water to run out and not soak into the drywall. When the leak causing the stain is repaired, then the repair to the ceiling will be minimal.

Clogged Drains - One of the many calls we receive at Your Neighborhood Handyman is for slow flowing drains. Drains will clog over time for various reasons: hair down the drain, accumulated debris and just a buildup of soap scum, etc. on the inside of the drain pipe.

When a client calls for such a problem, we ask them to try the following first:

 Pour 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain. Add 1/2 cup white vinegar and cover the drain if possible. Let set for a few minutes, then pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain to flush it. The combination of baking soda and vinegar can break down fatty acids into soap and glycerine, allowing the clog to wash down the drain.

NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS METHOD AFTER ANY COMMERCIAL DRAIN OPENER HAS BEEN USED OR IS STILL PRESENT IN THE STANDING WATER.

Pour 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup baking soda down the drain. Follow with 6 cups boiling water. Let sit overnight and then flush with water. The hot water should help dissolve the clog and the baking soda and salt serve as an abrasive to break through the clog. However, allow the product to work overnight if possible or at least for several hours. Flush with hot tap water.

 This has been working consistently for my clients and I feel very good about saving them the expense of a service call. If it doesn’t work, that means that there is a more serious problem that we need to repair. If you haven’t done so, you may want to use this product in the drain pipe for your washing machine. That pipe is particularly susceptible to accumulating soap scum on the inside of the pipe and you won’t notice it until the water runs over.  

  To avoid clogging drains, use a drain strainer to trap food particles and hair; collect grease in cans rather than pouring it down the drain; pour a kettle of boiling water down the drain weekly to melt fat that may be building up in the drain; or weekly put some vinegar and baking soda down your drain to break down fat and keep your drain smelling fresh.

 

Did you know?

• 40% of the average homeowner’s water use is outdoors. Rain barrel use reduces the stress on municipal water systems during the dry, summer months.

 

• 700 gallons of water runs off a 1,200 square foot roof after only one inch of rainfall. Using a rain barrel is an excellent way to conserve some of this water.

 

• A quarter inch of runoff from an average roof will easily fill a rain barrel. If you have five storms a season, that equals 275 gallons of free water.

 

• Rain absorbed within a rain garden will filter pollutants otherwise delivered to treatment plants or directly to streams. Studies report greater than 90% of copper, lead and zinc, 50% of nitrogen and 65% of phosphorus can be filtered in a rain garden.

Energy Efficiency Reference/Residential/How to Reduce Energy Usage

 

Home energy usage

General tips

Return on investment estimates for household energy efficiency improvements
Months	Modification
3	High efficiency showerhead
13	Fireplace pillow-stops air leakage up chimney
14	Bathroom Faucet Aerator
17	Attic Insulation (R-0 to R-38)
23	Compact Fluorescent bulb
23	Kitchen faucet aerator
43	Attic insulation (average)
44	Duct insulation and sealing
68	Wall insulation (R-0 to R-25)
88	Floor insulation (R-0 to R-13)
Source: Portland General Electric. April 2003

• Choose energy-efficient home appliances, which have been designed with energy conservation in mind. In the United States, Energy Star is a government program to promote energy-efficient consumer products.
  
• Choose natural gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers. Natural gas is significantly more efficient than electricity derived from fossil fuel sources, for heating purposes. An efficient way to use electricity for heating is with a heat pump.
• Try to use natural ventilation and only use your heater when temperatures drop below 68°F, and try to only use cooling devices when temperatures get above 78°F.
• For tips on reducing transportation-related energy usage, see the Transportation energy usage section below.
• For tips on reducing energy at home, work and at travel, see Reducing Energy at home, work and travel-http://reducingenergy.blogspot.com/

 

Reduce heating costs

• Operate your furnace efficiently:
  • Install a programmable thermostat and set it so your home will not be heated as much when you are away or asleep.
  • Check your furnace's air filter monthly - replace/clean as required. Do this more often if there is a lot of dust or pet dander in your home's air.
  • Get furnace serviced annually, check for slow gas line leaks- especially at the meter and pipe junctions
  • Do not obstruct or close heating or air-return vents by placing furniture or other items in front or on top of them.
• Insulate and weatherize your home effectively:
  • Ask Your Neighborhood Handyman to inspect your home to ensure that you have adequate insulation installed. Some may provide incentives for this checkup.
  • Seal off rooms that are not in regular use and close heating vents.
  • Carefully hold a smoking combustible material (such as an incense stick) near the frames of exterior doors and windows. If the smoke moves toward or away from the window, an air leak is likely. A thin shred of paper or string may also be used if a combustible smoking material is not available, though it may not work as well.
  • Replace old, leaky windows (especially single-pane glass) with newer double or triple pane, gas filled, low E windows. If you have single-pane basement windows, consider replacing them with better windows, or, if they are never opened, consider replacing them with glass block, which is about as good as an ordinary double-pane window ^[1], though not as good as an argon filled and/or low-e double-pane window. Keep at least two basement windows in place, however, so you can vent the basement if needed.
  • Install heavy curtains over windows. Use them at night, let the sun in during the day.
  • Protect your home from cold winds using windbreaks or other energy-efficient landscaping methods.
• Heat less space:
  • Wear several layers of clothing to keep your home's air temperature lower during the day.
  • Use thick blankets so you can keep your home's air temperature lower at night.  Use an electric blanket for comfortable sleeping while allowing the room's air temperature to be lower.
  • If you live alone and/or in a large home, it may be more efficient to keep your overall house temperature low (55 to 65°F/13 to 18°C) and use an electric space heater to heat the areas you use most often. For example, keep a heater near your desk, or use one in the bathroom to avoid heating the whole house during your morning routine. You could even carefully use a hair-dryer to preheat your bed in seconds. Take care to use electric heaters safely, especially near water.
• Heat water efficiently:
  • Turn down the temperature on your water heater to 120°F/49°C and drain the silt occasionally with a water hose. Be sure to check and replace the anode rods periodically as well.
  • Replace your water heater with a gas tankless water heater, which heats water on demand rather than storing heated water.
  • Consider solar water heating options, especially if you live in a sunny region.
• "Reuse" heat:
  • Leave hot water in the bathtub or in cooking pots instead of draining it immediately. This allows the water's stored heat to dissipate into your home rather than being lost down the drain. Keep lids on the pots to avoid cooling them by evaporation instead of by delivering heat to the room, and to avoid adding excess humidity.
  • If you have an electric dryer, you may vent it inside occasionally. The vented air will be very moist, so track humidity levels; if the humidity is high for extended periods you may encourage mold and mildew growth. Venting the dryer hose into an empty bucket or garbage can will allow much of the humidity to condense and be collected. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU VENT GAS DRYERS INDOORS due to carbon monoxide present in the exhaust.

Reduce cooling costs

• Many of the steps you can take to reduce heating costs, such as insulating and sealing your home, will also reduce air conditioning costs.
• Install  solar shades on the outside or exterior of all east, south and west facing windows. They prevent most of the sun's UV rays from even entering the home through the window. They cost much, much less than say an awning. And, you can still see outside.
• Use fans instead of air conditioning (Fans make the air feel about 4 degrees cooler).
• Turn fans off when no one is directly in the air stream of the fan. Fans do not actually cool the air; they help your skin to evaporate water more quickly, which cools you.
• If you have more than two window air conditioners, it is usually more energy-efficient to install a central air conditioner.
• Pay attention to efficiency ratings when looking for a new air conditioner.
• Size your system properly.  If you have a portable air conditioners, be sure that it is vented outside. If it is vented inside, you are actually heating your home.
• In geographic areas where summer night-time temperatures fall below 75°F/24°C, open windows and use window fans to pull cool outside air into your home. Depending on the layout of your home, it may be best to only open certain windows and position fans so outside air is pulled in on one side of the house and interior air is pushed out on the other side of the house. It may be a wise choice to install a whole-house fan, which pulls air through your home and pushes it out through your attic. Choosing a whole-house fan.(DRY CLIMATES ONLY!)
• Install awnings over windows and close window blinds or curtains to keep direct sunlight out.
• Plant trees near your home. Choose locations that will shade your house during the afternoon. Even trees not directly shading your home will reduce local air temperatures.
• Drink plenty of fluids to help your body cool itself.
• Keep closets doors closed. This can save you up to 5% in heating/cooling and air costs alone.

Reduce lighting costs

• Take advantage of sunlight and leave lights off during the day. If possible, adjust your daily routine to align your waking hours with sunlit hours.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs in place of conventional incandescent light bulbs. A CFL uses approximately one-fourth the wattage of an incandescent bulb producing a similar level of illumination, and they last 8,000 to 10,000 hours. The savings in electricity typically amounts to over $30 per replaced bulb. Replace your most-used bulbs first for maximum savings.
• Install motion-detection switches or timers for outdoor lighting rather than leaving lights on all night.
• Install dimmer switches for incandescent light fixtures so you can use less light when less is needed. CAUTION: Most CFLs and other fluorescent bulbs are not designed for use with a dimmer.
• Replace incandescent night lights with LED or electroluminescent (Indiglo™, Limelite™, etc.) lights.
• Don't use excessive holiday lighting.
• Dust light bulbs occasionally (with the power off) to increase light levels.
• Use limited, focused lighting when performing a task in a small area instead of lighting the entire room.
• Choose light fixtures that require fewer bulbs, or unscrew some of the bulbs in existing fixtures.
• Change conventional ballast with electronic ballast
• Use special capacitor for lamp

Reduce water usage

• Install water-saving shower heads, faucets, and toilets.
• Fix leaky pipes and plumbing fixtures in your home's plumbing system. Toilet tank leaks are easily detected by adding a few drops of food coloring to the water reservoir. If the water in the toilet bowl becomes dyed, water is leaking from the tank and the valve should be repaired or replaced.
• Lower the water level of your toilet's water reservoir. Be careful not to lower it to the point that it does not flush adequately. If your toilet's flush mechanism does not allow an easy way to lower the water level, place a plastic or glass jar filled with water into the water tank, clear of the flush mechanism, to displace water. Do not use a brick in your water tank, as it can break down and cause plumbing problems.
• Take showers instead of baths.
• Take shorter showers.
• Use the light cycle when using a dishwasher on dishes that aren't extremely dirty. Try the same when using a washing machine.
• Install a water softener if your water is "hard".
• Water outdoor plants early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
• Invest in a water barrel - use for watering plants, washing the car.
• Use a public swimming pool instead of purchasing your own.

Reduce household waste

• Do not purchase products with excessive or unnecessary packaging.
• Purchase products in the largest size practical so as to reduce the product:packaging ratio. However, do not purchase products in larger quantities than you will actually use, and be aware that having a larger quantity on hand may cause you to use more of the product than you would have ordinarily used.
• Use and reuse gift bags in place of gift wrap.
• Bring your own bags or boxes along when shopping to carry your purchases home.
• Put off purchases whenever possible. You will often find that you didn't really need the item.
• Use rechargeable batteries instead of conventional batteries.
• Compost

Reduce electricity usage

• Turn off all electric appliances (lights, computers, televisions) when they are not in use. Computer printers and photocopiers are typically high energy users.
• Watch TV with the light off.
• Change out a CRT TV with an LCD model of equivalent size.
• Reduce miscellaneous electric use from power adapters and electronics in standby mode by plugging them into a power strip that can be switched off.
• Set your computer to automatically shut off the monitor and switch to standby mode (if available) after a certain number of minutes of disuse. Choose a flat panel display instead of a conventional CRT. Adjust your display's brightness to the surrounding light conditions (less brightness is needed in dark rooms).
• Purchase a laptop and use it as a replacement for your desktop computer. Most laptops are optimized for energy efficiency and don't need an uninterruptible power supply, since the battery can be used during thunderstorms and the like.
• Use products with the Energy Star logo (or similar). In particular, recycling and replacing old refrigerators with an Energy Star-approved one can save a few hundred kilowatt-hours a year. Replacing old refrigeration and air conditioning units (even if they are still functional) with more efficient ones is often an economically and ecologically sound decision.
• Consider installing and using a clothes line for drying clothes. Each load not dried in an electric dryer saves 3 to 5 kilowatt hours.
• Unplug appliances that will not be used for an extended period of time; many devices, especially consumer electronics, use a small amount of electricity even when they are switched off, due to indicator lights or listening for remote-control signals. Direct current converters, which are typically used to connect small consumer electronics devices to household power, lose a significant amount of energy as heat, even when the device is not plugged into the converter.
• Set your furnace/AC fan to "auto" rather than "on" so it will not run when the furnace/AC unit itself is off. The fan uses a significant amount of electricity.
• Your refrigerator is probably among the biggest energy users in the home. Take special care to operate it efficiently:
  • Clean the condenser coils on your refrigerator to keep them operating efficiently.
  • Reduce the number of trips you make to the refrigerator/freezer and do not leave the door open unnecessarily.
  • Refrigerator/freezer configuration affects the unit's efficiency. Bottom-freezer models are generally most efficient. Top-freezers (the most common configuration) are reasonably efficient. Side-by-side models are relatively inefficient. Chest freezers are generally more efficient than conventional front-opening models.
  • Small refrigerators are often less efficient than larger models because they usually have less insulation or a less-efficient compressor.
  • Keep your refrigerator/freezer reasonably well stocked so that less cold air is lost when the door is opened.
  • Cover beverages and moist foods to keep the humidity level in the refrigerator lower. Dry air is easier to cool.
  • Keep your refrigerator's temperature above 36°F/2°C and below 42°F/5.5°C. Keep your freezer's temperature at about 0°F/-18°C. A good gauge of freezer temperature is ice cream. If the ice cream is too soft, lower the temperature; if it is very hard and difficult to spoon, raise the temperature.
• When cooking:
  • Turn off your electric oven or stove shortly before the end of the required cooking time; the heating element will still be hot enough to finish the cooking process.
  • Cover pots to reduce heat loss.
  • Do not heat a small pot on a large burner.
  • Microwave foods when possible. However, microwaving liquids or foods with high moisture content is usually less energy-efficient than heating it on a stove.
  • Thaw or partially thaw frozen food in the refrigerator prior to cooking.
  • Replace drip pans periodically. Dirty drip pans are much less reflective than new pans and cannot reflect as much heat back up to the pan being heated.
  • Avoid opening the oven door unnecessarily. Instead, view the food through the door's window and use a timer to help you determine when the food will be fully cooked. Most foods are fully cooked when the fragrance of the food begins to fill the room from within the oven.

Ventilate properly

Proper attic ventilation will:

• keep the house cooler in hot weather. Attics radiate heat downward when they are hotter than the living area.
• keep the attic cold in the winter, which can prevent ice dams.
• allow moisture to escape from the house. Warm, moist air rises from the living area. Ventilation of this humid air is important year-round for preventing mold and rot, but it is especially important in the winter, when the moisture is more likely to condense.

Be aware that increased ventilation decreases the effectiveness of any insulation that is a poor barrier to air infiltration, such as fiberglass batting. The increased ventilation will create low pressure areas, so that the house will push conditioned air through the insulation faster than it normally would.

With insufficient ventilation:

• Attic heat can penetrate into living areas during summer.
• There will be excessive humidity, which can cause mold and eventually rot.
• Water vapor can condense and collect on insulation, on rafters, and on the underside of roof sheathing. This will reduce the effectiveness of the insulation and can greatly hasten the activity of mold and rot.
• Condensation and mold will also occur in the living area, especially on perimeter walls (because they are coolest) and where ventilation is poorest, such as in corners and around furniture.

You will need more ventilation than usual if:

• You live in a damp climate.
• Your house is in the shade.
• The crawlspace or basement has a dirt floor.
• There isn't much wind.
• You have a modern, super-tight house.
• You have a solid masonry house.
• You have a house with impermeable siding such as vinyl or aluminum.
• You do not have sufficient (or any) vapor barriers.

Most houses treat the attic and basement as unconditioned space. You can think of unconditioned space as outdoor space, minus the rain and snow. The unconditioned space surrounding the living area shouldn’t be wide open, but it shouldn't be sealed shut either. A good compromise is to have two foundation vents in the basement and two different types of vents in the attic. Vents should always exist in pairs (but not necessarily two of the same type) to allow for cross-ventilation. In an attic, one member of the pair should be low on the roof and the other member should be higher up, so that outside air is pulled through one and out the other. Natural attic ventilation through these vents is usually sufficient. Powered vents in the attic may interfere with proper furnace and fireplace venting.

Some ways to ventilate an attic naturally:

• Soffit vents
• Ridge vents (you can cover the ridge vent with shingles)
• Gable vents

Modern homes often incorporate all three types of attic vents, providing continuous cross-ventilation via multiple air pathways.

Make sure gable vents have screens to keep out insects and animals, and keep the screens clean to maintain proper ventilation.

Never close or block off the vents to a damp basement or crawlspace, except in extreme cold to prevent pipes from freezing. Closing the vents to a damp basement or crawlspace will cause mold, rot, and structural defects. Sometimes a basement or crawlspace will look bone dry but is transpiring moisture through the dirt floor at a rapid rate. To see if this is the case, lay down some clear plastic on the dirt floor for a few days and observe how much water collects on its underside.

If your basement or crawlspace is dry and has been dry for several years you can:

• Close the foundation vents in the winter to conserve energy, and open them again in the warmer months to allow interior moisture from the house to escape.
• Close the foundation vents permanently, install a polyethylene vapor barrier on the floor (just to be safe), insulate the basement or crawlspace walls, and part of the floor, if necessary, and include the basement or crawlspace as part of the conditioned space of the house. If you take this route you don’t need to insulate the floor above the basement or crawlspace, but it doesn’t hurt if the floor is already insulated. Keep an eye on humidity. There will be less condensation on walls and pipes, but possibly greater humidity because of trapped air, requiring increased ventilation in the upper floors and attic to compensate.

Advantages of insulating a dry basement and crawlspace and making them part of the conditioned space of the house:

• Decreased condensation, because walls are closer in temperature to the air inside the house, and because cold pipes are not exposed to outdoor air during the warmer months.
• Reduced energy losses from ducts passing through the basement.
• Reduced risk of pipes freezing in winter.

Residential ventilation checklist

• Vent sources of moisture directly to the outside. This is especially important for the bathroom, which normally produces more moisture than any other room in the house, and for the dryer, which produces more moisture than any other appliance.
• Do not vent moisture directly into the attic. The last thing you want to do is put warm, moist air into the attic. In cold climates this can contribute to icing and resulting leaks.
• A whole-house fan is acceptable because of its usual location, installed in the attic floor near a gable vent, and because it is not directly connected to a source of moisture. The whole-house fan can help to remove cooking odors and can cool the entire house when it is not hot enough to turn on the air conditioning. Use caution: natural-draft heating appliances could be adversely affected by too much exhaust - products of combustion could be drawn into the house.
• If you cannot vent the bathroom directly to the outside, install the vent up through the attic and down through a soffit vent. This will prevent water from dripping back down into the vent as it would if you installed the duct straight up through the roof. Wire the bathroom vent to a timer switch, so that people can turn it on without having to remember to turn it off.
• Always vent the clothes dryer to the outside with a smooth-walled (do not screw into walls of duct), metal (not plastic) duct that is as short as possible. To prevent a house fire check the duct for clogs regularly. Do not vent the dryer directly into the laundry room. This puts much too much moisture into the house.
• Kitchens should have a vent hood with an exhaust fan. The vent hood should have a back draft flap to keep out insects and cold air - but some cold air will inevitably seep in.
• Install ceiling fans to improve ventilation and distribute heat. To disperse heat properly run the ceiling fan in reverse so that it pushes warm air up against the ceiling and down along the walls, where people tend to sit.
• Do not block air intake vents for heating or air conditioning equipment. Blocking these vents will starve the equipment for air, causing it to run inefficiently.
• If your unfinished basement has windows, keep them closed on hot, humid days to prevent moisture from condensing on the walls continuously, all day long. Open the windows once the humidity drops below the natural humidity of the basement so that moisture doesn’t build up inside.
• People, in their zeal to do a good job, sometimes pack insulation into the eaves, blocking the soffit vents, because they don’t know that the vents exist or don’t know what they are for. If you are installing insulation in the attic for the first time do not cover the soffit vents with insulation.
• If your attic is already insulated on the floor make sure insulation is not blocking the soffit vents. This is more of a problem for loose-fill, since wind can scatter the fill around. To prevent loose-fill from scattering and covering the soffit vents, you can install baffles between the rafters. You staple the baffles to the underside of the roof sheathing, and the baffles maintain 2 inches of ventilation space next to the sheathing.
• Wind coming through soffit vents can also push batt insulation up off the floor, causing cold airflow against the ceiling and cold spots high up on exterior walls. Baffles installed near the eave should also prevent this problem by keeping the batts from flipping up and over.
• If you are going to install batts or spray foam between the rafters, you should extend the baffles all the way up to the ridge vent. This will keep the sheathing dry and prevent it from rotting invisibly behind the insulation.
• Likewise, when you insulate between the floor joists in the ceiling of an unconditioned basement or crawlspace, you should leave some space between the insulation and the sheathing (subfloor) to allow water vapor to escape.

Other conservation tips

There are many ways to conserve energy that will not economically benefit the consumer directly. However, many of these methods improve overall efficiency of the economy, which can lead to economic growth.

• Rent or borrow items you will not use very often. This eliminates the significant amount of energy that goes into the manufacture and disposal of an additional item.
  • Check books out from your local library rather than purchasing your own copy.
  • Purchase used items when possible.
  • Donate usable clothing and other items to charity rather than discarding them.
• Use "disposable" items (such as paper and plastic dishware and cutlery, or disposable cameras) sparingly. Opt instead for the reusable version.
• At public restrooms, use electric hand dryers (if available) instead of paper towels. The energy needed to heat and blow air at your hands is far less than the energy needed to make and transport paper towels and haul waste away.
• Use a digital camera in place of a conventional film camera and get prints of only the best photographs. Use a printing service rather than purchasing your own photo printer.
• Use toilet paper, paper towels, and other products made of recycled materials.
• Ask your local energy utility about credits or rebates given for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances.
• Make an effort to defer electricity usage to off-peak hours. Reducing usage during peak hours (usually mid-afternoon to early evening on hot days) helps prevent the construction of additional power plants that would be required to keep up with demand during peak hours.
  • If you plan to use air conditioning, cool your house early in the day and turn it off around noon, allowing the house to warm up throughout the afternoon.
  • Do laundry early in the morning or late at night.
  • Eat a "cold" non-cooked meal (sandwiches, fruit, etc.) or cook outside for lunch. This saves the electricity needed for cooking and/or the electricity needed by the air conditioner to cool the heated air.

Transportation energy usage

Moving from one place to another takes energy. This book offers some advice on how to reduce the energy and cost associated with transportation in general, and driving in specific. The first priority is to reduce driving where possible. When driving is necessary, you should try to drive lighter, more conservatively, and in a fuel-efficient vehicle.

Drive less

• Walk, bike, carpool, or use public transportation whenever possible.
• If practical for your job, ask your employer to let you telecommute on occasion to save trips to the office. Or, if your work hours are flexible, consider working four 10-hour days a week instead of five eight-hour days, to save a commute each week.
• Choose a home near your workplace if possible.
• Spend some time planning your errands to reduce the number of trips needed.
• Choose routes that have fewer stops and less congestion. A slightly longer freeway route is usually more efficient than a street route. If possible, avoid driving during rush hour so you aren't wasting fuel in slow-moving traffic.

Drive light

• When purchasing a vehicle, choose a smaller, lighter vehicle. You may be able to purchase a small vehicle and borrow or rent a truck or other large vehicle when needed. However, take care to compare safety statistics of light vehicles. The smallest vehicles, especially motorcycles, carry higher risks of injury or death in crashes.
• Don't leave unnecessary items in your vehicle. The clutter may only amount to a few pounds, but hauling it around adds up over time. Consider also that there are around 200 million vehicles in the United States; if each of those carries just one pound of excess cargo, it amounts to 100,000 tons.
• Open windows create significant drag when driving at highway speeds. During warm weather, keep your windows up and use the air conditioner (if needed) when traveling at 45 MPH) or above. When driving at lower speeds, turn the AC off. However, do not continually turn the AC on and off. It functions more efficiently during longer periods of operation.
• Don't put magnetic decals, flags, antenna decorations, or the like on your vehicle. These create drag.

Drive conservatively

• Reduce your speed. The amount of fuel needed to push air out of your vehicle's path increases rapidly with increases in speed. As a result, fuel efficiency drops rapidly. Most vehicles are most fuel efficient between 50 and 55 MPH. However, do not drive so slowly that you impede the flow of traffic, which creates dangerous situations.
• Accelerate slowly. Getting your vehicle "up to speed" quickly is hard on your vehicle and uses more fuel than a slow start. Also, braking softly farther from your intended stopping point will make your brakes last longer.
• Use your cruise control. Steady speeds are more efficient. Do not use cruise control in inclement weather.
• If you are parked for more than a minute, turn your vehicle off. A non-moving vehicle gets zero miles per gallon. However, stopping and starting your vehicle too frequently causes excess wear on your engine. Diesel vehicles should not be turned off frequently as the ignition process uses significant fuel.
• Do not push the gas pedal when approaching a red light (if it will not change to green by the time you get to it). Rushing to a red light will not get you to your destination any faster.

Keep your vehicle running efficiently

• Keep your tires inflated to the recommended tire pressure.
• Change spark plugs when recommended by your owner's manual.
• Check your air filter regularly; more frequently if you drive in dusty conditions. To check it, hold it up to the light: if you cannot see light through the filter, replace it.
• Use regular-grade gasoline unless premium or mid-grade gasoline is specifically recommended by your owner's manual.

References

1. http://www.pittsburghcorning.com/homeowners/faq1.asp

• Let's Save Our World By Saving The Energy
• Free Energy Savings and Water Savings Guide-   http://dailyhomerenotips.com/energy-conservation/

 

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