Category Archives: architecture

Energy Independence – It should be every bodies right

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More next Fall. HAHA Took me three extra months to return. Sorry did not EVEN think about posting until now.

First, of let me say I am now cancer free. Second, let me say that taking a break away from posting because of the cancer and the cancer treatment left me fairly lazy, so it is tough getting back to writing these posts. The thought has occurred to me that I might retire at the end of the year. Anyway it is good to be back for now. So without further adieu:

https://springfieldstatejournalregister-il.newsmemory.com/?token=ad88ee2719e187433892376e5ee4084b&cnum=f1ab27f9-ae38-eb11-a0ad-90b11c3d639b&fod=1111111STD-0&selDate=20221001&licenseType=paid_subscriber&for-guid=7b00ad35-cf99-4e2d-8f79-47fcd162e2b9&utm_source=sj-r-DailyBriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=promo&utm_content=NSJR-ILLINOIS-SPRINGFIELD-NLETTER65

In one tiny German town, nobody worries about energy bills

By FRANK JORDANS yesterday

FELDHEIM, Germany (AP) — Europeans are opening their energy bills with trepidation these days, bracing for hefty price hikes as utility companies pass on the surging cost of natural gas, oil and electricity tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Many are trying to conserve by turning down the heat and shutting off lights this winter.

Not so the people of Feldheim, population 130.

Located about an hour and a half south of Berlin, this modest but well-kept village has been energy self-sufficient for more than a decade.

A bold experiment launched in the mid-1990s saw Feldheim erect a handful of wind turbines to provide electricity to the village. Then it built a local grid, solar panels, battery storage and more turbines. A biogas plant put up to keep piglets warm was expanded, providing extra income to the farmers’ cooperative, which pumps hot water through a village-wide central heating system. A hydrogen production facility is also under construction.

Come on! If a little tiny town can do it, we all can.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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I Always Come Home To The Residential Market – It’s because that is where we live

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I know I write about all kinds of things like: the Russian Invasion of Ukraine or environmental disasters. But where this Blog started out was in the residential market. You know all the boring stuff. Improved air conditioning, or painting your roof white or insulating your water heater. Then I veer off in to “bugs that eat plastics” or Wind Turbines when I should be talking about energy efficient appliances. So without further ado here are 15 ways to use energy more better in your home.

Top 15 Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades and Their Costs in 2021

Top 15 Home Energy Efficiency Upgrades and Their Costs in 2021

Energy efficiency is not just a trend that people with money follow because it’s cool to be green. No. It’s a real way to reduce your carbon footprint and your monthly costs in the long run.

It’s true that big changes like switching to solar energy require significant investments but you will recover and even save money in the upcoming years.

Enough talking, let’s see exactly what can be done to make your house more energy efficient. It’s recommended to start with little things and work your way up to the most expensive changes.

Maximize the use of natural light

The first thing to do to lower your energy bill is let the light in (obviously). For that purpose, install large windows.

Avoid light blocking treatments and use instead shades that can be opened at will. This way, you get darkness and light whenever you want. Place mirrors on the walls adjacent or opposite to windows. The idea is to have many reflective surfaces that create the illusion of light and spaciousness.

Install energy efficient windows

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Go there and read all 15. More next week.

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Grid Regulation With Alternative Power – Its almost as important how you turn alternative power off as how you turn it on

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Can the Grid run only on Alternative Power? Yes. Can we store enough Alternative Energy to run the Grid smoothly (night and day, whenever)? Yes. Can we turn Alternative Power off if we need to? This video argues, Yes. Again, I do not normally do videos because this is a print based blog. But this video says it better than any article I have ever seen. So:

https://digg.com/video/what-happens-when-islands-makes-way-more-power-than-neededs

 

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Go there and watch. Its only 6 minutes. More next week.

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Advice On Saving Energy At Home – Not from me mind you, someone who creates content for CIELOWiggle

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I know it has been awhile since I did a residential post. I know this started out as a blog about residential energy needs and services. You know, energy efficient roofs, HVAC equipment and other such stuff. But years ago, I got off on energy related environmental stuff and then eventually Global Warming. Then anti-Nuclear stuff. Finally just raw Environmental stuff like obnoxious polluting and horrible deaths. Well today a gentleman named Chris Winters reached out and touched me so I am touching him back, so to speak. As always, I can vouch for his tips because they are somewhat general, but anything specific he is pitching I can not (For instance AC controllers – which his company sells). Also I may have put up this as an addenda to any earlier piece, so if i did forgive me.

https://www.cielowigle.com/blog/energy-saving-tips/

No matter what the season, energy usage tends to increase one way or another. With long running air conditioning and increased wash cycles of sweaty laundry in summer, to high heating usage and wash cycles of bulkier laundry in winter, we simply cannot operate without electricity.

We can be extremely energy efficient and follow energy saving tips and tricks to ingrain some environmentally friendly habits.

Following energy saving tips is essential to lower your costs, but it is also important to decrease your ecological footprint.

With millennials and Gen Z nicknamed “generation green”, there is a strong focus on energy saving, and rightly so. However, global warming is rising more rapidly than ever, and the term ‘climate emergency’ is being used rather than climate change to highlight the situation’s intensity.

All industries such as HVAC are revolutionizing their technology to act on climate change. Since home appliances and devices are a major contributor to our energy consumption, utilizing smart devices such as smart thermostats or smart controllers for air conditioners can make a huge difference on your bills!

Let’s get right to it. Here are 21 energy saving tips that can easily help you decrease your energy consumption:

1. Use Energy Efficient Appliances

Energy efficient appliances are specially designed to consume minimum energy to complete the same tasks that you’d perform with normal appliances.  In addition, some

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Good there and read. More next week.

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Joe Biden Is Turning Out To Be My Kind Of President

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Do I need to say more?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/business/energy-environment/biden-solar-energy-climate-change.html

From 4% to 45%: Biden Offers Ambitious Blueprint for Solar Energy

The Energy Department analysis provides only a broad outline, and many of the details will be decided by congressional lawmakers.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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Energy Web Site Home Builders And Owners Will Love

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Every once in awhile I return to CES’ residential roots. So, here is another pass. You know what I say in these situations – Buyer Beware. This site looks really really good. I think it is sexy that it is a nonprofit organization. But I have never used this organization. I am a homeowner who has made very little in the way of energy IMPROVEments – insulation, metal roof and efficient air conditioner but the furnace in my house is 20 years old. Nonetheless these people look cool.

https://zeroenergyproject.org/our-mission/

The Zero Energy Project is a non-profit educational organization whose goal is to help home buyers, builders, designers, and real estate professionals take meaningful steps towards radically reducing carbon emissions and energy bills by building zero net energy homes and near zero energy homes. We envision the day when positive energy homes, which produce more energy than they consume, will power electric vehicles as well as homes, so that everyone can live well with less expense and without fear of energy price spikes, while greatly reducing our carbon emissions.

The mission of the Zero Energy Project is to provide information and education to prospective home buyers, builders, designers, real estate professionals and advocates about zero net energy homes and to advance the prevalence of these homes in the mainstream housing market. We seek to facilitate connections between industry professionals and buyers, remove perceived barriers to entry, and provide resources to people from all walks of life, empowering action towards a robust zero energy built environment.

 

We aim to provide all stakeholders with the necessary resources for understanding, designing, constructing, and selling affordable zero energy homes. We are committed to providing homebuilders, designers, and realtors with the marketing tools they need to convince their clients of the benefits of zero net energy homes.

This mission takes on new urgency in light of “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math.”

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Go there and fool around. More next week.

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Dangerous Oklahoma Wind Farm – That was gonna be the piece that I ran

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But the Oklahoma Newspaper put up a stinking pay wall that pissed me off. So here is the reference to that:

https://web.archive.org/web/20221108194553/https://www.oklahoman.com/story/business/energy-resource/2021/06/19/oklahoma-corporation-commission-concerned-panhandle-wind-farm-broken-turbines-poses-safety-threat/7523260002/

Here is a video peek:

 

So now I will have to post a more desultory post about how to properly maintain a wind farm and what that costs. But they had some cool pictures of things like a Turbine House destroyed at 300 feet. Turbine blades dangling and swinging in the wind. Everyone called it DANGERous. But here is the more mundane side of things. What the bad boys should have been doing.

https://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1010136/breaking-down-cost-wind-turbine-maintenance

Breaking down the cost of wind turbine maintenance

15 June 2010 by David Milborrow

Cutting costs by preventing failure instead of running wind turbines until they break lies at the heart of a new approach to operations and maintenance.

OR

http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/21860/the-challenge-of-wind-turbine-blade-repair/

The challenge of wind turbine blade repair

07 November 2011
George Marsh

 

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Go there and yawn. More next week

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Tankless Water Heaters Are Grand – This piece goes to great lengths to prove it

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First off, spell check does not like the word tankless. You would think by now that the people at WORD Press would have gotten over that spelling by now. Second off (to be consistent) this is not and article that CES can defend or debate. It is an article generated by another site so “Buyer Beware”. The articles has a lot of extraneous Ads and unnecessary clutter. Please feel free to ignore all of that. I have read the article and for the most part it is factual, and more extensive then most. So with out further ado:

https://happydiyhome.com/tankless-water-heater-cost/

Tankless Water Heater Cost & Pros and Cons – Are They Worth It?

by

Water heaters are extremely important to your plumbing system, and this goes for both residential buildings and commercial spaces. Many people are turning to newer options, and this can lead you to wonder what a tankless water heater costs because this style of water heater will only heat up the water you use. Traditionally, water heaters heated and stored water on a continuous basis, and this can be expensive if you use a lot of water. As long as they get installed and connected correctly, it’s easy to control your tankless water heater cost for years at a time.

You get the choice of a single point unit or whole house units. A single point unit is slightly more inexpensive to buy and install because you put them right next to a water source. Whole house units cost more to install, but they are powerful enough to heat all of the water in your home at one time. The tankless water heater cost has a slightly wider price range due to a variety of the factors, and it starts at $2,000 and goes up to around $4,500 from start to finish.

The average cost is right around $2,800 for a whole house gas unit. The tankless water heater cost has fluctuating labor rates too. The flow rate, brand, and type will also influence your tankless water heater cost, and this is why you want to get a few estimates before you settle on one company to perform the installation. This can help ensure that you get a fair price with professional-quality results.

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Go there and read this very long article. But if you just want to know the pros and cons go to the end. More next week.

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Little House Off The Grid – What could be better than that

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I rarely ever do videos. I am a Print man. But this is a great “How To” video. They have a composting toilet and solar panels so they got the TOP and the BOTTOM covered hahahaha. The sleeping loft is amazing. I would prefer a king bed but i sure you could get it in if it was part of the early design. They do live outside alot but there is nothing wrong with that. That would not work in an Illinois winter.

https://digg.com/video/this-ultramodern-off-the-grid-tiny-house-will-blow-your-mind

It is a 150,000 dollar house with 20,000 dollars worth of solar but it is off the grid. So it is worth every penny. Infrastructure for a lifetime is not cheap.

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Go there an watch for 18 minutes. More next week

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Climate Change – Why no one believes it

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Everyone wants to believe but they can’t. The bigger it gets, the less they believe. No one can really get their heads around how big the problem is. The solutions are even LARGER.

According to this article, even though people’s minds are changing their hearts are not. That is a big bummer.

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-climate-crisis-is-worse-than-you-can-imagine-heres-what-happens-if-you-try?utm_source=pocket-newtab

by Elizabeth Weil

(sorry for starting in the middle of the article, but it makes my point here)

Sometimes everything is both too much and not enough. George Marshall opened his book, “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change,” with the parable of Jan Karski, a young Polish resistance fighter who, in 1943, met in person with Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, who was both a Jew and widely regarded as one of the great minds of his generation. Karski briefed the justice on what he’d seen firsthand: the pillage of the Warsaw Ghetto, the Belzec death camp. Afterward, Frankfurter said, “I do not believe you.”

The Polish ambassador, who had arranged the meeting on the recommendation of President Franklin Roosevelt, interrupted to defend Karski’s account.

“I did not say that he is lying,” Frankfurter explained. “I said that I didn’t believe him. It’s a different thing. My mind, my heart — they are made in such a way that I cannot accept. No no no.”

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Go there and meditate er…read. More next week.

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