Category Archives: Saving energy

Insulating Your Home For Better Energy Conservation – There are many products available today to help increase the energy efficiency of your home.  However, insulation remains one of the most critical components and the easiest way to achieve this goal, and save on heating and cooling costs.  Not to mention making an impact on how much we use (and waste) precious energy resources.  A house must be properly insulated from the roof to its foundation.

R-Tech’s lightweight rigid insulation panel products are ideal for insulation for the overall building envelope (see illustration below).  It’s also great for homeowners looking for a DIY insulation method.  Gone are the days of fiberglass splinters, heavy insulation products that are difficult to cut, and blown into pieces that require a lot of material for adequate coverage.  Adding insulation to the basement, walls, attic, garage or other areas of your home can be a do-it-yourself … Read the rest

Good Paint Colors For A Small Bathroom – Ah, the age-old design myth that crisp white paint makes small rooms like small bathrooms and powder rooms feel much larger. Sure, it sometimes rings true, but it’s definitely not the only option. Sometimes the best way to make a small bathroom feel more spacious is to highlight it with dark, bright or experimental paint colors. To open everyone up to the wide world of small bathroom paint colors, we highlight our favorite shades below. From neutrals to moody hues to vibrant pops, you’ll find a small bathroom paint color idea to inspire your weekend home project (because small space = less painting time, so you really can do it in a day!).

Color blocking is a great way to play with color if you don’t want to cover the entire room with one experimental shade. Here, Heidi Caillier chose a soft … Read the rest

Utilizing Smart Thermostats For Energy Savings – There are many different types of smart systems that get tiled when designing Smart Home Systems today. Some smart systems include smart lighting, smart entertainment systems like smart TVs and smart thermostats. The most widespread and academically researched smart home system today is the smart thermostat. Research from Nest Labs shows that users of their smart thermostats use an average of 15% less energy to heat their homes and approximately 11% to cool them. sers of smart thermostats save about $140 annually.

The Schools of Compter Science and Architectre at the University of Virginia did a study on energy consumption with smart thermostats. Their stdy was titled The Smart Thermostat: sing Occpancy Sensors to Save Energy in Homes. The purpose of their study was to propose a valid solution to the problem of transmitting energy with conventional heating and cooling systems. Their solution … Read the rest

Best Plants For Office With No Natural Light – The Ultimate Guide to Choosing and Caring for Windowless Office Plants Dec 18, 2022.

Planting plants on your desk will refresh the space and bring happiness to your work. 

Best Plants For Office With No Natural Light

This guide will introduce you to a few plants that will survive in a windowless office so you can decorate your desk space.

Best Indoor House Plants 2022: From Patch Plants, Bloom & Wild And More

Good news – the answer is yes. Many plants can survive in a windowless office

For many plants. Another option for a windowless office is a plant that requires less light.

When choosing the best plant for a windowless office, there are a few things to consider:

Plants can add life to an often sterile office environment, purify the air, and help keep your space beautiful and comfortable.… Read the rest

Incorporating Renewable Energy Sources At Home – In 2023, sustainability will be more than a passing trend. This is a perennial reality, and there has never been a more critical time to integrate renewable energy sources into homes.

According to a survey of U.S. realtors, half reported that they had helped clients buy or sell a home with the features, and two-thirds saw value in promoting energy efficiency in listings.

Incorporating Renewable Energy Sources At Home

Consumer interest should not be a surprise. According to mortgage giant FreddieMac, homes with high energy efficiency have sold faster and at higher prices than their less efficient counterparts.

Pdf) An Efficient Algorithm For Energy Management In Smart Home Including Renewable Energy

With the average family spending more than $2,200 annually on utility bills and nearly 70 percent saying they want the U.S. to take steps to be carbon neutral, many people are looking … Read the rest

Indoor Plants For Office With No Natural Light – The ultimate guide to choosing plants for an office without windows and how to care for them December 18, 2022

Having plants on your desk can save space and give you joy when you sit down to start working. 

Indoor Plants For Office With No Natural Light

This guide will introduce you to a number of plants that will survive in a windowless office so you can free up your desk space.

The Best Indoor Plants For Small Spaces

Good news – the answer is yes. Many plants can live in a windowless office

For many trees. Other options for windowless offices include plants that need less light.

Some things to consider when choosing the best plant for a windowless office include:

Plants often add life to a sterile office environment and help purify the air while bringing beauty and comfort … Read the rest

Implementing Rainwater Harvesting Systems – Although rainwater harvesting can bring many benefits to consumers and the water industry as a whole (read our previous blog here), it is not always clear how to effectively promote and increase the uptake of this practice. 

RWH systems can be established relatively easily with local skills and resources, using simple and easy-to-maintain technologies that are inexpensive to install. RWH systems can be modular, allowing for expansion, reconfiguration or relocation, and can be easily retrofitted to an existing structure or built in during new construction.  However, despite the many benefits, it is often difficult for households to implement rainwater harvesting.  The initial installation cost of RWH systems in residential housing is relatively high and is a common barrier to implementation.

Implementing Rainwater Harvesting Systems

. Furthermore, while legal, social and environmental barriers also exist, recent experience has documented means to overcome these barriers and strengthen … Read the rest

Best Paint Colors For Bathroom With No Windows – Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links, at no cost to you.

If you have a windowless bathroom, you might be looking for some tricks to make it look clean and fresh. After several years of looking at my drab guest bathroom, new paint created an opportunity for just that!

Best Paint Colors For Bathroom With No Windows

Almost every room in my house has at least one source of natural light. But two rooms — two small, windowless bathrooms — proved particularly difficult to redesign. My guest bathroom, for example, is perfectly functional; But because of the way it’s closed, I don’t like being there. And if I ever have guests over again, they probably won’t either. I think it might … Read the rest

Best Paint Colors For Small Bathroom With No Windows – You found the perfect apartment, with one small snag – it has a small bathroom. Be bold: The right color for those narrow walls can make a bathroom look spacious. Read on to learn the top color choices for making a small bathroom look bigger.

The experts at Glidden Paint offer light and bright colors that reflect light to create the appearance of a large area. That’s why many people recommend white paint as one of the best colors for small bathrooms, because, of course, it shows a lot of light.

Best Paint Colors For Small Bathroom With No Windows

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of white paint colors to choose from. Sherwin-Williams breaks its whites into three groups: pure whites, warm whites and cool whites.

The Best No Fail Benjamin Moore Gray Bathroom Colors

Cool whites are good … Read the rest