by Jeff Ihnen | Jun 22, 2015 | Energy Rant
Our industry really needs to call timeout; take a look around and ask, “what the hell are we doing?” Build it [energy program] and they will come? No. Build it, and they will be alienated and give it the middle digit. As noted most recently in a post on condensing...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jun 15, 2015 | Energy Rant
It is mid-June, and strangely here in the northern Midwest we have experienced virtually no warm, humid weather yet this year. The weather can flip like a switch from a pattern of rain and clouds of the past several weeks to one that is hot and humid with little...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jun 8, 2015 | Energy Rant
Howitzer Explosion Guy. That was the nickname Wayne Campbell of Wayne’s World gave to Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s correspondent for the Gulf War in 1991. “Sheeyeeaaah. I’m so sure.” “He just made it up for the war.” Too bad Wayne isn’t still doing his show from his...
by Jeff Ihnen | Jun 1, 2015 | Energy Rant
Everyone has probably heard at least one hundred or maybe a thousand light bulb jokes – the ones that disparage a class, gender, group, country, state, generation, etc. The point is to make fun of the group in question because changing a light bulb is so simple, but...
by Jeff Ihnen | May 26, 2015 | Energy Rant
Last week’s AESP Spring Conference was the best that I can recall, in terms of the content delivered, in my opinion. Perhaps I got lucky and went to the right presentations. Perhaps it’s because I went to more presentations than usual. Most likely it is for another...
by Jeff Ihnen | May 18, 2015 | Energy Rant
Recently, I’ve snagged a number of articles, blogs, and news feeds about the great idea for using electric water heaters as energy storage devices. E Source even goes so far as to insinuate water heaters are like batteries: “How the Water Heater Just Became a Lean,...
by Jeff Ihnen | May 11, 2015 | Energy Rant
The big energy saving opportunities in a building are usually hidden from the unsuspecting field auditor. The obvious exception is lighting because it isn’t hidden! The hidden things are what go on behind closed doors in the dark. Yes, the salacious activity...
by Jeff Ihnen | May 4, 2015 | Energy Rant
Energy efficiency gets a bad rap, but I shall attempt to slap some sense into efficiency deadbeats. I will start by beating the simple-payback-is-bad dead horse one more time. It may giddyup and run as a result. I am quite certain that one of the things that make...
by Jeff Ihnen | Apr 27, 2015 | Energy Rant
I imagine the EPA is working feverishly on their final ruling for the Clean Power Plan (proposed under the Clean Air Act), due this June. Meanwhile, many states and one prominent company, Murray Energy, are digging in to do legal battle for decades to come,...
by Jeff Ihnen | Apr 20, 2015 | Energy Rant
About two years ago, I wrote Duct Leakage Chaff, which explained that residential duct leakage is a mole hill, a red herring, a boogeyman. I recently reviewed a report[1] that nails my assertions from June 2013. The program evaluation (residential HVAC tune-up) was...
