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air conditioning

Motivating Efficiency and Incinerating Obstinance

By Energy Rant 3 Comments
A few weeks ago in Complexities of Home Energy Retrofits, I wrote about the many factors to consider when making deep investments in home energy efficiency. You didn’t think I just made all that up, right? The basis for that was an 85-year-old home I recently purchased. Regarding floor space, it forces efficiency. It has 1,200 square feet of finished space on a 770 sf footprint with a full basement. First, I’m going to write about features I changed toward efficiency. Then, I will tell you why. Then, I will write about how the rest of the world might view…
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Relative Humidity, by Socks and Jeans

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Sustainability No Comments
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 precipitation.  Now is a good time to talk about relative humidity and moisture. Relative humidity is something everyone knows about but hardly anyone understands.  How many times have you heard “It was 100 degrees with 99 percent humidity?”  I guarantee these conditions are 100% impossible, at least in the ambient outdoors,…
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Cool Milk, Raisin Bran, and I’m Fine

By Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant, Government, Stimulus, Sustainability One Comment
I stay in hotels/motels probably 40-50 nights per year, at least it seems so.  If lodging facilities were in a league of teams competing to be the greenest facilities, these guys would be the Detroit Lions. Most franchise motels, those not located in downtown high rise buildings, are built with the cheapest, crappiest stuff possible.  The only thing that is decent in them is the TV but sometimes even that is a junky 19 inch CRT clunker.  Who has spent a night in room with through-wall air conditioner/heater with a temperature control knob that spins round and round like the…
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