With the economic slump that everybody is now experiencing there are people that are looking into more ways to save money.  To save more money it is a great idea to make your home energy efficient.  Your monthly hydro bill will be decreased if you make your home energy efficient.

Insulation is a key to maintain the comfort of your house inside.  If you have the right insulation put into your home you will see your power bills drop.  There are places in your home that should be insulated that you may not have thought of such as floors, ceilings, basement walls, overhangs, and the walls inside.  Wherever air is leaking into your home it is making your power bill increase.  So you need to be sure that all cracks and crevices are sealed tight.  So hiring a good insulation person is key to saving money.  If happen to be doing any drywalling projects this is a good time to consult the drywaller who typically also knows a ton about insulation.

Replacing lights to a energy efficient model will help your home become energy efficient.  Also if you make use of your dimmer switch it makes a difference.  Open up your blinds and curtains and let the natural light shine in this is how you can save the most on your bill and it is the best way to conserve energy.

There is a large amount of energy cost that goes towards using your home appliances.  The best way to save energy here is to shop for new appliances that have the energy star.  The expense of these appliances might be more but in the end you will be saving.

Install some solar panels this will make your home energy efficient.  They use natural resources to create energy.  Solar panels can come in the form of a solar thermal collectors that help the suns energy heat water.  What a great way to use the suns energy.

When unsure how to do make any of the changes listed above find a contractor in the specific trade that you need help with.  Using an expert in that field over a general handyman can sometimes really help de to their knowledge base.

Article Approved by the Editor of LevelAdvice and Showroom411.com

For the best free Home Improvement Advice, go to Showroom411.com where you can Ask Rick the Contractor any home improvement question and get and an answer from a real building contractor for free.

New Toilet From TOTO Saves Water and Money!

With so much talk about the environment, it is nice to know that companies like TOTO are making High Efficiency plumbing products like the Toto Aquia Dual Flush toilet that saves on water usage. TOTO’s new High Efficiency Toilets feature a 1.28 gpf flush system that uses 20% less water then the standard 1.6gpf toilets and 63% less water than the 3.5 gpf toilets. TOTO HETs are certified by the EPA’s WaterSense program. Think savings both in water and in money with toilet that conserves water.

Today it seems that Living Green, is the big thing and there is are good reasons for this. People are thinking about the environment and about watching how often we are wasteful. So, anytime a product comes along that help preserve one aspect of the environment, then that is one more step in the right direction.

The TOTO HETs haven earned one point in the US Green Building Council’s LEED green building rating system and that says a lot for this company. The offer a wide variety of HET models from contemporary to traditional styles that not only save water, but are beautifully designed as well.

You can find out more about this product by clicking on the following link.

TOTO Aquia Toilets at Showroom411.com

You can also go directly to the TOTO website by clicking on the following link.

TOTO USA

For the best free Home Improvement Advice, go to Showroom411.com where you can Ask Rick the Contractor any home improvement question and get and an answer from a real building contractor for free.

WarmlyYours is a great way to keep you feet warm on a cold winter day!

If you have a tile floor in your kitchen, bath or other areas of the house, then you probably know that when it gets cold outside, walking on the floor in bare feet, can give you quite a chill. Well—Now those days are over!

Imagine having just about any floor, tile, stone, wood, laminate and even carpet warm and toasty.

Just listen to this!

Heated flooring now made easy: the WarmlyYours Tempzone™ electric floor heating system is designed to install under most other popular floor covering choices including bamboo, vinyl, and linoleum.

Installing the Tempzone™ floor heating system is as simple as installing your floor covering. Just position your floor heating system according to the custom installation plan and affix it to the subfloor. Cover the system with thinset cement and once it is dry, install the floor covering of your choice.

So if you are building a house or adding a room, now is the time to think about having this system installed. For those of you getting ready to renovate or remodel a bathroom, kitchen or other areas of your home – think about taking the opportunity to install a WarmlyYours floor heating system while you have the chance.

Qualified Remodeler Magazine took a recent survey of what was the #1 feature homeowners regretted not installing and guess what? – A floor warming system like WarmlyYours was the answer.

To find out more about this fantastic building product just click on the following link: WarmlyYours.com

To find a dealer in your area just click on the following link: WarmlyYours Dealers

For the best free Home Improvement Advice, go to Showroom411.com where you can Ask Rick the Contractor any home improvement question and get and an answer from a real building contractor for free.

Insulate Both The Cold Water and Hot Water Pipes and Save!

There are great reasons to spend a little bit on buying insulation for your water pipes. Actually, if you are anything like me, it is even better to install the insulation around your water pipes soon after you buy it rather they let it lay around collecting dust.

You can buy the insulation at Home Depot or Lowe’s or any plumbing supply center. Make sure you know the size of the water pipes so that you can get the appropriate fit.

Why insulate cold water pipes? Well, the main reason would be to prevent then from freezing if they are located in an unheated crawl space or in a garage or anywhere you suspect would be a potential problem spot.

But, what about the hot water pipes? The hot water pipes can loose a lot of heat as the water travels from your hot water tank to it’s final destination. By insulating these pipe, you keep the heat in, and this will result in the water getting to the shower, tub or sink sooner.

On the The U.S. Department of Energy’s website, there is a wealth of information that everyone could benefit by and I would recommend that you bookmark this site. Regarding water pipe insulation here are some great tips from the site.

“Insulating your hot water pipes reduces heat loss and can raise water temperature 2ºF–4ºF hotter than uninsulated pipes can deliver, allowing for a lower water temperature setting. You also won’t have to wait as long for hot water when you turn on a faucet or showerhead, which helps conserve water.

Insulate all accessible hot water pipes, especially within 3 feet of the water heater. It’s also a good idea to insulate the cold water inlet pipes for the first 3 feet.

Use quality pipe insulation wrap, or neatly tape strips of fiberglass insulation around the pipes. Pipe sleeves made with polyethylene or neoprene foam are the most commonly used insulation. Match the pipe sleeve’s inside diameter to the pipe’s outside diameter for a snug fit. Place the pipe sleeve so the seam will be face down on the pipe. Tape, wire, or clamp (with a cable tie ) it every foot or two to secure it to the pipe. If you use tape, some recommend using acrylic tape instead of duct tape.

On gas water heaters, keep insulation at least 6 inches from the flue. If pipes are within 8 inches of the flue, your safest choice is to use fiberglass pipe-wrap (at least 1-inch thick) without a facing. You can use either wire or aluminum foil tape to secure it to the pipe.”

To find out more about this or other energy saving ideas and advice just click on the following link:

U.S. Department of Energy

It’s True. You Can Insulate A Home With Insulation Made From Cotton Denim Scraps.

And…The best part about it is It Doesn’t Itch!

We all know how good it feels to curl up on a sofa or chair an cover ourselves with a nice soft cotton blanket,  especially in the middle of a cold winter day.  Now the same cotton that is used to make denim jeans is being used to make cotton or denim insualtion.

Now think of the many advantages of using this type of insulation.

• The batts are made primarily from denim scraps.
• Cotton insualtion has a higher insulation value per inch than most fiberglass batts.
• It’s treated to resist fire. Class A rating (the best).
• Can be installed without wearing a respirator.
• It doesn’t itch…I repeat It Doesn’t Itch! 
• It contains no formaldehyde. (Much fiberglass insulation does.)
• It requires very little energy to manufacture.
• It is very effective at blocking noise.

Made primarily from blue-jeans scraps collected in factories, it comes in fluffy batts sized to fit snugly into the framing of standard walls and ceilings. This simple installation method makes cotton insulation more homeowner-friendly than cellulose loose-fill insulation, which must be installed with a blower machine.

One of the brands you can get is UltraTouch, which is made by Bonded Logic Inc. This company has been in the insulation business for more than 20 years. The cotton comes from cutting rooms at companies that make denim clothing. The fiber is 100 percent post-industrial waste, meaning it comes from factories, not from jeans people have worn.

For  fireproofing UltraTouch uses boric acid, which is obtained from minerals mined in deserts in California and elsewhere. Borates are very low-toxic to humans and other mammals, but they are very effective in adding fire resistance. They also deter chewing insects (including termites, carpenter ants and cockroaches) and various kinds of fungi.

How abour R-Value?  Well, originally you could only get the insualtion in R-13 and R-19 but now you can get it as high as R-30. It will fit between standard 16″ O.C. stud walls and 24″ O.C. celing trusses.

And here is another plus, if UltraTouch does become wet, the fibers should dry without problems. The boric acid will work to deter mildew.

Take it from me, I have installed thousands of feet of fiberglass insulation and have crawled around in attics of many of the remodeling jobs we did over the years, and the itch – the mess – and just breathing in the stuff is not a pleasant experience.

With the new cotton/denim insualtions such as UltraTouch – You will never have to go through an experience like that again.

From a cost standpoint, it will cost a little more then standard fiberglass insualtion, but if you factor in all the benifits and the energy savings that you will achieve by using this over fiberglass,  in the long run you will not only save money but you will help portect the inviornment as well.

To find out more about this amazing product just click on the following link: Bonded Logic

To find a dealer in your area click on the following link: UltraTouch Dealer

Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions Makes It Possible

Last week the Parade magazine, that is published by newspapers throughout the United States, ran an article on “6 Ways To Lower Energy Bills”. In the article they talked about a very inexpensive way to take ordinary interior house paint, add some non-toxic ceramic powder and presto – you get insulated paint!

Well, the company, Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions, can provide you with the additive in powder form and they also offer premixed insulated paint.

The insulated additive powder is sold in the proper amounts to add to between 1 and 60 gallons of paint. This is great because if you are a do-it-yourself painter, you will only need enough for a few gallons. – But Hold On!  If you are a Pro,  or if you are going to paint the entire interior or exterior of your home, then buying in larger quantities will save you money!

If you really don’t want to mix the additive into your own paint, you can buy paint from the company that is already insulated. They also offer exterior and roof insulated paints as well.

But the question is; Do These Products Really Work?

First of all, Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions is a NASA Research Partner. As a manufacturer and marketer of thermal solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications, Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions attributes its success to the high performance insulating ceramic microsphere originally developed from NASA thermal research at Ames Research Center.

And – Just take a look of the advantages of using their products.

• Saves you money on your heating and cooling bills
• Hard ceramics provide long lasting durability…you paint less often
• Exceptional stain and scrub resistance
• Ceramics are Non-Toxic & Fire Resistant
• Helps deaden sound
• Works in hot or cold climates
• Use on Interior or Exterior
• Environmentally Friendly
• Increases value of your property

You probably have a zillion questions about this product and you can find just about anything you need to know about it by clicking on the following link: Questions About Hy-Tech Insulated Additive and Paints

To find out more about all of their products and to buy them direct you can click on the following link: Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions

You can also go directly to their website at: www.hytechsales.com

It’s Time To Change From Incandescent to Fluorescent Bulbs!

By now many of you have heard about the Compact Fluorescent light bulbs also know as CFL’s. Typically they look like the photo of the bulb above. But what you may not know is that they come in many different sizes and shapes, which make the usable just about anywhere in your home.

One of the problems a lot of people had with these bulbs when they first came out was putting a lamp shade over them that required the clamp type style. As you can see from the above picture, there are bulbs that actually have an outer glass casing with the spiral bulb inside that can be used in just about any lamp.

The great thing about these bulbs is that they really save energy! That means – You Save Money! They use 75% less electricity than incandescent bulbs and they can last up to 10 times longer.

They also through off a much brighter light while keeping things cool because they throw off very little heat. That is a real plus if you want to use them in track lights or recessed can lights.

Think about this for a minute – If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

EnergyStar.gov has published a fact sheet that would be very helpful to read if you are thinking about changing to CFL’s in your home. Just click on the following link to view a PDF of the fact sheet.: CFL Fact Sheet

To find out more details about CFL lighting click on the following link.: EnergyStar.gov

You can purchase these bulbs at most hardware or discount stores as well as Home Depot or Lowes. I even saw them at Sam’s Club, so if you are a member you can buy them and save even more.

To purchase them online try any of these sites.

bulbs.com

buylighting.com

1000bulbs.com