Friday July 25th, 2008
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Reduce, Reuse, Remodel: Come On In
Posted by Philip Higgs on December 7, 2006 - 6:59am.
I'm fixing up my house—and trying to make it greener in the process. One slight problem: I know nothing about all this stuff. Well, a little more than nothing. I've bought the usual books, and at this point I've done enough on the house to feel comfortable with the general mechanics – but go-for-coffee comfortable, not move-in-and-share-toothpaste comfortable.
My wife and I bought our house two years ago. We didn't really mean to buy a house, but Hil came across this one while on a garage-sale hunt for plant pots, found out it was for sale, and one thing led to a debt-inducing other. We loved the place for its quirks: On a street dominated by blocky ranch-style houses filled with college students, we had found a kooky little oasis full of skylights and Mexican tiles and weird little outbuildings.
Our dog Kaia inspecting the herb garden on the back deck
But one of its slightly-less-lovely quirks, it turns out, is that the house is in constant need of repair. Currently on the to-do list:
- replace our broken boiler (for the radiant heat system, already in place) and water heater
- insulate the cold and drafty crawlspace and attic
- weatherproof innumerable leaky windows
- plug a hole in the sunroom wall
- replace our elderly appliances with ones invented after the dawn of the Industrial Age
- install a dual-flush toilet
- remodel the laundry room using high-efficiency or recycled or otherwise green stuff: floors made from recycled tires, a high-efficiency washer and dryer
And about a thousand other projects, some green, others less so, but all to be done in the name of making our house more efficient, more comfortable, and – if we can swing it – more valuable.
Which is why I'm here. I'll be posting my progress on Lime, as well as interviews and other insights on how we can all improve our living spaces. Learn from my mistakes, post your own horror stories in the comments section, correct me when I'm trying to fit a Finley sprocket with a Langstrom wrench. In other words, stick around and get communal.
Keep the Finley away from the Langstom!
...Or so I gathered. I'm learning things from this blog already!
When you get around to the insulation, please post your thoughts about all the different choices. There is an argument that fiberglass is actually pretty green (and costs half as much as the alternatives).
Also, what are your thoughts on tightening up a house? It seems that a tight house is good on paper, but then you become dependent on your mechanical air handler for air exchange with the outside world. I am not sold on the idea of living in a ziploc bag just to save a few dollars on my energy bill.
I'd never heard that about fiberglass. But somehow I doubt it. And keep in mind that your upfront costs are only part of the picture. How much money will you save by having a tighter house over the long term?
I'll be getting to insulation soon enough. Right now I'm looking at the various types of spray-foam, which are apparently pretty rock-solid. I'll post when I get something started.
In the interest of full disclosure, I need to preface this entry by disclosing that I do indeed work in public relations for Kohler so I definitely have a bias here. But, you did mention that you were in the market for a dual-flush toilet so I thought I'd pass along info about two toilets from the Kohler and Sterling brands of Kohler Co. that give you this functionality.
The KOHLER San Raphael Power Lite Toilet has a 1.4 or 1.0 gpf flush option and can save a household of four more than 5,000 gallons of water per year, per fixture over typical 1.6-gallon toilets. The only caveat is that you need an electrical outlet behind the toilet to use it since it is power assisted.
The STERLING Karsten Dual Force Toilet has a two-button actuator – 1.6 gpf or .8 gpf flush option – that enables a household of four to save up to 6,000 gallons of water per year, per fixture over traditional 1.6 gallon toilets. Electrical outlet not required as it is a gravity-fed toilet.
Hopefully this information will prove to be helpful as you research your options. Good luck in your renovation! Look forward to seeing the progress.