Home Owner

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April 8, 2010

Cost Effective Changes

Posted by Laura under Home Owner
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Blower Door Test

Key Green Energy Solutions offers comprehensive Home Performance Assessments (home energy audits) to evaluate your home’s energy fitness.   Our assessment will tell you:

  •     *  How to improve the energy efficiency of your home
  •     *  Where to start – our clearly written report
  •          prioritizes your isses
  •     *  What local, state and federal incentive are
  •          available to you

 Information about our services and rates can be found under the tabs at the top of this page.  Because we are an independent assessment service, you are free to choose your own contractors based on the unique needs of your home.  This gives you increased flexibility and reduced costs.  We can refer you to the experienced companies in the greater Charlottesville/Albemarle VA area who are best suited to perform your improvements and we’ll be there for you every step of the way to answer questions.  To discuss how your home can benefit from a home performance assessment, call Laura Fiori, at 434-989-3514 or email Laura@KeyGreenEnergy.com.

 

February 11, 2010

In what year did Code begin requiring wall insulation?

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, Insulation, Professional
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1973

 

February 7, 2010

Bath Fan

Posted by Laura under Fans, Home Owner
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Your bath fan is designed to remove moisture from your bathroom.  Run the fan while showering or bathing and until the mirror clears to remove about 75% of the moisture in the room.  Run the fan for 15 minutes after the mirror clears to remove 50% of the moisture in the room.  As we should try to keep the humidity in our homes at 50% or less, running the fan for 15 minutes after the mirror clears is a good idea.

 

January 27, 2010

What year was your home built?

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, Professional, Year Built
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Many historic buildings have energy saving physical features and devices that contribute to good thermal performance. Studies by the Energy Research and Development Administration show that the buildings with the poorest energy efficiency are actually those built between 1940 and 1975.
Read more about historic buildings here:  http://www.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief03.htm

 

January 26, 2010

Natural Gas usage in Cville

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, Natural Gas, Professional
[2] Comments 

 Charlottesville Gas has given natural gas users a valuable piece of energy efficiency information.  Analyzing their data according the method described below, Charlottesville Gas has determined that for homes that heat with natural gas  (more…)

 

January 14, 2010

HVAC System Maintenance

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, HVAC
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Having your HAVC system serviced is similar to changing the oil in your car.  Regular maintenance will make the equipment last longer.  Have it serviced every 2 years for the first 6 years, and every year thereafter.  Change the furnace filter regularly as recommended on the filter package.

 

January 14, 2010

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Posted by Laura under Carbon Monoxide Detector, Home Owner
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This is a must if you have any appliances/equipment fueled by natural gas, propane, wood or oil.  Proper placement of a carbon monoxide (CO) detector is important. If you are installing only one carbon monoxide detector, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends it be located near the sleeping area, where it can wake you if you are asleep.  Read manufacturers’ recommendations on placement.  For more information:  http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/466.html.

 

January 14, 2010

Water Heater Blanket

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, Hot Water Heater
1 Comment 

It is always a good idea to insulate your hot water heater with an insulated blanket.  With ambient air temperature at approximately 70 degrees or below and water temperature in the tank at 120 degrees, insulation buffering these extremes makes sense.

 

January 14, 2010

Programmable Thermostats

Posted by Laura under Home Owner, HVAC
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It is appropriate to adjust the temperature of your HVAC system morning and night to maintain comfort and save energy.  An adjustment of 3 degrees is the maximum recommended for a heat pump.  The reason for this is that (more…)

 

January 5, 2010

Chimney Balloons

Posted by Laura under Fireplace/Woodstove, Home Owner
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Chimney Balloon

A Frequent Question:  Can I use a Chimney Balloon in a gas log fireplace? Does it matter what kind of fuel is used? 

From www.ChimneyBalloon.com:  You can use a Chimney Balloon in any kind of fireplace or stove that you can reach into the chimney area above the damper.  It does not matter what type of fuel is burned in the fireplace or stove.  The Chimney Balloon material is resilient to your dormant chimneys environment. 

However, some states have codes about damper use with vented gas log fireplaces. I would encourage you to see the Fuel code for your state before using any type of damper with your gas log fireplace.

 

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