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Improving Water Heater Efficiency
Last week I wrote about a high-tech solution for water heating--heat-pump water heaters that can cut costs by more than half compared to conventional electric water heating. This week, I’ll…
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Heat-Pump Water Heaters
There’s a revolution underway with electric water heating. It could be just as significant as the shift from top-loaders to horizontal-axis front-loaders that we’ve seen in the laundry appliance industry.…
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Efficiency First
I’m writing this from San Francisco, where I’ve been at the West Coast Green Conference. This is the fourth year of the event--the nation’s largest green building conference and trade…
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Time to Tune Up Your Heating System
Mechanical systems need to be tuned up periodically to keep them operating smoothly and efficiently. That’s true with our cars, and it’s true with our heating systems. If you haven’t…
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Avoid Unvented Gas Heaters
Let me get right to the point: unvented gas (and kerosene) space heaters and fireplaces are a bad idea. Don’t install one.
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Combined Heat and Power in Sweden
Last week I described some observations about transportation from a trip I took to Sweden two years ago. While there, I toured two state-of-the-art, wood-chip-fired, combined heat and power (CHP)…
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Getting Around in Sweden
I had the great fortune two years ago to spend a couple weeks in Sweden. In late December 2007 I was visiting my daughter, who was studying at Lund University.…
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Where You Build May Matter More Than What You Build
The transportation-energy intensity—how much energy is used by people who commute to a building—can often be more energy than the building uses itself
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Air Conditioning With Ice
Last week, we took a look at practical, easy-to-implement strategies for keeping our buildings cool during hot weather. This week, I’ll describe a fascinating way to cool buildings using electricity…
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Keeping Cool in Hot Weather
If yesterday’s forecast was correct, today may be the hottest day of the year for much of New England—with temperatures rising into the mid-90s. This may not draw much sympathy…