Going
Green can mean many things. For some people, it means purchasing products
that are biodegradable or that are manufactured from
recycled materials. For others it means trading in that gas-guzzler for
a hybrid automobile. Still for others, it means
making your home more energy efficient, which is the primary focus of this web page.
Energy efficiency means
replacing older appliances or adding systems to your home that
reduce your energy consumption and your utility bills.
It can also mean using the power of the sun, to generate
electricity, to heat your pool, or to add natural light to
darker
areas of your home.
Greening your home
has some real advantages. Aside form the fact that
it's good for your health and the environment, going green can also save you
money. By purchasing energy efficient appliances and systems, you can reduce your utility bills and realize a significant return on your investment. Also,
by installing energy efficient products and systems in your
home, you may be eligible for a number of rebates that are
offered through your utility company, as well as the state and
federal governments.
Green
and eco-friendly homes in Orange County, CA. If you are interested in purchasing
or leasing a home with green or energy-efficient
features, just call me and I will create a custom MLS search for you. This
search can include homes with energy saving devices such as whole house attic fans, energy
star appliances and cooling, solar panels, solar pool heating,
etc. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) has been steadily
increasing the capability to search for homes with
eco-friendly features. I will be happy to use these new search
capabilities to search
for a home with green features for you!
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Go to a topic by selecting one
of the options below
Orange County
gets hot in the summer,
especially in the inland county areas. Running central air
conditioning is an expensive, energy wasting solution. One way to help is with a whole hose attic fan.
These systems help cool and
ventilate your home, while using less energy and saving
you money. To give you an idea on how these systems work,
consider the
temperature imbalances in your home late on a summer day. The
outside air is usually cool in the late afternoon
and evening. The lower level of your home is also much cooler
than the upper level, which is often uncomfortably hot. The
air in the attic gets even hotter; sometimes as much as 20 to
30 degrees hotter that your home's second level. This
imbalance is created because in our newer,
super-insulated homes, heat rises and is trapped, just like in
a green house! Poor air circulation
in our homes also means that means that
opening windows does little to remove the trapped heat.
But
what if
you could easily bring the entire home to the cooler temperature of
the outside air? You can with a whole house fan. These work by simple physics. By creating a
powerful (but nearly unnoticeable) suction in the upper level
of the home, cool, outside air is drawn in and circulates
quickly through the lower and upper levels of your home. The
hot air is forced
out of the home through the attic vents and gables. Within a
very short time, the temperature in your entire home is equalized to
the temperature of the outside air. In
addition to efficient, low cost cooling, the whole house attic
fan system has the added benefit of ventilating the home. This
helps to reduce mold, mildew, bacteria, odors, and
moisture, which become trapped by our super-insulated homes and
contribute to the phenomenon known as sick
building syndrome.
Quiet
cool fan
There are many
types of whole house attic fans available, but one of the main
drawbacks of lower priced models is
noise. The typical system consists of a single, large fan,
which is mounted to the ceiling in a common area.
Because the fan is large and sits above the grill, the
system can be unpleasantly noisy. The system I recommend (and recently installed in
my own home) is by Quiet Cool.
These systems use a smaller
fan mounted on the end of a long, insulated duct, resulting in
very quiet operation. The video below demonstrates
the Quiet Cool system and how it works.
If you are interested about learning more
about a Quiet Cool whole house fan installation in Orange County, CA, or if you would like have one
of these systems professionally installed in your home, I recommend that
you contact Direct Electric Company
at (951) 965-1014 or at www.DirectElectricCo.com
. (Download a current price list, here).
( Please let them know that you
read about their product on www.ronforhomes.com
! )
A solar
powered attic fan has a different function than a whole house fan
(above). The purpose of these fans is to remove trapped heat from the
attic during the peak of the day. These units can supplement a whole house
fan or
they may be used alone. Because of the greenhouse effect, the temperature
in your attic can be as much as 20 to 50 degrees higher than the rest of your home.
This heat radiates back into the house, raising the cost of cooling.
Unlike a whole house attic fan which is typically used in
the morning or late in the day to bring cool air into the home, the solar powered attic fan is used to
exhaust hot air from the attic during the hottest part of the day. This
helps equalize the temperature of the attic and cool the
home. It does this at no cost, since it is entirely solar
powered!
Unlike whole
house fans, which are installed inside the home and in the attic,
Solar powered attic fans are mounted on the outside of the building
using a hole in the roof, Other models are designed to fit over
an existing gable or dormer vent in the attic. The solar panel to power
the unit is then mounted on the roof where it can pick up the
most sunlight. While these units are primarily used to help
ventilate the attic, they are also useful for helping to cool
down an overly warm garage or storage facility. Most units come as
either 10-watt or 20-watt models, with the later capable of moving
more air.
Roof
mounted attic fan with on-board solar panel
A
gable mounted fan with external solar panel
The following video by US
Sunlight Corp demonstrates the solar powered attic fan
One of the companies that is qualified to
install solar powered attic fans in Orange County is Solatube HomeDayLight
in Lake Forest. You can reach them by phone at (949) 544-7830. You can
view their products here: www.daylightoc.com.
Another source for
attic fans is Sola-lite
of Orange County. Their phone number is (714) 835-8391.
Much of
the energy usage in a typical home goes toward lighting it. While
lighting is obviously needed at night, many homes also have darker areas
(bathrooms, closets, garages, nooks, and kitchens) that require
supplemental lighting during the day. What if you could turn out
the lights and turn on the sun? Solar daylighting systems
bring natural daylight into dark areas of your home through the use of a
roof-mounted dome, attic-mounted tubing, and a ceiling diffuser.
These systems are affordable,
environmentally friendly, and cost effective. By using the sun you will definitely save electricity. Solatube®
is one of the popular manufacturers of these products. The video
below demonstrates this system and how it works.
Roof
mounted lens
For
information on Solatubes, please visit Solatube HomeDayLight in
Orange County. This company also has a store front in Lake Forest where
you can see many Solatubes installed. They also carry solar powered attic
fans. You can reach them by phone at (949) 544-7830 and www.daylightoc.com
Solar photovoltaic (PV)
systems convert sunlight directly into electricity. They do this
through the use of roof-mounted solar panels and an inverter that
converts direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). The
resulting AC current is integrated into your existing electrical
grid for use in your home. This helps reduce the amount of electricity
that you will have to purchase from your utility company.
I am very intrigued by
solar panel or photovoltaic systems, though I'm still in the process of researching
them. I will expand this area as I learn more about the costs and benefits
of these systems. My impression, based on a limited amount of information,
is that solar panels are still a rather costly option and that it can take
years to realize a significant return on your investment. I do
expect that over time these systems will become increasingly
affordable (and necessary!) For now, I
would advise Orange County homeowners to contact the vendors below.
Many of them offer a free evaluation of your home that can help
you determine the cost of panels and how much energy you will save
by installing them.
Yes, awnings are
green!
This
topic might surprise you, but installing windowawnings
on key locations of your home may help reduce your energy bills! They do
this by helping to block excess heat from entering your home,
which reduces your cooling costs. They also help protect your
home from harmful UV rays, which can stream into your home and damage
flooring and furniture. Windows that are west facing are especially susceptible
to allowing direct afternoon sunlight to radiate into the home,
contributing to heat accumulation and strong, UV exposure.
Awnings
come in many styles and colors to easily blend with your
home's exterior. Awnings made from fabric are the most popular,
but you can also purchase awnings manufactured from metal, wood, or
plastic. There are also many styles of decorative mounting hardware. Regardless of style, the function of all
awnings is to create shading in order to block sunlight from radiating
into the home. There are also incentives to install awnings. As
part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of
2009, there
may be a rebate of up to $250 for homeowners who install awnings
(check the web page to see if you qualify).
I have not installed these on my home yet, so I do
not have data on how effective they are. If you are an Orange
County, CA homeowner, I would recommend contacting the vendors
below for information and price quotes:
The next time you need to make
a move, consider going green. Go
Green Moving uses rentable crates
instead of typical
cardboard boxes. Their fleet of trucks are powered by EPA certified
biodiesel fuel rather then fossil fuels. Consider an eco-friendly, leaner
and greener moving company for your next move. Request a quote here.
I also recommend
reusable moving
boxes. Over 20 percent of the American population packs and moves
each year, generating massive quantities of waste, which ultimately
ends up in a landfill. The recopack® from rentagreenbox.com
is a zero-waste pack and move solution made entirely from 100%
recycled plastic trash mined from local landfills. The boxes are
available in several sizes and are delivered direct to your door
by the company's fleet of super-green eco-trucks powered by waste
vegetable oil and biofuel. Contact the company here: 1.888.900.PACK
[7225]
Green-oriented /
eco-friendly
neighborhoods and housing developments in Orange County
Eco-friendly
neighborhoods are beginning to see daylight in Orange County.
One neighborhood that comes to mind is Ladera Ranch's Terramor
Village. This village of 12 different tracts was
designed with many green-oriented features including
water conservation, energy efficiency, green materials and
resources, and indoor environmental quality. The homes have
all been built to exceed California's energy-efficiency
requirements by 20%.You can learn
more about Terramor and the other Ladera villages
here.
I will add other green-oriented
neighborhoods in Orange County to this web page as I become aware
of them.
A State of California
program that offers rebates to homeowners who replace outdated appliances
with energy efficient ones. Washers (rebate $100), refrigerators
(rebate $200), and room/window air conditioners (rebate $50).
If
you live in a housing development that is governed by a Homeowners'
Association (HOA), make sure you stay in compliance
with the HOA's rules and regulations. These regulations may affect
what you are allowed to do with the exterior of your home, so please be sure
you
check with them before installing any of the products
mentioned on this
page.
Replace
all of your power-hungry, incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents
(CFs) or LED bulbs. These types use far less electricity than
incandescent light bulbs, and I suggest that you start by replacing
high wattage spot lights used in recessed lighting fixtures, as well
as bulbs in bathroom vanity areas and in high traffic areas of your
home.
Add
a kitchen recycling bin. Many sanitation companies in Southern
California do provide large recycling containers for outside of the
home, but by adding a recycling bin to your kitchen, it will make it
easier to separate the recyclables from the regular trash, before
dumping. Here is one source for recycling
bins.
Use
biodegradable trash bags. The plastic bags and liners most of use
take 1,000 years to degrade in a land fill. Biodegradable bags
disintegrate completely in about one year. Use these to line your
trash bins, or better yet, don't use trash bin liners at all!
Here is one source for biodegradable
trash bags.
Buy
a hybrid vehicle. With the price of gas at over $4.00/gallon, this
is a "no-brainer". Trade in that gas-guzzling V8 ands get
a hybrid! Many of these vehicles get as much as 35 miles per gallon
or more! Here is a source for learning about hybrid
cars.
Are
lights in your home being left on, all of the time? Install motion
detector switches in bathrooms, hallways, and high traffic areas.
These switches will turn on a light when they sense movement, then
turn it off, after a predetermined period of time.
Paperless
billing - If you are like me, you are buried in mail and
paper. It seems like every day, someone wants me to buy something or
pay something (my shredder just can't keep up with it!) One of the
things I did was to start contacting my all of my billing companies
and switch to paperless billing. It was easy to do and
many of the companies' web sites have sections where you can pay
on-line and get regular e-mail reminders for
when your bill is due!
This page will be an on-going project. I'll continue to add sections to this page as I
work with new
products or gain personal experience by installing them in my own home.
Whether you are interesting in greening your home for the energy
savings, for your health, or for the environment, going green is the way
to go. If you are interested in buying or leasing a home with green or
eco-friendly features,
just call me. I will be happy to set up a custom search for you! Be
part of the solution rather than part of the problem!!
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author of this page does not warrant or assume any legal
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completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any
information, product or service contained herein. Readers of
this web page are always advised to do their own research, and
are encouraged to compare products and prices. Anyone using the
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using such information agrees to indemnify the author and
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arising from such use. The author may receive compensation for
referring certain products or services on this page.
