slsessions’s Recent Comments

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  You can also purchase heavy-duty appliance timers, which are great for hot water heaters (though not necessary for on-demand H2O heaters).  It is easy to experiment to determine how much time you need and when (your own "peak hot water usuage"), and keep the heater on only a little before and during those times.  We have an 80gal tank (for eventual upgrade to solar heating), and the boiler runs 30min/day in summer.  In the winter, we run it in morning before showers and in the evening (it also supplies heat for radiant floors).  On heavy cleaning days (or really cold days), you can manually turn the timer on and put in an "off" tab to turn it off.  Works great and saves energy!

  On Ask Umbra on light timers posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago 5 Responses

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  Consider one CAUTION!

  My husband and I just built a pumice-crete home.  He was our builder and was adamantly opposed to strawbale.  We live in NM and this is a pretty common choice for these parts.  There are LOTS of reasons to use straw bale.  The ONE reason we did not is because of plumbing in the walls.  You probably cannot guarantee that a pipe or PEX tubing will never break or leak, and keeping water out of the inside of your walls is essential for a straw bale home.  A water leak will require some major repair.  This is just one consideration to make when choosing a building material.  Pumice-crete has its drawbacks too, but we do have a beautiful, energy efficient home.On Umbra on straw-bale homes posted 1 year ago 11 Responses

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  Bravo on the physics mini-lecture!

  I just wanted to comment that I was very happy that Umbra used this as an opportunity to infuse a little bit of physics in her answer (i.e. heat xfer mechanisms and how they were).  Nice job! :)On Umbra on transporting coffee by bike posted 1 year, 7 months ago 12 Responses

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  Physics/Mathematics

  I agree with the advice of following what interests you most.  My path was a winding one which took me through a double major in math & physics, then a PhD in physics (condensed matter theory, with specialization on quantum phase transitions).  During my postdoc, I tried to find a way to turn this experience/education into something that could have an impact on society as well as science.  I followed my heart and now I am a tenure-track professor in atmospheric physics, and I am using my training to understand properties of tropical weather which includes cyclogenesis (hurricanes).  Though my emphasis is scientific, my effort will hopefully contribute to better models of weather and climate which in turn, could provide guidance to policy makers (this might be wishful thinking, but anyway).  So I love what I do, and I consider it "green" in the sense that it contributes to our understanding of the entire atmosphere system, which is important for quantifying the human impact on this system.  

  As an added bonus, I get to help train the next generation of problem solvers who may continue to work on green issues.On Umbra on choosing a college posted 1 year, 9 months ago 21 Responses