Grist | Topics | 52 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 52
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Elder care for the long emergency Cool housing for oldsters	JMG	03 Jun 2008	Gristmill
People who think about how we're going to adapt to lower-energy living arrangements often miss that the U.S. continues to gray rapidly. Given that we've had almost sixty years of radical suburbanization and cross-country relocation, sundering the extended family networks that once provided child and elder care, we're in a pickle when it comes to figuring out how to care for elders.Here's an encouraging story about a new facility that really seems to get it. My question is why we ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

New bulb on the block Spendy mercury-free LED bulb supposedly lasts 50,000 hours	JMG	24 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Somewhere, in school or on the job, every engineer learns about tradeoffs -- that there is no free lunch, and that, once a design is at all reasonable, gains in one dimension come at the cost of compromises in others. The shorthand statement of this is the pithy evergreen in design classes: 'Good, fast, and cheap. Pick two!' There's a new bulb out: a 13-watt LED array bulb with an integral diffuser, so you don't see the annoying space-craft look of little tiny rows of LE ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, green products (all these topics)

How cool is your county? Counties lead on global warming as federal feuding continues	Josh Dorner	23 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Here in D.C., we're deadlocked (thanks largely to Republicans beholden to Big Oil) over no-brainers like taking back $13.5 billion in giveaways to Big Oil in order to fund the extension of key clean energy tax incentives and forestall a crash in the renewable energy industry. Meanwhile, cities, states, and counties continue to take the lead in putting in place the kind of progressive, innovative policy solutions that we can only dream of at the federal level for the t ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, local politics, politics, Sierra Club (all these topics)

Don't Spray It On long, hot showers	Umbra Fisk	02 Apr 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, The biggest waster of energy in our house right now is our 15-year-old daughter, whose never-ending daily showers must surely be responsible for warming the planet another half-degree. No matter how loudly we bang on the bathroom door and scream for her to stop, she showers on -- 20, 30 minutes at a time. And yes, we have a low-flow showerhead and our water heater is set to 120 degrees. Is there any kind of device -- one t ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, parenting, water conflicts (all these topics)

Doing the math Are solar incentives a subsidy for the rich?	Guest author	12 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com. ----- One of the most common arguments against incentives to help people buy solar panels for their homes is that they are a subsidy for the rich, paid for by everyone. The argument is that only the rich can buy a photovoltaic system, which, even with subsidies, costs thousa ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Daylight wastings Daylight saving time wastes energy, study says	Joseph Romm	29 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I have been asked this question about daylight saving time many times. I have long believed it was not an energy saver -- even though that is how it is typically justified. Turns out there is quantitative proof. For those who are interested in this relatively obscure issue -- I doubt Congress would change DST on the basis of this or any other study -- you can read a very good article in the Wall Street Journal. 'Springing forward,' as we will do March 9, 'may actua ...
Topics: energy at home, energy efficiency, energy (all these topics)

Let buildings heat and cool themselves How to kill coal in 10 years	Jon Rynn	20 Feb 2008	Gristmill
We know that coal is the enemy of the human race, what with carbon emissions, deadly air pollution, and unsafe and destructive mining practices. The supply of coal is becoming more problematic as well: recently, a Wall Street Journal article described a 'coal-price surge,' and Richard Heinberg has warned that coal may peak much sooner than most people expect. So what's to like? Not much. But since coal-fired plants provide almost half of our electricity, we can't ge ...
Topics: coal, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green building, placemaking, renewable energy, urban planning (all these topics)

Houston, we have a problem Opinion writer suggests efficiency stimulus would be more effective	Sarah K. Burkhalter	13 Feb 2008	Gristmill
An opinion writer at the Houston Chronicle says: Congress missed a major opportunity with the stimulus package. They could have invested in something that would have been good for the consumer (encouraging energy savings), the environment (reducing emissions) and the economy (stimulating development of products that represent our future).The magic elixir?Energy efficiency is the best thing we can do for our economy and environment right now. Instead of $600 o ...
Topics: economy, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Don't Go Toward the Light Compact fluorescents can cause health problems, say groups		04 Jan 2008	News
Posted at 10:22 AM on 04 Jan 2008 As Australia, Britain, and the good ol' U.S. of A make plans to phase out traditional energy-sucking light bulbs, health concerns are being raised about compact fluorescents, the most popular alternative. The British Association of Dermatologists says CFLs can cause rashes on folks with photosensitive skin, the U.K. Migraine Action Association suggests that the bulbs can trigger ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, health, news (all these topics)

LED Christmas lighting is cool -- literally Safe, energy-efficient holiday lights	Joseph Romm	21 Dec 2007	Gristmill
I hope you've all bought LED lighting for your trees -- they are much more efficient and safer, too, because they generate less heat! We have, and so has the White House and Rockefeller Center (see below). Here is an Electric Power Research Institute fact sheet (PDF) to answer all your questions on LED vs. conventional Christmas lights (PDF). Happy Holidays! This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress ...
Topics: holiday, energy, energy efficiency, energy at home (all these topics)

How many Texas mayors does it take ... ?	Joseph Romm	05 Dec 2007	Gristmill
... to change the lightbulbs Texans use? The answer turns out to be ... five: To kick off a statewide campaign to get residents to replace old light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, Texas mayors vowed to launch an effort to make the bulbs available, to encourage their use and to suggest that people give them as gifts for Christmas or other occasions ... Joining San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger at the Energy Conservation Summit were Aus ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, Texas (all these topics)

Here Comes the Son On solar holiday lights	Umbra Fisk	29 Oct 2007	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, As the holiday season approaches, I'm trying to figure out how to spread good cheer in home decorations while being sensitive to the environment. Years ago, my husband and I purchased strings of lights that we wrapped around the trunks of palm trees in our front yard. Now the wiser, I'd like to use these lights off the grid, if you will. Instead of purchasing new LED lights that are so popular right now (and in turn ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, holiday, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

A Star Is Scorned GAO doubts efficacy of Energy Star label		08 Oct 2007	News
Posted at 5:42 PM on 08 Oct 2007 You know the U.S. government's Energy Star label, meant to direct consumers to energy-efficient electronics and appliances? The Government Accountability Office does not think it means what you think it means. In a new report, the GAO notes that, for example, TVs are tested in standby mode, because the latest available standards for testing tellies' energy efficiency in actually-running mode were written ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, Government Accountability Office, news (all these topics)

Heating water is a tankless job On-demand water heaters rock	Erik Hoffner	25 Sep 2007	Gristmill
It's totally goofy, but I love my water heater. It's an "on demand" (also called tankless) unit, so it only turns on when I need to do the dishes or wash some clothes, or do both at the same time, even. I like that it doesn't heat a big tank of water 24/7 on the off chance that I'll need it at any moment. Thus it's small, and when it does turn on it's efficient. When not in use, it's completely off. Even though it runs on gas, it has no eternally burning pilot ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Mortgages go green Lenders believe energy-efficient homeowners are less likely to default on mortgage payments	Joseph Romm	14 Sep 2007	Gristmill
With all the bad news about mortgages, it is time for some good news: Mortgages that promote energy efficiency are on the rise. The basic idea is simple. If you make your home more energy efficient, you reduce your monthly energy bill. And that means you have more money to pay your mortgage, and are less likely to default, so lenders are wisely encouraging this: The Wall Street Journal has a very good article on this: While energy-efficient mortgages have been a ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Turning down the house How lazy people can conserve energy	Clark Williams-Derry	15 Aug 2007	Gristmill
I love this idea: a single off-switch for your whole house, to power down all of those nonessential appliances that suck electricity while you're at work or out on the town. OK, so it's just a concept at this point. But it's a good one. I'm sure my family could make use of something like this. Oh sure, we try to be pretty careful about turning off lights, but every so often we leave a light burning for days in the basement. And of course, there's always ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Do 'green' appliances live up to their promises? The WSJ asks and answers	Sarah van Schagen	07 Aug 2007	Gristmill
As home-appliance technology continues to move toward the energy-efficient (and brightly colored), more and more consumers are looking to replace their old appliances. But is it really an upgrade?No, says Jeanine Van Voorhees, who spent $1,000 on a new energy-saving washer only to find that it coughs up dingy, cat-hair-covered clothes. "I curse that machine every time," she says, and she often washes her loads twice. (I'm no expert, but that doesn't sound ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, green products (all these topics)

Adventures in the smart grid no. 2: Demand response Information is power	Patrick Mazza	27 Jul 2007	Gristmill
The day is sweltering, air conditioners are cranked up, and the power grid is straining to meet demand. Today is a 'needle peak' day -- on the annual power demand chart, it shows up as a spike. Out of the year's 8,760 hours, needle peaks will occupy 200 hours or less. An extreme day like this is why the grid maintains roughly twice as much power generating and transmission capacity as it uses on an average day. Even though power plants and lines are idle most of the ye ...
Topics: electricity grid, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, fossil fuels, renewable energy, wind power (all these topics)

Loan star Making energy efficiency possible for cheapskate homeowners	Clark Williams-Derry	20 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Apropos of my recent realization that if I had bought a new furnace on credit rather than waiting to save up the cash I'd have saved a bundle of money over the last 5 years, here's something I've been meaning to write about for months: a Vancouver developer that came up with a smart -- I mean, diabolically smart -- financing scheme to build a super-efficient condo complex. (Proving, I suppose, biodiversivist's point that spreadsheets are, in fact, wonderful thi ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green building, green living, placemaking, Vancouver (all these topics)

Still Worth It On mercury in CFLs	Umbra Fisk	16 Jul 2007	Ask Umbra
Dearest Umbra, For the past 10 years or so I have been patiently and methodically replacing the incandescent light bulbs in my house with the more efficient compact fluorescent ones. Even though they cost more than incandescents, I have been confident that their lower energy requirements and longer life span more than made up for the increased cost. Thus I was greatly dismayed the other day when I went to our local transfer station and ...
Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, green living, green products, toxics (all these topics)

The loan arranger Consumers are stingy about buying new energy-efficient appliances	Clark Williams-Derry	12 Jul 2007	Gristmill
We've been meaning to replace our furnace -- an old oil heater that was converted to gas back in the '70s -- for years. It's big, it's ugly, and worst of all, it's inefficient. So we pay much more for heat than we'd like, even in Seattle's relatively mild winters. But new furnaces don't come cheap. In fact, some back-of-the envelope calculations a few years back convinced me that it could take nearly a decade before the savings on our gas bills paid for the ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Leaving Dustbusters in the Dust High-tech gadgets will overtake appliances as energy-suckers, says report		06 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
Leaving Dustbusters in the Dust High-tech gadgets will overtake appliances as energy-suckers, says report Primed to overtake kitchen appliances and lighting as the biggest drain on domestic power, high-tech gadgets -- we're talkin' to you, iPhone -- will use nearly half an average household's energy by 2020, according to U.K. nonprofit Energy Saving Trust. In a report cleverly titled &quo ...
Topics: electricity grid, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, news (all these topics)

The power of feedback Getting rid of the remnants of the sell-more-power utility model	JMG	23 Jun 2007	Gristmill
This is an important article on one of the best, simplest, and fastest ways to reduce home electric usage: make it visible.
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Kill the vampires! There oughta be a law: Off means off	JMG	15 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Here's why you need to put all your electronics on power strips/surge protectors; so you can actually turn them off and save the massive amounts of energy these vampires suck out of the system (and your wallet). We need a law that says by 2009 no new electronic devices can be sold without a hard off setting that actually turns the device entirely off (i.e., no current drain whatsoever). It's not hard -- it's how everything used to work.
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency (all these topics)

Hot air And spy planes	Adam Browning	01 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Identifying energy-saving opportunities is one thing -- and a good thing -- but just think of the potential for evaluating politicians ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, United Kingdom (all these topics)

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