GREEN TIPS FOR YOUR EICHLER

by emeraldECO.com

Spring has sprung as they say. And we are heading straight into summer. And that means many are getting the bug to perform some ‘Spring Cleaning/Fixing’ around the home. So here are a few ideas for how to make your Eichler more eco-friendly this season. Try one or try them all! Every little bit helps.

Tinted Glass: Eichlers have a lot of glass, and if you have any windows that are getting a significant amount of sunshine during the day, it can really turn your home into an oven. Applying a layer of high quality window tinting to these windows can really help to reduce the amount of heat that enters your house. We’re not talking about something you see on the do-it-yourselfer’s car windows, but rather a professionally installed, visually transparent layer of material that invisibly covers the inside of your glass panes. These modern products block the majority of the sun’s UV rays, which drastically reduces fading in your home. They reduce the intensity of the hot solar radiation, keeping your house cooler, and they actually add a small amount of insulation to these windows. For those of us with original single pane glass there is an added benefit: if for any reason one of the window panes break, the layer of window tinting will prevent it from shattering, and that’s a really nice bonus.

Lots of hot air: When the weather gets hot, you really want to preserve the cooler environment inside your home. The quickest way to lose this body of cool air is to have a puff of hot outside air enter your home and turn it into an oven. As soon as the outside shade temperature climbs above the temp inside your home, keep all the doors and windows closed as much as possible. Even 30 seconds of having a door open can make a big difference in your comfort during the hot day. For this reason we recommend a good inspection of the seals around all your exterior doors. If there is a breeze, it doesn’t take long for outside air to slip through the gaps around a poorly sealed front door. Weather stripping is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce heating and cooling bills and it almost always creates a more comfortable home.

Lighting? Yes, believe it or not, even a few incandescent lights can give off enough heat to increase the temperature in a room. You see, the incandescent light bulb has been around since the 1800’s. It has been referred to as a heater that just happens to give off a small amount of light. We aren’t kidding you: the average incandescent bulb turns 95% of the energy that it uses into heat. And that’s heat that you don’t need this summer. So even if you tried Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) before, we suggest that you give them another shot. The technology has improved and so has the product availability – they now come in a dizzying array of shapes, colors, styles and intensities. Click here for more info regarding the benefits of CFL’s: http://emeraldeco.com/lighting.html

“Passive Solar Cooling”. This is a phrase that really just means – using simple methods that don’t require engineers, computers or energy to accomplish your goals. Here are a few passive ideas that you can implement today: With the large glass windows that Eichlers are famous for, it will make a large difference in the summer if you can utilize blinds or curtains to help reflect the sun’s heat back outside. The best color is white, but any light colored window treatment will help significantly. Another great way to keep cool is to use nature’s own air conditioning: the lowly tree. Studies have verified what you already know: sitting in the shade under a tree in the summer is a great way to beat the heat. But to maximize the benefit, you need to plan your planting properly. First, select the right type of tree – a deciduous tree will be the best option. These trees will provide excellent shade during the summer when you want to block the sun but they lose their leaves in the winter when you really prefer to have as much sunlight warming your house as you can. Location is key as well: the best place to plant these trees is on the South-West side of the house. This blocks the sun when the heat is still building but the solar angle is starting to drop and begins to enter your home more directly. A few properly placed trees will have an enormous impact on the temperatures in your home, but they need time to grow, so plant them as soon as you can!

Fans: For those that are still struggling with too much heat despite tips 1 thru 4 above, the use of fans might be a good help. Fans cost many times less to operate than an air conditioner, and in many cases they can be quite effective. Large ceiling fans are quite common in homes with higher ceilings. Most rooms in your Eichler are no-doubt over 8 feet in height, so installing a ceiling fan will not be a challenge. They can create a comfortable breeze within the home to cool you off when it gets too hot. But sometimes just moving air about inside the home is not enough. After several days of really warm weather, the house needs to take advantage of the cool evening air. Opening windows on opposite sides of the house is a great way to let nature cool your home, but when there is no natural breeze, a whole house fan is a good solution. This type of fan would ideally be mounted in the ceiling at a high point in the home. It has one job: to take warm air from near the ceiling and exhaust it outside. This creates a small vacuum in the home and allows the outside air to be drawn in through the windows that you will open. A properly sized and installed house fan can cool down your home in a very short time in the evening, making it much easier to sleep.

We hope that at least one or two of these ideas might help you reduce your cooling bills and make your home more comfortable this summer. For more tips and ideas, please visit our website at www.emeraldECO.com.