So let’s face it, the world is still choc full of skeptics about green. Heck the guy that introduced me to blogging, and suggested I start this blog is a skeptic – and he invites an excellent point: Not everyone is a tree-huggin planet savin’ modern day hippie. Show me the money - that’s where everyone will board the train.

So let’s get to the meat and potatoes that everyone is concerned with :

How can we all take on simple green actions that will help alleviate all of our economy-pillaged pockets ? Here’s a list for homeowners (especially old homes) to consider, based on my beautiful historic home, built in 1936, solid masonry (3 brick wythes) 2 stories, 2200 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms & a full basement.

From top to bottom (of the house) here’s what we did (or could do additionally) :

1. Attic: make sure you have decent insulation (at a minimum) in the attic. We have vermiculite, which is almost useless at 72 years old. Codes usually require in the range of an R30. We have a furnace in our attic, and vents on either end – close those vents with insulated panels, and seal them tight (unless your HVAC is not direct vent like mine).
2. Attic Access panel: I have a pull down ladder that leaked horribly. Weatherstrip that opening, and lay an old blanket over the opening before you close it up.
3. You know that room you never use, so you close it off? Yeah, open the door on that, or thoroughly insulate the perimeter of the door. Heat is inherently drawn to cooler places, so a door with leakage around the perimeter plays a role in energy use via making that thermostat come on and crank up the furnace, or AC condenser. The bigger the leak, the more the energy. So why not just find a use for that room? Lack of circulation causes dust to settle and not collect in your furnace filter.
4. Usin’ that oven? After your done baking, leave it cracked open. Free direct heat – and keep your little kids away from it – you should be watchin’ them kids anyway !
5. Floor & wall registers: go through and pop all of those off. Seal the perimeter of the duct scoops and flanges with weatherstrip, foam tape, or caulk. This will keep a wee bit more of the forced air out of the wall cavity, and in the room it was meant for. Chances are good in a house as old as mine (or anything pre-2006) the ductwork was not sealed at the joints, so it is a safe bet that the wall cavity is getting its fair share.
6. Is the underside of your bathtub exposed to the basement? Shove a mess of batt insulation into the cast of the tub, and then wrap the bottom with batt insulation (there’s more than one way to attach it).
7. Exterior window and door trim (this is for the overachievers): Carefully remove all of the trim at these windows and doors. You’ll soon be introduced to massive leaks you might not have thought of. Fill the big ones with expanding foam, the small ones with an exterior grade caulk. You might even entertain caulking the back of the trim before you put it back in place.
8. Inspect all of your doors and windows (the operable sashes) and replace all of the weatherstripping that is leaking. Inspecting this is as easy as holding your hand around the perimeter of each sash. I went the extra mile on my double hung windows when I painted them I fastened the top sash in place and caulked the exterior perimeter before I painted the finish coat on (I never used the top sash since they only work half the time anyway).
9. Outlets & switches on exterior walls: remove all of the coverplates, and infill with caulk or fire rated insulation (mineral wool). This will cut air leakage.
10. Storm Windows. This is a big ticket item, if you can’t afford them, there are several window film wraps on the market (but how green is it to take it off and replace it every year?). I installed 27 storm windows on my home (I did the labor) and they cost me $1300.00 total.
11. Do you have ductwork exposed in the basement? Tape the joints on exposed duct runs, or, a brush on mastic is commonly used in green certified homes as a good means to seal those joints (perhaps better than tape). If you can afford it, wrap the ductwork with insulation as well.
12. Do you have a forced air HVAC system? Set the fan to “on” so that it runs all the time. This will help keep the temperature in your home balanced, and will allow less dust and particles to settle. The process of “convection” is the heat transfer process that occurs when a warm fluid rises, displacing cold fluid, which then falls (air is actually a fluid medium). I also like to leave the mechanical room door open in the basement (when the basement is not in use), it is adjacent to the stair to the first floor, and has a fair amount of heat that then thermosiphens up to the first floor. We set our thermostat at 68 degrees, and it is comfortable.
13. Basement windows (in the winter) : if these are in an unfinished part of the basement, wrap them with insulation. Your foundation wall should be deep enough for you to tuck a snug batt of insulation or a snug fit piece of rigid insulation that has to be tapped into place, but could be stored away in the summer.
14. Joist spaces. Where the joists end at the foundation wall, run batt or rigid board insulation in the joist space. A lot of it. I ran mine against the wall, and continuous then in the joist space 18” out from the wall.

Alright. Quit readin’ this blog entry – print off this list – and get to work.