Bruce Thomas

I'm not real happy with the quality of this photo but I didn't have the time to adjust the camera in the dark.

This was taken from my driveway yesterday morning. Some of my favorite photos are sunrises and sun sets. If you have ant that you like, post them here. One of my favorite form of stress reduction.

It's certainly great to build a new green home from the ground up. Several thing are necessary, Land, Money and a burning desire to do so.

What about the rest of us who live in a used home. Here are several tips that I use for my clients during and after a home inspection. My focus is on saving them money in reduced energy cost and the planet is an added bonus.

First of all the economics of energy saving. A good rule of thumb is a 10 year pay back on your energy saving investment. In other words if your annual electric bill is say $1,200.00 and you can save 10% by installing a new device like a timer on your electric water heater then the savings would be $120.00 per year. If the timer costs say $50 and the installation is $75, that's a 1 year pay back. GREAT DEAL!! Do it.

On the other hand if your heat bill is (what ever fuel) $1,500.00 per year and you have an old inefficient furnace, does it make sense to spend $3000.00 to replace it? Let's see. You could save as much as 30% on efficiency. Assuming that is correct that would save you $450.00 per year. Times 10 years that would be $4,500.00. Another good deal because you still have another 10 to 12 years of life left in the new furnace after it's paid for.

Far and away the best investment in in insulation. Keep the heat that you paid for as long as you can. It is also critical to have proper ventilation. Blocked vents cause all kinds of problems like reduced roof life, excess moisture, possibly mold, high humidity, window condensation, wood rot in the attic and window frames.

It's always best to do your home work first, then consult a professional that is trained is energy conservation science.

We'll talk about air infiltration next time.

Don't give your money away to the energy companies needlessly.

Bruce

Just thought I would put up some crazy stuff that I have seen.

Yes that is a gas line just to the rear of the single wall flue. The heater was back drafting badly, filling the basement with flue gas. That is dangerous alone but it could also find it's way upstairs.

I know that every one has their favorite, Please share.

If find that when I'm stressed I like to first recognize it. Then stop, take a deep breath and smell the flowers. Smelling the flowers can be anything from just thinking about the great blessings that I have to actually smelling the flowers. In the north east that's a bit difficult this time of year so I just look back on some of the flowers that I have preserved.

Any body know the name of these? The quality isn't very good on this one because it's zoom shot with a low rez setting.

Same ones as above, in my back yard.

This one was with my wife's help.

What do you do for stress reduction?

Ok so I'll admit it. I like flowers and small animals.

My wife is a great gardener. (I dig for her)

Bull dogs are cool. Just look at that face!

Yep! Real wolf. A lady was keeping them beside a house I was inspecting. There were 7 or 8 of them including several hybrids. Several week later I heard on the news that she had been malled by them and was killed. At the time I wasn't sure they were wilves but I was glad the fence was there. They never barked but you could tell they didn't like me being there.