New Dow Solar Shingles – Are They Practical?

April 18th, 2010

Click photo to watch video These solar shingles from Dow could be showing up on roofs across North America some time soon. They are about the size of a normal asphalt shingle, and can be installed like asphalt shingles too – with just a hammer and nails. The cost is still prohibitive – about $25k [...]

Filled Under: Green Tips and Healthy Housing, Home Improvements

Insulating Your Attic

April 17th, 2010

When your attic is not correctly insulated you could very well be losing a lot of valuable heat in the winter. When it’s hot out your attic will heat up and some of that heat will transfer into the rest of your home, having an impact on your cooling costs. In this video, produced by [...]

Filled Under: Home Improvements

Why Light Bulbs Burn Out So Quickly

April 16th, 2010

Something similar may have happened to you. About ten years ago some major renovations were done in several rooms of a local home. In one of the rooms none of the light bulbs in the pot lights have been changed since day 1. In another of the rooms they burn out regularly – some of [...]

Filled Under: Home Improvements

Home Equity Mortgages Continue to Vex Foreclosed Owners

April 15th, 2010

If you thought going through a foreclosure proceeding would automatically eliminate your obligation to repay a 2nd or 3rd mortgage, think again. In some cases foreclosed owners are being aggressively pursued by banks and lending institutions to pay back so-called “junior mortgages” – home equity loans. State laws vary, but in some cases it does [...]

Filled Under: Real Estate

Wind Power for Your Home – Is it Feasible?

April 14th, 2010

We’ve all read about the usual unconventional ways of making energy for our homes – solar, wind, thermal, bio diesel – but are any of these actually practical for use in local? Take wind power, for example. We just tend to assume that wind power is a leading candidate when it comes to alternative power [...]

Filled Under: Green Tips and Healthy Housing

Cleaning Your Gas Grill The Simple Way

April 10th, 2010

Click photo to watch video Most of us like to grill occasionally, and some of us use our grills just about every day. Unfortunately they get pretty grubby and have to be scrubbed down often. Removing the grime from your outdoor grill is a job nobody likes to do. These tips will make it a [...]

Filled Under: Home and Family

Cooler Cooking This Summer

April 8th, 2010

Click photo to watch video The warm kitchen that seemed so inviting when winter frosted the windows can rapidly become more like a kiln in New York’s summer. The saving grace is that quite a few of the strategies for keeping a kitchen cool in summer are also energy efficient and benefit the environment too. [...]

Filled Under: Green Tips and Healthy Housing