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Dual-Flush Toilet Duel – Caroma vs Pegasus

Dual-Flush Toilet Duel - Caroma vs Pegasus

Several years ago we replaced our two old water-guzzling toilets and installed water-saving, dual-flush toilets. You’re thinking, a toilet’s a toilet right? Well sort of. They may look about the same, but performance can be dramatically different from one style or manufacturer to the next. Why replace working toilets? We really didn’t have to think [...]

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Keeping Warm During a Power Outage

Keeping Warm During a Power Outage

Extreme winter weather events almost always cause power outages at some point. It may be just a few isolated locations or it can affect a large area, plunging millions of people into the cold and dark – possibly for several days. And the frequency and impact of extreme weather is expected to get worse in [...]

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Superinsulated House Design

Superinsulated House Design

The cold winds of October are here, the furnace has kicked on, and I’m wondering once again, how much it will cost to stay warm this winter. Retired Architect, Richard Lachance lives just a couple of hours drive from my place, and he knows what to expect as the long winter approaches. His NB Superinsulated [...]

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7 DIY Pop Can Solar Heaters

7 DIY Pop Can Solar Heaters

There are hundreds of different DIY passive solar air collector plans floating around, but I’m focusing on a few that incorporate recycled aluminum pop, beer or juice cans as the "solar absorber". These DIY pop can solar panels are inspired by Cansolair – a commercially-produced product invented by a man from Newfoundland, Canada. The Cansolair  [...]

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Clean Emergency Generator Power

Clean Emergency Generator Power

Living in the path of the remnants of Hurricane Irene when she reaches Atlantic Canada, is a good reminder for me to fire up the generator for a bit of exercise, since it hasn’t been used for a few months. This is a good routine procedure with any generator, just to keep it in peak [...]

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Energy-Saving Home Cooling Tips

Energy-Saving Home Cooling Tips

The largest portion of our home energy bills are for controlling the temperature in our houses – keeping them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  We’ve experienced 8 of the warmest years on record in the last decade. This summer, the extended period of record setting temperatures across much of the US [...]

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Home Energy Retrofit Economics

Home Energy Retrofit Economics

It ain’t rocket science. “It’s the economy, stupid". Energy efficient home retrofits involve a lot of labour – and that means JOBS! And right now that’s the number one problem facing the US and much of the rest of the world today. In the US, and here in Canada, there are millions of homes, schools, [...]

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Can Portable Generators Damage Home Appliances?

Can Portable Generators Damage Home Appliances?

We recently decided it’s time to install a backup power generator for our rural home/office. Choosing a portable generator should be pretty easy shouldn’t it? Determine what you need emergency power for – and choose a generator powerful enough to do the job, right? Uh…no actually. Many of today’s home HVAC systems and appliances have [...]

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Add Flexibility to Plastic Window Kits

Add Flexibility to Plastic Window Kits

One of the things that has discouraged me from using these seasonal window insulating kits in the past is the fact that once they’re installed you can’t open the windows for the rest of the season. If you burn the fish and need to air out the room it’s decision time — do you sacrifice [...]

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