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| Windows and Doggy Doors!
I thought I should start writing some energy tips as I really could have used this knowledge a couple of years ago... I'll try to use this to document what I'm doing to save energy and money (in the long run).
I've started to replace windows in the heated/cooled basement of my house. The original ones were the crank open metal ones without screens. They were single paned and in the winter, when I have the wood stove with a evaporator pot on it, I have frost form on them. I got double paned weather beaters to replace 2 large windows and one smaller one. This should save more money on heating/cooling costs. It cost a lot, but with energy costs that are sure to go up, I will reap benefits in the future. Not to mention that they have coatings preventing sunshine from warming the basement in the summer. If I miss the warm sunlight in the winter, I will get a passive solar heating panel and mount it on the basement wall.
Having trees around the house is a good idea. Pine trees and evergreens are not a good choice unless you want to block winter winds. They block the sun during the winter that helps warm the house. Deciduous trees like oaks or poplars are good as they are “Mother Nature’s Air Conditioners”. They drop leave to allow sun in winter and grow leaves to block in summer. Special note: don’t have fruit cherries over your deck as the squirrels drive the dog insane and the pits are, the pits when walking out on a summer morning with your coffee and bare feet.
Speaking of dogs, I LOVE them! Besides all of the shedding hair, the occasional unstuffed toys, and the constant food begging eyes, their great! I couldn’t say that if I didn’t have a doggy door in the basement and a dog that knows where to go. I spent the first six months of my dog’s life sleeping on a couch in the basement because I wouldn’t let her upstairs and she wouldn’t let me sleep if I was… The day I let her upstairs, I took her on a tour and said, “this is where I used to sleep before you came”. She promptly jumped up on the bed and peed. She hasn’t peed or pooped in the house since.
Well one big reason is that she has a 1000 square foot fenced area in the back yard that is accessed by a doggy door. I have a PetSafe or Johnson Ultra dual flap door that mostly is pretty air tight. The dog wears out the panel once every year and a half. They don’t make the door any more and it isn’t even selling its own replacement flap. I found a new door that cost more than the dog did, but that is supposed to be energy efficient. It is a twin flap door by Security Boss named MaxSeal. I got it and my replacement flap for the Pet Safe from Moore Pet Supplies. I am replacing the door and moving the old one upstairs to use in the sun porch so the dog can go outside to bark at the squirrels getting cherries off the tree over the deck (and you wondered why I told you about that earlier). | |
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