February - Going 'Green' Home Projects

How I'm Saving Energy - Some Big And Small Projects

LABELLE, FL. -- This month I'm doing some small and big projects to save energy at home and make everything a bit greener, and save a bit of money on energy costs, especially heating and air conditioning.

Among the projects I've undertaken at my 1980 Port LaBelle home, is blowing insulation into the attic to raise the existing R-19 insulation rating to an R-38 level which will greatly prevent the summer heat in the attic from getting into the house. This should save considerably on air conditioning costs this summer.

The insulation installed in 1980 was about six inches of fiberglass batting. An additional six inches of the blown in material was installed last week. It only took the insulation contractor about 20 minutes to complete the job using six inch flexible tubing blowing in about nine bags of insulation material through out the attic space.

My 32-year old metal front door was getting a bit shabby and rusting at the bottom, and with the badly worn weatherstripping around the edges, needed replacing badly.  A new fiberglass door with triple-pane glass to replace the old one was installed. New insulation was added around the door frame, and the new installation should prevent air infiltration as well as seal street noise a bit better.

Video: battery free calculator, notepad and pen from recycled material, blown in attic insulation, new fiberglass door with good seals replaces worn out metal door

Coming video "green" projects:  Hurricane proof windows, water heater timer, FPL's "smart" electric meter, planting trees, switching from dark-colored roof to lighter color, water saving toilets, and more ideas