Redefining Home: GreenovationTV Launches on Earth Day

Here's a sneak preview of the GreenovationTV promo for our launch on Earth Day, April 22, 2009. I've been busy working with folks to get the website up and running and begin creating great content that will help green every home in America, starting with yours!

On Earth Day this blog will move to the Greenovation.TV website. GreenovationTV is the first internet TV channel for green remodeling.

Our mission: Help green the 130 million inefficient and sometimes unhealthy homes in the U.S. greenovationTV inspires viewers with practical advice and real solutions in a fast-paced and entertaining format. This isn't your daddy's fix-it-up show. greenovationTV is an internet television station with free 24/7 on-demand access to original short videos with everything consumers need to know about green home improvement.

It's about Real Homes + Real Improvement. It's about Redefining Home. If we're going to green every home in America, we need your help! Please visit www.Greenovation.TV and send us your photos, videos and stories about how you are saving energy & water and how you are greening your home. Join us on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/cjytjq

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Join Dr. Anna Marie (from The Weather Channel) as she takes her 1970s ranch home kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. She's not doing an extreme makeover and she's not doing just a facelift, she's making her home clean and green. From the windows and doors to the paint on the walls, we have a real home with real solutions. If you're thinking about greening your home on your own, then don't miss Dr. Anna Marie's GIY segments on www.Greenovation.TV. Remember: A green home is a healthy home.

GreenovationTV: Real Homes + Real Improvement

Can a $1 Incensce Stick Save You $100s on Your Energy Bill?

Detecting Air Leaks in Your Drafty House

You may already know where some air leakage occurs in your home, such as an under-the-door draft, but you'll need to find the less obvious gaps to properly air seal your home.

For a thorough and accurate measurement of air leakage in your home, hire a qualified technician to conduct an energy audit, particularly a blower door test. A blower door test, which depressurizes a home, can reveal the location of many leaks. A complete energy audit will also help determine areas in your home that need more insulation.

Without a blower door test, there are ways to find some air leaks yourself. First, look at areas where different materials meet, such as between brick and wood siding, between foundation and walls, and between the chimney and siding. Also inspect around the following areas for any cracks and gaps that could cause air leaks:

• Door and window frames
• Mail chutes
• Electrical and gas service entrances
• Cable TV and phone lines
• Outdoor water faucets
• Where dryer vents pass through walls
• Bricks, siding, stucco, and foundation
• Air conditioners
• Vents and fans.

You can also try these steps to depressurize your home to help detect leaks:

1. Turn off your furnace on a cool, very windy day.
2. Shut all windows and doors.
3. Turn on all exhaust fans that blow air outside, such as bathroom fans or stove vents.
4. Light an incense stick and pass it around the edges of common leak sites. Wherever the smoke is sucked out of or blown into the room, there's a draft.

If you don't want to turn off your furnace, you can just turn on all your exhaust fans to depressurize your home.

Other air-leak detection methods include the following:

• Shining flashlight at night over all potential gaps while a partner observes the house from outside. Large cracks will show up as rays of light. Not a good way to detect small cracks.

• Shutting a door or window on a piece of paper. If you can pull the paper out without tearing it, you're losing energy. You may as well just shove some $10s and $20s through those cracks while you're at it.
  

  From U.S. Department of Energy Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy