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Many new homes are being built with gas fireplaces instead of the old stalwart wood fireplace. Many consumers who have owned their homes for several years are converting their wood fireplaces to gas as well. Why are they doing this?  They are making these conversions simply because of the ease of use and also the almost immediate comfort that a gas fireplace can provide. Instant on, instant heat and no mess along with not having to store wood for the fireplace are just a couple of the attractive benefits of a gas fireplace. Read the rest of this entry »

Eco-Friendly hot water heating systems have become “kind of a big deal” in the last few decades, as more and more families and corporations are finding ways to help the planet AND save money. Using eco-friendly energy systems is such a win-win-win endeavor once you get past the intial investment spent on the technology.

Today we’re focusing on solar powered hot water heaters, evacuation tubes, and of course tankless water heaters. Tankless water heaters usually still use some kind conventional energy source, but nonetheless, they are much “greener” than the conventional water heaters.

It was the purchase of our Toyota Prius that got me thinking about other ways I can really stick it to the oil and coal companies. The cost of some of these domestic solar water heaters can really get up there, but still I want to look at getting it installed in my house. I’m also not sure how well it would work in Calgary, Alberta. We don’t get as much hot sun as the warmer climates get. I see there are solar water heating systems that can be used for colder climates as well.

Along with all of these interesting questions comes the another one – which brands of solar hot water heating systems actually work as advertised, and which ones DON’T??!! Below is just a small list of solar water heater brands. Keep in mind there are other brands we talk about here, on our Ec0-Friendly Water Heater Mini Site

List of Solar Water Heater Brands

• Dux
• Bosch
• Lowes (whatever brands they carry)
• Home Depot (whatever brands they carry)
• Ronas (whatever brands they carry in Canada)
• Helio-Pak
• Quality Smith
• Siddons
• Solex
• Sun Volts

Do Want An Active OR; Passive Solar Water Heater?

From what I have read on the Internet, there are two main types of solar water heating systems – the Active system, or the Passive system. What each system does I don’t know, but you can read allot more on the site we’re promoting today. A quick definition that explains the difference between an active system and a passive system, would be this;

Passive solar energy systems use the architectural design, natural materials, or absorptive structures of a building as an energy-saving system. The building itself serves as a solar collector and storage device. An example would be thick-walled stone and adobe dwellings that slowly collect heat during the day and gradually release it at night. Another example of a passive solar energy system is a greenhouse. Passive systems require little or no investment of external equipment.

Active solar energy systems require a solar collector (a device used to store energy) and controls linked to pumps or fans that draw heat from storage as necessary. Active solar systems generally pump a heat-absorbing fluid (air, water, or an antifreeze solution) through a collector.

That quote was found on the Enotes site (thanks!)

Now What About DIY Solar Water Heating Systems

So what about it? Lots! That’s what!!! You can find oodles of information on DIY (Do-It-Yourself) solar water heating systems. Just use the magic of Google, Yahoo!, or Bing to find out more. You can even have a VERY basic system made from bottles if you want, which you can see in the inset picture here, or read about it here. Needless to say, it can be done yourself, if you have the time, basic resources, and a little bit of money to seed the project.

For plans, instructions, and diagrams on how to build your own solar water heating system, I would go to this page at builditsolar.com

It looks like a whole bunch of fun making solar systems to heat up your water supply. Kind of feel like Swiss Family Robinson book (or movie). Always thought it would be fun to make a home by myself in the woods. Creating tools, and creating little inventions to make your life better, easier, and more comfortable. Anyway…..I digress.

Some of the kits that I found to be easy to setup would be like the $1000 dollar DIY solar water heating system. This is of course on the same web site. See this $5 dollar solar water heating system too!!

Then there is the commercial brands that you can install yourself, or have a company install for you. A perfect example would be the Helio-Pak Active Solar Water Heater System, which you see even more details on at the Solardirect.com site. We have a seperate page just for the Solar Direct Company as well if you are at all interested in their solar water heating product lists.

No matter how you slice it, “going solar” is very exciting, and worthwhile in so many ways. You can see from the DIY rescources online that the people of our world, with the use of the Internet, are taking it in their own hands and creating solar water heating systems for themselves and not waiting for companies like Lowes, Home Hardware, Home Depot, Ronas, Sears, Wal-mart, or Canadian Tire to produce and sell.

Ok. This a follow-up to my post Trafficmaster Resilient Slate Flooring by Allure.

My wife Betty and I started on a Friday morning removing our furniture, home theatre system, carpet and underlay from our living room. By Friday evening our floor was down.

Here are some pics of the finished floor. Click to enlarge! 

On the Saturday morning we did the baseboards, cocked them, and painted them. Little tip here just in case you are  replacing carpet and underlay with Trafficmaster planks.

When you remove your carpet and underlay you will notice your baseboards are way too high on the wall. After you have layed your Trafficmaster floor you still see the baseboards are too high. Don’t go through the hassle of removing the baseboards and replacing them, and don’t worry about buying new baseboards. Just leave the old one where they are.

Then go down to the hardware store (Home Depot….whatever) and buy some molding to nail on the bottom of the original baseboards. Mask – cock – and paint all one color. No-one will ever know that it’s not one baseboard. High reaching baseboards seem to be “in” these days too, so it’s all good.

We moved our furniture back in and by Saturday night we were finished. I did allot of Internet research first and made a phone call or two using the 1-800 # provided on the back of the Trafficmaster boxes.

I thought we have to use underlay……we did not.

I thought we would have to remove the the baseboards……we did not.

I thought it would take all weekend to install the floor……it did not.

This was easy to install from beginning to end, and I highly recommend Allure for your new flooring project. We bought the Allure flooring at Home Depot.