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This is TERRIFIC article about how to dry your clothes, why to dry your clothes, even how to wash your clothes more efficiently without buying the very cool top-loading washing machine that we did! Don’t Be an Energy Glutton: How to Wash and Dry Your Clothes Efficiently : Chelsea Green. We have just cut down several trees – a couple of young redwoods, two cedars, and two mulberries. While it was hard to cut them down, we are excited about having clear solar access for our garden, our house, and eventually solar panels. They were all blocking the morning light, were in the way of a clear path, or were (in the case of the cedars) falling down because of misuse. So, now we would really like to use them for our own purposes – a picnic table, for example. But how? After calling our Local Tool Lending Library (where we have happily borrowing an electric 18″ chain saw), they suggested we call around to see about a horizontal band-saw. We ended up at Healdsburg Lumber – who suggested a portable saw mill. So far, I have found a great article on portable sawmills, with links to different varieties to purchase for the “personal user’s forest.” We don’t really have a forest, though, and the cost for a pretty simple, manual Wood Mizer is $3700. Ouch! Now, if we had enough wood that we could make, say a deck, out of it, that would be terrific.. So, how much wood can we get out of our trees? Well, according to the Ohio State University Fact Sheet, if we have a 16 foot log with a 12 inch diameter, we can get 30 board feet. Except that our trees are not that big – while we have three logs that are about 12″ in diameter, they are all only 6 feet long. However, this fact sheet did explain clearly about how people go about calculating board feet. So, when I looked a bit longer, and found a Wood Board Calculator, I knew that I needed to check the “Doyle’s measurement,” which US foresters typically use as their form of measurement. It looks like, if I have done my calculations right, that we may have about 250 board feet waiting for us. That suddenly becomes worth it! So, onward in my search for someone who has a portable saw mill for us to use.
I didn’t get to meet Bill, but I did attend a memorable talk by Scott Pittman, a long-time friend of Bill’s. I had recently read Mansanobu Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution, and after the talk I asked Scott about a very provocative statement that Fukuoka-san made: “there is no rain in the desert because there are no plants.” Obviously we normally think of it the other way, that there’s no plants in the desert because of the lack of rain. In response Scott explained how Pseudomona syringe bacteria live on shrubs and trees and waft up into the atmosphere and become the ‘seeds’ that rain drops form around. Interesting, a scientific explanation for Fukuoka-san’s spiritual insight. That was enough of a hook for me, after graduation I spent ten years developing a permaculture teaching and design practice. Though I have spent the most recent ten years developing a slightly different line of work, permaculture is still near and dear to my heart, and we will be drawing out the process in the months to come as we develop our property. When I was actively teaching classes I collected definitions of permaculture to share with students, here are a few I particularly like:
~from Sustainable Living in Drylands
We’ll post more in time, the diversity of definitions is delightful!
This is your Gumview handyman again with his know it all tips. How will you know them unless someone tells you, you have to do it by trial and error. You certainly wont find out if you hire someone to do it for you. Today’s tip is how do I change the way the refrigerator door opens. Left or Right and it really depends, on your kitchen. Back in the stone ages, when you bought your refrigerator, you had to know which side your door opened. Refrigerators were made left or right and that was it. If you moved and the door needed to open on the other side you got to buy a new refrigerator or you suffered until you could buy a new one. In today’s world the doors can be switched from left to right. Here’s how to go about it.
You will notice that it looks like the gasket will not seal properly – I also had that loss of confidence. Don’t worry though – you only have to run your finger along the side of the gasket to get it to expand in place. You probably compressed it while hanging the door. I did the same thing but I used the same fix that I just told you. Congratulations you have just successfully switched the door on your refrigerator from left to right. In the process you saved your self at least one hour of paid professional time. Keep thinking green and you can do many things with a little help from your friends.
Saturday, December 6, 2008 When Laura Davison decided to spend some of her inheritance on landscaping the weedy slope next to her house, she knew she wanted a garden that would nourish both the land and her family. She also knew she had a problem. “The first year we were here, the water would just sheet down from the property higher up the slope, and this area would be mud. I couldn’t even walk out here; it was just slosh and goop,” she said. Her home is near Occidental in Sonoma County, which can receive 60 inches of rain a year. “My husband and I were wondering what we were going to do, and how we were going to figure this out.” Davison met a teacher at her sons’ school whose husband, Erik Ohlsen, had recently launched Permaculture Artisans, a landscape design and installation business. Permaculture – the word plays on “permanent culture” and “permanent agriculture” – strives for sustainability by incorporating ecological cycles and principles into land altered for human use. Ohlsen took his first permaculture class in 1999 from Brock Dolman, who directs the Water Institute at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. Interaction with water in the landscape has become fundamental to Ohlsen’s permaculture design practice. “I was inspired by the concepts of water harvesting, ecological watershed management practices and erosion control and everything to do with water in Brock’s course,” Ohlsen said. Continue reading Great Article on Permaculture and Water Harvesting Wallpaper removal is one of the many small opportunities that new homeowners have. The wallpaper these new homeowners had varied from a Rose Wallpaper that someone took a lot of care to paste on a wall, as trim, even on the light switches, to another wall, that had 3 different layers of wallpaper, and then gouged drywall beneath (likely a botched removal job.) So, how do I get rid of that terrible wallpaper so that I can prepare the wall for paint? After all, we want to be environmentally safe but we would also like it to be fast. These few tips works on all wallpaper. On vinyl wallpaper you may have to remove the top layer, the vinyl, which will not let the mixture soak through to the backing and loosen the glue. The vinyl wallpaper can be pulled off easily starting at an edge and just separating it from the base, where it is attached to the wall. To remove the rest of the wall-paper, the only thing you need is a spray bottle, vinegar, water, and a large bladed putty knife. You mixhot water with vinegar in a spray bottle, in a ratio of approximately two parts vinegar and one part hot water. Then, soak down the paper, waiting for it to soak through the paper and to the glue. Then, with the putty knife, gently remove the wallpaper from the wall, starting at one edge. You may have to keep wetting it down but you will be successful in removing this grotesque wallpaper with out hurting the wall. Just be gentle with the putty knife. Repairing Drywall After completing one room I moved on to the next and under the heavy vinyl wallpaper I found a wall with many scratches and gouges in the sheet rock. The solution for this problem turned into a more challenging opportunity. How do we smooth out the wall with out removing the drywall? Our solution turned out to be fairly simple. This next operation will require some skill, but can be learned as you go – and yes, you can do it! Here are the steps.
Sanding Drywall: In order to get the smooth, professional look of drywall, you must sand. We used a Rigid Orbital Sander, with an 80 grit sandpaper. Then you should lightly sand the wall (we used an 80 grip) to level out any ridges or bumps.
This is all a learning experience so take your time and don’t get frustrated. You can do it. Since we bought our house, we have had to make several major appliance purchases. We have to admit, it feels rather grown up – we have always rented places already furnished with these appliances. When thinking about our refrigerator, we had several criteria.
So, we looked for a refrigerator that had a great Energy Star rating (Efficient), that had a freezer on the bottom, and that was white (ie, standard mid-level – no fancy stainless steel for us!) What did we buy? (Drumroll, please…) We chose the 18.5 cu yard Amana refrigerator. Amana is a lower-tier line by Whirlpool. It has a fairly open, simple design, two spacious chill-drawers for fruits and vegetables, a meat drawer, and a bottom freezer drawer. The choice was between this and another Amana Refrigerator that had French Doors, which seems great because you only have to open one side of the fridge at a time, saving on energy efficiency, and there seemed to be slightly more storage. Although I really liked that one, we decided it wasn’t worth the extra money. We spent that money on a better stove – a great choice, in retrospect. We purchased our new fridge from Tee-Vax, a local, independent appliance store, where we also ended up buying our washer-machine. They gave us great service, and really guided our decision-making by asking terrific questions. What do we notice, three months later? This refrigerator is still spacious, easy to clean, bright and usable. The only downsides – I find myself wishing I had a little egg cart for it, and some of the plastic doors and shelves don’t seem as strong as other refrigerators I have used; I hope they last. Most significanly, the freezer drawer is actually a grate – which means all of the cold air floods out of the drawer when we open it, and the freezer must regenerate when it is closed. These subtle differences are all things that have to do with price point – we have learned that appliance manufacturers, as a rule, really know how to differentiate their price-points. So, not as efficient as we had hoped, but overall we are satisfied with our purchase. Energy Rebates None for this one, although we did get the $35 for returning the avocado dinosaur of a refrigerator left from when we purchased the house. Food Storage Systems We decided to get a smaller refrigerator (as opposed to the 21.5 or 25 cubic yard fridge) because we would like to get a full chest freezer eventually. This is a very efficient way to go. There are even plans to convert a chest freezer into a refrigerator – one of THE most efficient ways to keep food cold. Further, we may decide to an earth temperature food storage system; a walk-in cooler of sorts. More on that if/when we do it! What did YOU choose as a refrigerator? Don’t you wish you had a live in handyman that could do some small and large jobs? He is here helping to Green Gumview, a newly purchased home in Windsor CA. I started physical work October 6th, a month after they bought the house on September 17, 2008. The months before the owners have both been reading and investigating many of the available options that would meet their needs and help green the new home. There are many things that you would not know to do with out some help from your friends. First on our list: How do you get rid of an old double door avocado refrigerator so you can buy a highly efficient refrigerator that is also great to look at? PG&E has a program that allows you to get money {35 Dollars} and they will come out, disable the dinosaur and take it away. There are a few things that you need to be aware of.
Who knew?
My dad is a lifelong handyman, and very skilled. Before we bought this place we would refer to him as our “secret weapon,” as we were counting on his skill and time to help us purchase a fixer upper that most people would run away from, and hence get it for cheaper. That strategy seems to be have worked, as we got an excellent price on this place, and the Happy Handyman arrived with a year’s worth of pent up handyman energy and tore into projects with relentless zeal. We also sometimes refer to him as the big blue ox (Babe), or as the one who putters and stuff magically gets done. He is also sometimes known as the peanut gallery, a one man band of opinions! ;-) He’s helped us with a load of projects, and many times he just takes the initiative and gets things done. Genevieve and I both have full time work so we can’t always be doing as much as we would like, but my dad can keep plugging away with indomitable spirit. One thing he did, and this might seem like a small thing but it isn’t, was he changed out all of the electrical plugs and plates and most of the switches as well. When we got this place almost every electrical plug had a different face plate on it. Electrical face plates are really cheap, I don’t know why someone would have almost every one be different. In the master bedroom there were even metal faceplates, and our inspector got a good shock when he was testing it for current and the metal faceplate slipped off, boy, that was fun! Anyway, my dad went through and changed them all to a more modern style we had selected. Nothing fancy, but it’s amazing the difference it makes in the house. Small details like that add up, you’d be surprised how the little things make a difference. OK, that’s enough introduction, I’ll let him do the talking from here on out. Oh yes, as you might have guessed, he loves to fish. We need air filtration! Sanding the floor, sanding drywall, sweeping everything, dust is the remodelers constant companion. Old houses have an infinite supply of dust, it’s like flaking off skin or something. We’re waking up with stuffy noses most mornings, our sinuses and lungs are acting as the primary filtration units in the house right now, and that doesn’t seem like the best plan. Consumer Reports recommends whole house models and/or freestanding room models. The whole house version is an expensive unit that usually requires professional installation. That’s a quick order of magnitude price bump, out of the hundreds and into the thousands. The other whole house option is to upgrade to a higher quality filter. But our furnace somehow does not have ANY filter right now. Not sure how that is possible, but it confirms Mark Fallin’s definition of the furnace as the “dust collection and distribution system.” We’ll be fixing that soon, not sure how we will hack in a filter, but we need it. OK, so let’s look at the freestanding room models. Two units that received CR’s highest ratings: Whirlpool Whispure AP45030S, Kenmore Progressive 83202. I’m going out into the wilds of the internet to see what I can turn up …. Oy, trying to locate one of these was a nightmare. The Whirlpool Whispure and variations are still available, but they are now priced around $1000, not as reasonable as the former price of $250. I guess all of those positive ratings on Amazon and CR went to their head! Here’s what I decided to do, since several Kenmore (a Sears brand) air filters had decent ratings on CR, I took an unusual tactic and physically went to Sears. I am not a common visitor to the mall (except for regular sojourns to the Apple store, yum), but an air filter was a noble cause for a trip. It is no small thing to even locate the air filter section, it seems Sears employees do not train as diligently on item location as at other stores. As luck would have it there was a version of the filter that I thought would be a good fit there, and it was out of the box. I took it over to the nearest wall and plugged it in and tested it on each setting. I was my own consumer reporter, testing it primarily for noise. From what I could glean from the Amazon and Consumer Report reviews a HEPA filter is a HEPA filter, but noise is the weak link. It seemed quiet enough. I was in a hidden corner of Sears and there wasn’t much competing noise, it seemed like something I could sleep through on the lowest setting. And after having it home for a few weeks, that has been true, the white noise of the filter running on low provides no impediment to sleep. And it seems to be reducing our snuffles. |
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Below details our decision-making process for buying a new refrigerator, and a review “three months after” of our purchase.
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