Build Your Own Rain Barrel To Save Money, Environment

According to the EPA, during summer months, lawn and garden watering account for roughly 40% of a typical home's water use.

It's a statistic that reminds us how "green lawns" can be wasteful to both the environment and household budgets  -- especially with drought conditions expected and water costs rising in many U.S. municipalities.

As a homeowner in Encinitas , to help Mother Nature and your wallet, consider added a rain barrel to your home.

A rain barrel is a rain-capturing system that collects and stores water runoff from your roof. Often attached to a home's gutter system, a standard rain barrel collects and holds 55 gallons of water which can then be reused to water plants, wash cars, and clean driveways among other uses. Because the water is natural (i.e. not treated with chlorine or lime), it's also ideal for window washing.    

Rain barrels can be purchases at most hardware or garden stores, or online via Amazon.com, for example. Or, they can be hand-built.

To install your rain barrel, first find a location for it, either under a downspout or near one. Make sure to select a stable location because water weighs roughly 8 pounds per gallon. A full rain barrel will weigh over 400 pounds, therefore, so be sure the ground beneath the it is solid and flat.

Next, if your rain barrel is hand-built, use PVC piping to reroute falling water into the mouth of the barrel itself, making sure to create a water-tight seal between the piping and the downspout. Or, if you're using a store-bought rain barrel, follow the manufacturers instructions to "connect" the rain barrel to the downspout.

And, as the last step, be sure that the mouth of the rain barrel is protected from outside debris such as leaves, flowers and bugs. A formal lid or a covering made of wire mesh makes for a suitable protective cover. Most store-bought rain barrels will be sold with a covering.

That's it. Just remember that basic maintenance will be needed. Water caught by a rain barrel should be used regularly to prevent "standing water" and protective screens should be cleaned regularly.

For a step-by-step guide to building your own rain barrel at home, click here.

Improve Your Home's Air Quality

How healthy is the air in your home?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a common class of airborne toxins known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) is ruining indoor air quality, and causing some U.S. homeowners to become dizzy, asthmatic, and ill.

VOCs are gases emitted by certain, common household products, including paint and paint strippers, cleaning supplies, and copiers and printers -- even when the aforementioned products aren't in use. You can find VOCs "everywhere" because organic chemical compounds have become essential in everyday life.

VOCs are what give cars that "new car smell". They're also the cause of "Sick Building Syndrome".

As a homeowner in Windingwalk , VOCs in your home can make you sick. Therefore, the EPA advises homeowners to take the following steps to reduce VOC levels in their respective homes and improve and home air quality.

1. When using VOC-emitting products such as paints and paint thinners, keep a well-ventilated home.
2. Avoid purchasing cleaning supplies or paint in bulk. Buy only what you need.
3. Never mix household cleansers. It may yield unintended results.
4. Throw out "dry cleaning bags" as soon as possible. Most dry cleaning makes use of harmful VOCs.
5. Do not burn tobacco products inside your home. 

There are a half-dozen other recommendations, too. They're listed on the EPA website.

You can't remove VOCs from your home, but you can minimize their negative effects. And keep your household as healthy as possible.

This Summer, Cool Your Home For Less Money

According to ENERGY STAR®, the typical household spends close to $2,000 per year on heating and cooling, and up to $600 of those costs are a waste; the result of energy inefficiencies in every U.S. home.

With the hot months of July and August ahead of us Temecula in , therefore, consider these simple-to-follow, cost-saving tips for keeping your home cool. None are expensive and each can yield quick results.

First, convert your home's light bulbs to to CFLs.

It's well-known that CFL bulbs use less energy than comparable incandescent bulbs, but they also generate far less heat. A "traditional" bulb converts 97.5% of its electricity into heat, which will require extra cooling in your home. CFL bulbs give off heat, too, but at a fraction of the level of an incandescent.

Next, make sure your HVAC air filter is clean. A dirty filter can add up to 7% to your cooling costs because your HVAC unit works harder to move the same amount of air. Change your filters quarterly, at least. If your home has shedding pets, consider changing monthly.

There's other steps you can take, too, including:

1. Keep your shades drawn. By blocking out the sun through your windows, you can lower a room's temperature by as much as 20 degrees. That will require less cooling.
2. Tune your HVAC unit. If you air conditioning unit has not been inspected this year, call a service technician to make sure it's running optimally.
3. Use a programmable thermostat. When you're not home, set your home's temperature to be higher. You don't need to cool an empty home.

And, lastly, use your ceiling fans. A room's temperature can feel up to 8 degrees cooler when a ceiling fan is running. Just remember that the ceiling fan cools you and not the room. Remember to turn it off when the room's not in use.

Get customized cooling recommendations from the EPA.

How Do I Clean Up A Broken Compact Fluorescent Bulb?

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are widely praised for their energy-efficiency and relatively low price points. However, unlike traditional light bulbs, they pose a specific health risk to humans and pets.

Most compact fluorescent light bulbs are loaded with mercury vapor and mercury is poisonous -- even in very small doses.

And, unfortunately, sometimes light bulbs break, releasing toxins into the air.

To assist homeowners in San Diego , the EPA published a series of CFL-handling guidelines on its website under the heading "How Should I Clean Up A Broken Fluorescent Bulb?".

The EPA's advice is specific and geared toward safety. A few of the tips include:

1. Have people and pets leave the room immediately
2. Shut down your home's HVAC unit to prevent airflow
3. Using rubber gloves, place glass fragments and "powder" in a glass jar, or sealed plastic bag.

In addition, the EPA says to throw out all clothing and bedding that has come into direct contact with a broken bulb. You should not attempt to wash items such as these. They may contain mercury fragments that could contaminate your laundry machines and/or your sewage system.

Lastly, make sure to keep your CFLs separate from your regular trash; they're not meant for landfills. Compact fluorescent light bulbs should be recycled with a verified waste management company.

You can find one at http://earth911.com.

Water Conservation Tips For Your Home And Garden

 

According to the EPA, the average U.S. household spends close to $500 each year on water and sewage bills. But by making just a few small changes, that figure could drop by as much as $170 annually. It's all in how you use your water.

In this 4-minute video from Lowe's, you'll learn basic water conservation techniques that you can immediately put to work.. 

Some examples:

• Don't rinse food from dishes before putting them in a dishwasher. Scrape the dishes instead.
• When brushing your teeth or shaving, turn off the water at the sink.
• Use a rain barrel to capture rain, then use the rain to water plants and shrubs.

There's a host of tips in the video but the recurring theme is that you should never "leave water running". This is because water at home is "treated" water and the amount of energy required to treat 5 minutes' worth of water from a faucet is equivalent to the amount of energy required to run a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours.

That's a lot of energy.

Water is a precious resource, and it can be expensive, too. Therefore, help the environment and your budget at the same time -- practice water conservation at home.

How To Prevent Mercury Poisoning With CFL Light Bulbs

According to the EPA, if every household in America replaced one "traditional" bulb with an energy-saving compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) light bulb, it would result in $700 million in energy cost savings each year, plus a greenhouse gas savings equivalent to that of 800,000 automobiles.

They're expensive, but CFL bulbs tend to pay for themselves in less a year, and often last for several. It's no wonder they're so popular with homeowners in Temecula.  But, CFLs also come with health risks.

 

Namely, CFL bulbs contain mercury -- an average of 4 milligrams per bulb.

 

The mere presence of mercury doesn't make CFLs dangerous. It just means that you should exercise care when handling them, and take certain precautions when disposing of them.

The Environment Protection Agency offers some tips:

1. Screw/unscrew the bulb from the base and not the bulb to prevent breakage
2. Never force a CFL bulb into a light socket
3. When the bulb burns out, bring it to one of 3,106 recycling centers

The EPA website also give guidance for dealing with broken bulbs. Among the recommendations: Don’t wash mercury-covered clothing to prevent contaminating other clothing, too, and don't vacuum up the poison, either. There are special handling instructions to prevent poisoning yourself and others in your household.

The EPA's CFL safety PDF is 3 pages long and can be viewed on its Web site.

CFLs provide long-term energy and environment cost savings. And, with some common sense care, their risks to your health can be minimized.

How To Improve Your Home's Indoor Air Quality

An EPA study shows that close to dozen common air pollutants are 2 to 5 times more concentrated indoors versus outdoors, regardless of whether the home is is located in Rural America, or in an industrial zone.

The cause is volatile organic compounds, more commonly known as VOCs.

VOCs are gases emitted from certain liquids and solids including paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, air fresheners and permanent markers, among others. In the short-term, can cause respiratory irritation. In the long-term, VOCs can lead to "Sick Building Syndrome", cancer and other illnesses.

There are a number of ways to keep VOC levels in your San Diego home to minimum and the EPA published some tips to help with home health safety. The advice includes:

1. Meet or exceed all product label precautions
2. When buying paints and chemicals, don't buy bulk. Buy only what you need. Dispose of the rest.
3. If a product label says "use in well-ventilated area", move to the outdoors or use a fan

VOC levels can remain elevated for long periods of time even after the VOC-generating activity is completed.  Therefore, take care to protect your home and your health.

Read the EPA's complete guide to volatile organic compounds on its website.