by Sat-Jiwan Khalsa •
Last summer I covered green cooling strategies and water management topics as a way to cope with two our region's seasonal challenges. This month I've compiled some additional questions and answers about saving money, resources and reducing energy use in the effort to stay cool and keep your basement dry or manage other water issues. For the previous articles you can check the archives on-line at www.Takoma.com or free resources section on my website, www.Truthful-Living.com (Going Green: June 08, "Dry basements", July 08 "Strategies for Global Warming Summers", and August 08 "Cooling & Coping and Dealing with Downpours")
Beating the Heat
In addition to doing the best you can with nighttime cooling, closing windows and shades during the day, attic ventilation, awnings, and strategic fan use, you can maximize your efforts by reducing the heat and moisture that comes from cooking indoors. Try to move as much cooking as you can out of the house that you're trying to keep cool and dry with minimal air conditioning. If you have the opportunity, take advantage of "traditional" outdoor cooking by using a grill and/or moving toaster/toaster oven, food that's cooling down, and maybe a hotplate or portable "induction" cooktop to your porch or yard. As one drawback of widespread central air conditioning is the loss the front stoop culture, a side benefit of cooking outside will be increased social interactions with your neighbors,
Q: Which is the greenest grill? Gas or Charcoal?
A: It's common "green wisdom" that gas grills are preferred to charcoal because they have less particulate emission (and are faster and cost less to operate). And, while it's true that charcoal briquettes are often made of renewable waste wood sawdust, they often have nasty chemical additives or are "lump" charcoal made from larger, harvested wood. So instead of picking between the lesser of "two evils", and to really answer this green grill question, we should consider a few other options. (note: I'm not a grilling aficionado, but you can reclaim some flavors by using aromatic woods in which ever grill you use.)
Electric Grill - If your house is powered by wind or solar, an electric grill can eliminate emissions and the need to purchase or add fuel.
Corn (Pellet) Grill - There are some bio-mass grills that will take "pelletized" fuels such as corn or wood pellets.
Solar Oven/Cooker - Though limited by time of use and the weather, a solar oven/cooker can deliver great results for slow cooked meals of soups, stews, baked potatoes and vegetables.
Rocket Grill - take a tip from a play book of developing countries where a majority of cooking is done over open flames and fire wood scarcity and particulate emissions are problems. The celebrated "rocket stove" is used there to burn smaller pieces of wood, more cleanly at higher temperatures - reducing forest demands and combustion emissions. Based on this technology, Sean Gallagher of Takoma Park crafted a "rocket grill" to efficiently burn small pieces of wood that are otherwise mulch material.
Left: Rocket stoves are often made of salvaged materials such as metal buckets and tin cans. (source: solarcooking.wikia.com/) Right: Sean Gallagher's "rocket grill" combines technology from the developing world to more cleanly and efficiently host a barbeque. An insulated chimney is set up to burn smaller pieces of wood at higher temperatures. (photo: Sat Jiwan Ikle-Khalsa)
Working With Water
Q: Leanne asks: I was thinking about buying one of the barrels from www.Aquabarrel.com [in Gaithersburg]. I was wondering what size you all have? Also, do the workshops offer discounts on the barrel? I noticed the kits online are close to $200.
A: Aquabarrel is probably the best designed rain barrel I've seen (but I haven't used one personally or talked to an owner yet). They are made locally with some recycled/recovered materials... but they are a bit pricey (maybe less if you have a good reason to visit their place up on Route 270 and can pick them up yourself or do a bulk order with neighbors). Whole Foods in Silver Spring has barrels for $99 each. The design seems decent and nice aesthetically... made from reused olive barrels assembled in North Carolina (previously from Greece I'd guess).
Typically the rain barrel workshops have a discount and sometimes give free barrels for first 10 participants. Brookside Gardens, Friends of Sligo Creek and the Anacostia Watershed Society have regular events (See Takoma event July 19). And there many on line, do-it-yourself guides.
We have 4 barrels at 55 gallons each (standard size). They don't catch nearly all the water. So you probably need/want some kind of overflow area to complete the system, getting water away from the house with sloped grading, then using swales, dry creeks, and/or a rain garden to get that water back into the ground water further away from the house.
If you really want to catch a lot of water to reuse, look at above- and in-ground cisterns. If you just want to prevent run-off into the sewers, a big rain garden or two should do it. More info from Friends of Sligo Creek: www.FOSC.org
Beating the Heat AND Working with Water:
Sometimes you can save resources by working with more holistic solutions. Dehumidifying uses a lot of energy and if not run properly or poorly made, the units can burn out quickly. Elin helped kick off this discussion on the Takoma Green Building Group listserv, and tips about how to buy, how to operate, modify and alternatives all came up.
Air Tap "Hot Water Heat Pump" by AirGenerate, combines a few functions: heating water, cooling the air and doing a little dehumidifying at the same time. (source: AirGenerate.com)
Q: Elin asks: I've been spending time researching dehumidifiers for my basement. In the land of damp basements, would you be willing to post your experiences with various brands of dehumidifiers?
A: Personally, I've only been using and paying attention to the one in our house (5-yrs+ old, Kenmore Energy Star model). Even though it's Energy Star, I know it's an energy hog (and loud), so I'm investigating alternatives or more moisture avoidance in basement. And to top it off, most just kick out a lot of heat into the room they're in, reducing the attractiveness of an otherwise cool basement. Sometimes it uses 8 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day, doubling our energy use! I did some testing with a watt meter and even though it's rated to get 1.73 liters/kWh, it's operating 30-40% below what it claims. (Maybe it needs a tune up.) Since that amounts to about $150/yr, considering a new, more efficient one at this time could make sense.
A friend just made a purchase and advises: "I got the one that was the most efficient (2.022 L/kWh) and under $500. I just downloaded the Energy Star spreadsheet, sorted by efficiency and went down the list until the prices came out of the stratosphere. The bigger, MUCH more expensive models are MUCH more efficient (like 3.5 L/kWh), that's almost twice as efficient. They are "whole house" dehumidifiers that can be hooked up to vents, or run free-standing."
This house on the 2008 Arlington Green Homes tour created a drainage well/channel to keep water away from their foundation under a flagstone and gravel walk way. (Note the effort to keep plants, grass, soil, bugs away from the house.) (photo: Sat Jiwan Ikle-Khalsa)
Keith Winston of Earth Sun Energy Systems says that often they are run continuously and that can make motors burn out. Even with proper humidity settings, if a cheap unit "never turns off", you can just attach it to an outlet timer. Joe Edgel of www.greenrenovation.us tells us how he replaced a burnt out motor for about $50 instead of buying a new unit.
Keith and Mark Foster suggest a "Heat Pump Water Heater" (for the right situation, homeowners and usage patterns). It's kind of like a bolt-on dehumidifier or air conditioner for your water heater tank. One brand is AirTap by AirGenerate. Heat goes into the water, the air is cooled and some dehumidifying occurs (though only about 1 liter per day).
And as always, you can get more mileage from that dehumidifier or heat pump water to use on plants, do laundry, flush toilets, etc...
Sat Jiwan Iklé-Khalsa is now "low-flow" blogging at: www.Truthful-Living.blogspot.com and is a recent green home renovator and a green building/renovation consultant . Find past articles, local green building stores, info, resources, including annotated green house renovation photos and services at: www.Truthful-Living.com or call 301.891.8891
For latest green articles and discussion visit the Green Voice blog: www.takoma.com/green
Upcoming Green Events:
Takoma Rain Barrel Workshop - Sunday, July 19, 1pm, at Heffner Community Center, 42 Oswego Ave, Takoma Park. $30, pre-registration and payment required by July 15 (space is limited). To register, call TP DPW 301.891.7633 - check or money order payable to City of Takoma Park to TP DPW, 31 Oswego Ave, Silver Spring, 20910.
Transition Town Film and Discussion - Sunday, July 19, 4:30-6:30pm, at TPSS Coop (201 Ethan Allen Ave, Takoma Park - basement function room around back). Come for a one-hour film screening of "Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" - When oil and food imports were drastically cut in Cuba, self-reliant communities moved from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. Stay for a potluck discussion about how Transition Takoma and other regional "Transition" groups can prepare and adjust to peak oil and global warming. Bring a (preferably) local food dish to share and if you can, some reusable dishes. More at: TransitionMaryland.Ning.com
DC Solar Tour and Takoma Green Tour - (Save the Dates) This year's regional tour of solar homes is taking place on the first weekend in October (Oct 3-4, 11-5pm). On Saturday you can take a more walkable and bikeable tour of green homes in the Takoma area. And if you're not too busy with the Takoma Old Town Street Festival on Sunday, you can venture out to other DC-area solar and green homes. Check for future information at: www.SolarTour.org
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