The complete source for building, designing, and remodeling green homes
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Pete’s Puzzle: What Exactly is a Vapor Perm?
[Author's Note, June 21 2019: I'd like to leave this story as is for the time being, even though--as my wife is wont to point out--I only got the story…
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The Best Velocity for Moving Air Through Ducts, Part 1
It's obvious that moving air too quickly through ducts can be a problem. Faster air means more turbulence, more resistance, and more noise. But I run into a lot of…
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How Often Should You Change the Filter?
One of the topics I've hammered on for years is the inadequacy of using rules of thumb for sizing air conditioners. The standard one ton of air conditioning capacity for…
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Wingnut Testing of Soffit-to-Ridge Venting, Round 2
It has been a while since I blogged about my first round of Wingnut roof vent testing, so here is a reminder of the questions that the tests should answer:…
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The Problem With Skin Flakes in Your Air Conditioner
I never read Robert Fulghum's book, All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, but I have a clear memory of learning about one thing in the book: …
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How to Ensure a Low Pressure Drop Across a High-MERV Filter
Last August I began a series of articles on filtration and indoor air quality. You can find them listed in the related articles section but let's do a quick review…
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Heat Pump Balance Point and the Building Enclosure
So we've looked at a simple way to estimate the heat pump balance point. Then I showed how the capacity of the heat pump affects the balance point. (A larger…
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How (Older) Homes Work
Opportunities for builders to obtain building science education may seem scant, but opportunities for people who own and operate buildings -- particularly homeowners -- are even rarer. About two years…
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A Simple Way to Calculate Heat Pump Balance Point
As the outdoor temperature drops on a cold day, there's less heat in the air for the heat pump to pump indoors. And at one special temperature, the balance point,…
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Three Types of Heat Pump Heat
Since more people are using heat pumps these days, even in cold climates, let's spell out the three different types of heat that conventional heat pumps provide. Why not? We've…
