Heating Hints, Part I

It's that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere – heating season prep! With temperatures hovering around 'brisk' in my neck of the Northeast, it's the perfect time to get ready for 'frigid' (and its friend, 'skull-numbingly cold'). While I could wait until it was 10° with a side of driving snow, somehow I'd much prefer to get it out of the way sooner. As an added bonus, winterizing my apartment now delays the day I'll turn on my heat, saving even more. In my experience, I can get to late November without burning a drop of heating oil, a therm of gas, or a coulomb of electricity.

So what is winterizing anyway? Everyone's heard of weatherstripping, adding insulation, or perhaps calking around pipes. Really ambitious homeowners will invest in triple paned windows, low-E glass, and a blower-door test. To understand these strategies, we have to understand the ways heat is lost: conduction, convection, and radiation. (if you already know this stuff, skip to the mod)

Conduction is heat moving through solid objects like walls, doors, and window panes. The best way to reduce conduction loss is to install insulation – namely foam, fiberglass, or dead air space.

Convection is heat moving through cold or warm air moving (technically it's any 'fluid,' including liquids, but we're focusing on air). The best way to reduce convection loss is to seal air gaps – weatherstripping, replacing old leaky windows, and sealing air leaks around plumbing and duct work.

Radiation is heat moving through infrared light. Everything warm "glows" with invisible infrared light. You can easily demonstrate this by warming your hands near a hot fire – your palms will feel hot, but the back of your hands are still cold. Everything warm emits this radiation. The best way to reduce radiation loss is to use low-E glass, aluminized ('silver') panels, or white-backed curtains. 

Ahh, but now we have to deal with our Apartment Constraints: no permanent alterations, and no long-term investments. So, window replacements are out. Insulation retrofits are out. Furnace replacements are definitely out.

One investment that isn't ruled out is weatherstripping. It's cheap (usually around $15/door and less for a window), but with 11 leaky windows and 2 doors I had something a little less expensive in mind.

3M Blue painter's tape, $2.99 at Lowe's

At 180 feet, this one roll will seal every window in my apartment, twice. It'll do a better job of it too, since I can prevent air leaks between the side of the sliding window and the frame. Trying to put conventional weatherstripping there would just gum up the works.

3M claims that it's safe to remove in less than 14 days. In my experience, it's safe to remove after 9 months. YMMV.

Start with the edge, I try to center the corner in the middle of the tape. Keeping the same amount of tape on either side prevents one from un-sticking due to too little contact.

Smoothing. Unlike caulk, I don't try for a rounded corner. If one side gets too 'greedy,' run along the opposite side for a bit until it corrects.

1/44th done!

The verticals are even easier: the tape stays taut on its own.

Smoothing them is basically the same.

The tape will ride up onto muntins. That's ok.

 I just rip the tape a little and stick it down on either side.

The sash-frame gap: before…

And after.

The finished window!

So there you have it: a cheap, easy way to fix drafty windows. I did this about a week ago, and the heat (set at 66°F) still hasn't come on, despite it being below 40 at night. I've got a few more mods up my sleeve, which I'll be posting about soon.

Until then, happy modding!

Tom

Refrigeration Roundup

When it comes to electricity use, there's an elephant in the room. Well ok, it's more like the 2001-esque creepy monolith in the room.

Way too similar for comfort.

Yep, it's your fridge. And according to the EIA, your refrigerator is the second-largest electricity user in your home, second only to air conditioning. If you're like the average American, the good ol' ice-less ice chest in your kitchen consumes a whopping 14% of your electricity.

Newer refrigerator models are substantially more efficient, so replacement is a good option. Unfortunately for many apartmentizens, refrigerators are often the property of the landlord. It's the same story as the inefficient stove: both parties have incentive to pass the buck. The landlord isn't paying the bill, and the tenants don't stick around long enough to recoup the investment.

What's the next best thing? Eco-modding, of course! 

The obvious is often the most overlooked: clean your refrigerator coils! Just like the heatsink in your computer and the radiator in your car, the coils release heat from the refrigerator into the air. The cleaner they are, the easier that happens.

The belly of the beast.

After un-plugging, it's time to get to work!

Before: not good

During: nasty work.

I also used an old sock to dislodge dust deep in the coils. The same sock n' vacuum technique worked well on the cooling fan, too (remember, unplugged).

Some refrigerators have the coils on the bottom, which makes them significantly less accessible than in this design. I'd recommend a dryer hose brush to get in there.

After: much win!

The protective cardboard panel and its mounting screws also found a home, thanks to scavenged hard-drive magnets.

Seriously, they can hold entire cookbooks.

Hopefully this will let the coils breathe better. I  make sure to keep a gap of at least 2 inches between the fridge and the wall.

---

The second thing to consider is placement of your refrigerator. Keep it away from heat sources, like ovens, sunny windows, or register vents (mine was near two out of three). The temperature around the fridge makes a huge difference in how much power it uses.

Behavior is also important. Keep your fridge full, if necessary using sealed jugs of water. Make sure wet food stays covered – the extra moisture frosts up the fins, making that wasteful defrost cycle happen more often. Consider unscrewing the lightbulb, as it both consumes electricity and produces unnecessary heat. If your fridge has a "Energy saver/Less sweating" switch, make sure that it's in the right setting.

Two in one eco-mod shot!

So what does that switch control? Believe it or not, it activates heaters in the walls of your refrigerator to prevent condensation. Yes, somebody actually thought that was a good idea. Other people agreed. Many other people.

The mind boggles…

'til next time, happy eco-modding!

Tom

Make Cooking Oil Last Longer

Ugh. Shoot me now.

My camera is temporarily out of commission, so today's post will be something I dread: a product recommendation. They feel cheap (in that they're not mods at all). However I think this one's pretty cool, and it's my damn blog. So, onwards!

Buying in bulk is cool for a few reasons. You save green, of course (that's dollars), but you also reduce packaging waste and trips to the store. In that spirit I always pick up the gigantic container of veggie oil at the supermarket, which goes for $6.49/gallon.

By 'always' I mean I bought one, once, 6 months ago

The disadvantage is that I inevitably use too much oil, even if I pour from a smaller container. By wasting oil, this micro-Valdez wastes the resources used to manufacture, package, and transport my slippery friend. It's also not great for my heart, which is something you really appreciate when you bike as much as I do!

Simply using spray oil is no good either–the empty cans create dramatically more packaging waste. Those disposable cans are also chock full of chemical propellants. Even though ozone-depleting CFCs are banned, their replacement can't be too great for the planet either.

So what's the solution? Enter Misto.

Oh soh sexai

Misto is a refillable sprayer for oil, but you can also full it with lemon juice, vinegar, or anything with a smooth consistency. It holds 3 oz at a time, and is a little smaller than those disposable cans. Rather than a pump sprayer like you find in (for instance) glass cleaner, Misto has a built-in pump in the cap to pressurize its contents. The cap acts like the handle on a bike pump. After charging the canister you use it exactly like those disposable cans: push and spray!

The downsides? The pump/cap isn't recyclable, nor is the plastic insert in the box. The bottle itself is highly-recyclable aluminum though. I anticipate it lasting a long time, and it's worlds better than those disposable sprayers.

I found mine for $10 at Wegman's, so it will pay for itself after displacing 10 disposable cans. After I get my cam back up I'll be sure to post a video of it in action. It's pretty nifty stuff.

Happy modding,

Tom

Pilot Light Delete

So the new place has a gas stove, which I have mixed feelings about.

First the good stuff. It's generally accepted that gas is easier to cook with than electric. You can turn the heat off immediately, and can adjust the heat more closely. I've gotten used to cooking on electric after doing it for the past year, so this one isn't a big deal. From a greenhouse gas perspective there's no inefficient power plant + transmission lines between the heat and your stovetop, so natural gas stoves emit less CO2 per unit of heat than electric ones. My old electric was especially bad, 'cause it had one of those clock/timer doohickies constantly sucking up juice.

Now, the bad news. With a gas stove less of the heat actually gets into the food. They mostly heat up the air around the pan, hoping that enough heat will conduct into the food before it rises away (to heat up your kitchen).

Moreover, a big (and avoidable) energy waster in natural gas stoves is the pilot light. Many older natural gas stoves have a always-on flame, constantly consuming energy on the off chance that you'll need to light a burner in the next half a second. Gas stoves with pilot lights use 40% more energy per month, on average.

Now, a homeowner could simply replace the stove: newer gas stoves have electronic ignition. This usually isn't an option for apartment dwellers like me, and even if it was allowed it doesn't make sense financially. For the renter on a 12 month lease there's no time to recoup the cost, and most of the time the landlord isn't paying for energy so there's no incentive on his part to buy better appliances. What's the next best thing? The pilot light delete.

Obligatory warning: The following actions are possibly dangerous, as a gas leak can cause explosive gas to build up in your apartment, resulting in an explosion or fire. If you're not confident around natural gas, don't do it or hire a professional. I am not responsible for any property damage, injury, or death as a result of anything you may undertake as a result of reading this. The following is for educational purposes only, showing the mod that I performed.

Now then, on to the mod!

Once the grilles were removed, I could take a peek inside.

Holy noodles! This thing looks like it hasn't been cleaned in decades. It was here I noticed another drawback of pilot lights – the heat attracts mice to live under there. Lovely.

This flame may look tiny, but since it's on all the time the energy waste is significant. The top of my stove was quite warm from having this little guy on all the time…

… yet there is a solution! This is the real money shot. The metal block is the backside of the oven control knob. After tracing the pipes it was pretty easy to figure out what everything was. From top to bottom we have: oven supply (big pipe going back and down toward the oven), thermometer (snakes down off through a hole in the top of the oven), oven pilot light (small pipe going back and down toward the oven), and the one I'm interested in: stove pilot light. This was easy to find, as the pipe goes straight to the pilot light. The screw on the pipe controls whether the pilot light is on and adjusts the flame height. You'll also notice the cylindrical splitter, since the left and right side actually have separate pilots.

So, trusty multi-tool in hand, I turned the screw clockwise to shut off the gas.

The next step is very important. I put my nose right up to the pilot light and smelled for gas, careful not to burn myself on the hot metal. Natural gas has that lovely rotting egg smell, so it is detectable at very low concentrations. Despite not smell too great under there I didn't get a hint of egg. I also tested for gas by holding a lit match to the pilot light. If you do smell gas even after fully closing the valve, just open it again and use a match to re-light the pilot – apparently your stove's pilot can be adjusted, but not shut off.

So now to light the stove I use the sparker on a long-neck lighter. Turn on the gas, spark, and it lights right up. It may be less convenient, but every time it reminds me of how much I'm saving!

The astute reader will also notice that I've only killed two out of three pilot lights: the oven's pilot is still on. However, the oven needs to turn itself on and off to maintain temperature, so it really does need one.

Happy modding,

Tom

What's All This Then??

Hi! Tom here. You're my first and only reader! Congrats.

An Apartment Eco Mod is exactly what it sounds like–a do-it-yourself hack that saves resources or reduces waste. Going green is a hot issue, but for the 30 million apartment dwellers in America there can be constraints to consider:

1. All modifications must be reversible. No holes in the walls.
2. Barring that, modifications must be inoffensive or easily over-looked.
3. No alterations to the exterior that change its appearance.
4. No major appliance replacements.
5. [Often] a restricted budget. Mods should be low-cost or no-cost.

… and yet there's still so much left we can do!

This site will be part project log, part schwank ideas from elsewhere, and part reader submissions. I'm gonna try to keep this free of the obvious stuff that everyone's heard before. Happy modding!