What is a therm?


My Natural Gas Bill

If you must rely on fossil fuels to heat your home – whether directly by burning a gas or liquid (heating oil) in a furnace or indirectly through the mostly fossil-fueled electricity grid – then burning natural gas in your home furnace is the cleanest and most efficient way to do … continue reading


Energy Tools for Beginners - Part I - How Much Energy Do I Use?


Learning how to track your energy usage

I’m new to blogging on Mapawatt but have lurked behind the scenes building the infrastructure behind Mapawatt.com.  I share Chris’ vision of providing users with a trusted source of energy information and tools that will help us learn how we use energy.  For my first blog posts, I’d … continue reading

Turn off the damn lights!


The following piece on energy conservation was written by a reader who has contributed some excellent comments to the site.  David Fay writes from Harvard, MA where he and another son run Energy Metrics, an energy audit and consulting company.  If you live in the New England area, check them out for a home audit.  … continue reading


Electric Space Heater: Energy Saver or Glutton?


Electrical Space Heating – For the Dogs?

Electrical resistance  space heating is one of the most expensive and least efficient ways to heat your whole home; however there are a few applications where they might have their place.  When I was in high school I would turn my parent’s space heater on high in the … continue reading

Heat Pump : Will an air-source work for you?


Heat Pump Diagram

When you think about it, “pump” is a funny word isn’t it?  Heat Pump is also funny, because the name is a little misleading.  When you see Heat Pump, you only think about “heating”, but it can also be used to cool.  So really, it should be called a Heat/Cool Pump.  The … continue reading


Solar Showers - Residential Solar Thermal Hot Water Systems


Solar Hot Water Installation

As part of my quest to reduce my carbon footprint and because I love technology and tinkering with systems, I decided to install a solar hot water system in my home. Several years ago, I helped start a solar company here in Georgia and as part of that startup, I was … continue reading

Outdoor Wood Furnace: Heating with Biomass


The last few pages of any magazine are chock full of advertisements that sound too good to be true, and Popular Science is no exception.   For example, I recently covered Edenpure and Sunheat Infrared heaters.  Both of these heaters (they’re nearly identical) had advertisements in the back of Popular Science that promised to slash home … continue reading


EdenPURE Heaters: Yet another expensive space heater


OMG, It's Bob Vila!

I was finishing up November’s Popular Science magazine last week and I was at the point where I started getting to the bad advertisements at the end of the magazine.  And much to my surprise, I see yet another expensive space heater advertisement that claims to reduce your energy … continue reading

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