One of the best ways to reduce the electricity your AC system consumes is to program your thermostat. But if you're building a new green dream home or upgrading your HVAC system, then going with hydronic heat and a multi-split heat pump system may be the most efficient you can get.  If you...
Push your Green Button The idea for the utility Green Button was first put forth by U.S. CTO Aneesh Chopra in September 2011 when he was wondering why we can't do the same for energy data that we have proposed for health care data (with the newly created blue button). In the post announcing the...
I saw a post on CleanTechnica last week that highlighted a report prepared for the International Window Film Association that said "Window films are a more cost effective retrofit opportunity for homes than other measures, however, especially in homes with single pane glass." Regarding the figure...
If you've been listening to lying politicians and their grand plans to lower the price you pay at the pump I have one piece of advice for you: Stop Listening!  This issue drives me nuts, because it seems to be an issue that politicians love to lie about yet nobody calls their b.s.   When...
I'm going to admit it: I haven't tracked my utility bills for almost 6 months. Well, that's not totally true. I do glance at them for a few seconds when I get an email alert that my bank account will be automatically drafted the bill amount, but that's about it. My massive electric utility company...
Ford Focus Electric Ford Motor Company held a Drive Event at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, GA this past fall and I was able to get some  pics and videos up close with the new Ford Focus Electric as it charged at the free Solar Charging Spot at Atlantic Station. Free Solar Charging Point at...
Solar PV RV The following guest post on solar pv power for an RV is written by a friend of Mapawatt, Christine Walker and her husband.  When she told me what they had been up to I made her write the following as I knew it was perfect content for Mapawatt. ----------------------------- Solar...
The following guest post was written for Mapawatt by Don Lloyd, author of The Smart Guide to Geothermal: How to Harvest Earth's Free Energy for Heating & Cooling. ------------------ I had done my homework and made a decision. My new home was going to have a geothermal heating and cooling...
Dakar Pajero Our regular readers may be familiar with my recent project to convert a '98 Porsche Boxster to an electric vehicle. I also have another energy/transportation-related project that has been in my garage for about 5 years. I recently completed converting a vintage Mitsubishi Montero 2...
traditional exterior design by burlington architect Smith & Vansant Architects PC As I've been learning more about trying to one day build my dream green home I've come across metal roofs.  I like the way they look and they can offer some nice advantages for clean energy and energy...
  We probably haven’t dedicated enough space to one of the trendiest items for politicians/business people trying to promote clean energy and energy efficiency: the smart grid and smart meters.  Probably because we think they’re a bit overrated, a fact we hit on in our post “Smart Grid – Who...
We probably haven't dedicated enough space to one of the trendiest items for politicians/business people trying to promote clean energy and energy efficiency: the smart grid and smart meters.  Probably because we think they're a bit overrated, a fact we hit on in our post "Smart Grid - Who...
I love a good play on words.  I really love a sustainably themed play on words.  Pedal to Petal is a company located in Victoria, British Columbia that among other things, offers a vegetable scrap pick-up service.  From their site, "For 5$ a pickup, we'll haul your kitchen scraps away by bike and...
While I've featured my compost pile before, I don't think I've dedicated a whole post to it.  We've had a pile below our deck for almost three years now.  It is probably one of the easiest, cheapest, and most rewarding sustainable project you can do.  Here are the instructions for building your...
Americans (both consumers and the media) have been slow to embrace the EV future.  Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) recently addressed this issue with their excellent post, "Why So Many Critics After 17,000 EV Sales in First Year?". They explain why RMI embraces an EV future: Rocky Mountain...
What if appliances were powered by gas? Have you seen that awesome commercial for the Nissan Leaf where all the appliances are powered by gasoline?  You know the one, where hair dryers, laptops, iPods, dentist drills, etc are powered by gas and all the air pollution goes into everyone's face.  ...
I have to admit, the Dyson Hot space heater is a good looking heater, and it damn well better be at $400 a pop! We've covered electric space heating in exhaustive detail and even very expensive electric space heaters  (Edenpure) , and the complaint has always been that they are fine for heating...
I wrote an introduction to power factor correction devices a few years ago and then last year we showed you a test done by a news station proving that power factor correction doesn't work . Thanks to Xcel Energy for featuring the following question on whole house power factor correction boxes:...
The following information on home energy monitoring appeared as the first section in our free energy conservation guide.  If you want to start learning how to save energy, it's a great place to start. Itʼs much easier to stick with any program when you have goals, and the only way to ensure you...
As you may know we're not a big fan of small wind turbines (at least compared with solar PV) and we're even less a fan of alternator powered wind turbines (PMA turbines). Luckily our friend Alex at Open4Energy uncovered a product advertising false information in a small wind turbine called the...

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