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The Rural Missouri NEWS Service April 2007 | June 2007 | September 2007 | October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 |
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December 2007 ‘Tis the season to be safe Outdoor home decorations add to the spirit of the holidays, but safety experts warn that without the proper safety precautions, the dangers of decorating can take the fun out of the season. "Emergency rooms treat 164,000 ladder-related injuries each year, many of these during the holidays. Falls from ladders and rooftops can cause bruises, sprains, broken bones, severe head and internal injuries, even death," cautions John Drengenberg, manager of Consumer Affairs for Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), the not-for-profit product safety testing organization. "And, misused electric lights and extension cords can deliver shocks and create power outages as well as causing serious electrical burns and home fires." Safety experts from UL and the National Fire Protection Association offer the following tips when you’re decorating out-doors: Ladders
Lighting
“Outdoor decorating mishaps may make for funny moments in movies and on television, but in real life they are no laughing matter,” Drengenberg concludes. “Taking time to observe these precautions can help you enjoy the holidays.” For more safety information, visit UL’s Web site at www.ul.com/consumers or the NFPA’s Web site at www.nfpa.org. Tree trimming safety tips A fire on any day seems bad, but a fire on Christmas seems to be the worst. Some 300 Christmas trees caught fire in one recent year, with electrical problems the most common culprit. Here’s how to keep your tree green and your presents safe.
Christmas Fire Facts and Figures Christmas trees were the items first ignited in an estimated average of 300 reported U.S. home structure fires per year in 2000-2004. These fires caused an average of 14 deaths, 21 injuries and $16.8 million in direct property damage per year. These statistics include both real and artificial trees. On average, one in every 22 reported home Christmas tree fires resulted in a death. More than four of every 10 home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems or malfunctions. One in four (24 percent) home Christmas tree fires resulted from a heat source placed too close to the tree. Six percent were started by children playing with fire. Holiday lights (or other decorative lighting with live voltage) were involved in 16 percent of the home Christmas tree structure fires. Fixed or portable space heaters were involved in 6 percent of these incidents. No equipment was involved in 47 percent of these fires. Candles were the heat source in 12 percent of the home Christmas tree fires per year between 2000 and 2004. Two-thirds of the home Christmas tree fires were re-ported in December; 20 percent were reported in January. During the same five-year period, 80 outside or un-classified fires began with Christmas trees, on average, per year. Two-thirds of these fires were intentionally set. Fifty-four percent of the outside and unclassified home Christmas tree fires occurred in January. Note: These statistics from the National Fire Protection Association are based on fires that started with Christmas trees and do not include fires starting with other products. A small fire that spreads to a Christmas tree can very quickly become large. Prepping for winter’s chills Time will tell whether this winter proves to be mild or severe. But for certain you can count on a gradual “cooling down” of outside temperatures for the next three months. Now’s the time to prepare for winter’s chills. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Americans spend $1 million a minute on energy or $525.6 million annually. Forty-two percent of that cost is for heating and cooling our homes. Without getting too “scientific,” it’s good to know how heat moves. Heat naturally flows from a warmer area to a cooler area in one of three ways: conduction, convection and radiation. Conduction is where heat transfers directly from mass to mass — as in a pan being heated on a stove. Convection is the movement of heated air from one space to another. Most homes have ducts to carry heated air from the furnace throughout the house. Radiation occurs when a heat source gives off heat toward a cooler one. When you sit in front of a roaring fireplace, for example, you feel its radiated heat. In heating our homes, we use insulation to reduce the radiation and transfer heat by convection with a minimum of conduction. Typically, we set our winter thermostats higher than needed. If you’re wearing sleeveless tops and shorts and going barefoot inside your house in the middle of winter, you’ve got the thermostat set too high. Lower it to 68 degrees, and you’ll be perfectly comfortable if you dress for winter, not summer. That means layering on long-sleeved shirts, sweats, sweaters and socks when inside as well as outside. Every degree you lower your thermostat will save you money, and you’ll still be comfortable if you dress for the season. The best way to keep the warm air in and the cold air out — and see real savings to your heating bill — will come from making changes in these five key areas:
A few other simple steps can cut more dollars off your heating bill. For example:
The Energy Star Web site at www.energystar.gov offers excellent advice on prepping for winter. You can download information on home sealing, duct sealing, general heating and cooling advice and much more. Measure your home energy use A handy energy yardstick calculator on the Energy Star Web site in the Home Improvements section allows you to see how your home energy use stacks up against others with the same size and age of house, number of occupants and source of heat. Enter specifics about your house and the amount and cost of kilowatt-hours over 12 months (available on your monthly electric bill), and you’ll receive a report on how your energy use measures up. Households that use less energy than the average receive a score between 5 and 10. If your score is higher than average, the site provides ideas for reducing your use to a level that could save on your energy bill. One factor in the calculation is how many “heating degree days” (HDD) you experience. For example, when the average outdoor temperature is below 65 degrees, most homes need heat to keep the inside temperature comfortable. Each degree the average (mean) daily temperature is below 65 degrees counts as one HDD. If the average daily temperature for yesterday was 45 degrees, it would count as 20 HDDs. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=home_energy_yardstick.showStep2 No more drafts and leaks: tips for caulking, sealing and weatherstripping If you’re of a “certain age,” chances are you grew up in a drafty, wood-framed farm house with little or no insulation. Often, rooms were shut off to conserve heat in other rooms. You constantly stoked the wood stove to keep it going, and in the “front room,” which was heated with an oil-burning stove, you swung between blasts of hot air and drafts of icy air seeping in when the stove wasn’t running. Those days for most of us are long gone, but there are still plenty of drafty, leaky homes out there. Those leaks can waste 10 to 15 percent of your heating dollars. Simple weatherstripping and caulking can stop most of the leaks. By the way, generally, you don’t have to worry about sealing your house too tightly if it’s an older home. Fresh air is needed for good indoor air quality, and if you’re concerned about how tight your home is, hire a contractor. You can download Energy Star’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Energy Star Home Sealing from www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_sealing.hm_improvement_sealing. That useful guide and the Energy Star home sealing section offer these tips on where to look for leaks and what to do to stop them.
Common household air leaks The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Energy Star Home Sealing identifies these common locations for air leaks:
Don’t duck duct care Ducts are like big hoses that distribute warm air throughout your house. Because they’re usually concealed in walls, ceilings, attics and basements, it’s easy to forget about them. But over time, ducts can become crushed or flattened and develop cracks. Duct tape can dry out and fall off. It won’t last long, so don’t use it. Uninsulated ducts also lose heat. In fact, as much as 20 percent of heated air can be lost because of faulty ducts before it even reaches the rooms you wish to heat. If you have high winter and summer utility bills; have rooms that are difficult to heat and cool; have stuffy rooms that never seem to feel comfortable; have ducts in an attic, crawlspace or garage; or have tangled or kinked flexible ducts, then chances are your ducts are leaking. When sealing ducts, first fix the ones that will make the biggest difference:
Download Energy Star’s Duct Sealing at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c+home_improvement.htm_improvement_ducts for more tips on duct care. What to know about furnaces and space heaters Your heating system, if it’s fueled by gas, oil or electricity, is your principal energy cost. Types of systems include forced-air furnaces, ground-source heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps and boilers. If your furnace or heating system is more than 10 years old or not keeping your house comfortable, have a professional HVAC contractor check it out. When it’s time for a replacement, consider an Energy Star unit, which can save 15 percent to 20 percent over a conventional model. Here is some good advice for preparing your heating system for winter:
If your heating system is old, consider updating it. A pre-1977 gas furnace is probably 50 percent to 60 percent efficient today. That means only half the fuel used by the furnace actually reaches your home as heat. Modern gas furnaces, on the other hand, achieve efficiency ratings as high as 97 percent. Of course, new furnaces and boilers don’t come cheap. Expect to pay several thousand dollars or more. Portable heaters could save money if you’re willing to keep most of your house chillier and use the heater in just one room; otherwise, portables will cost you more, not less. Insulate the dickens out of your home Think about wrapping your house in a warm blanket. That’s what insulation does, but even so, much heat can be lost through small cracks. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, roughly 80 percent of older homes are underinsulated. Insulation is measured by R-value: a material’s ability to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. Typically, an R-value of 38 for ceilings and 19 for walls and floors is recommended but could go as high as 49 in colder areas of the country. University of Missouri Extension recommends a minimum of R-30 to R-38 for ceilings, R-20 for walls, R-13 for floors and R-20 for floors over unheated crawl spaces. Today, insulation comes in many different forms. A comprehensive table at http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/agengin/g01721.htm compares the R-values of different materials, specifically: glass or mineral wool batt; expanded polystyrene-extruded and molded; expanded polyurethane; cellulose, glass or mineral wool loose fill; brick; plywood, fir or pine boards; gypsum or plaster board; fiber board; carpet; concrete blocks; siding; air space; and windows. Regardless of what insulation material you use, here are useful tips from Energy Star, the University of Missouri Extension and www.consumerenergycenter.org on where to insulate:
Don’t forget to insulate these often neglected areas:
An insulation word to the wise Two frequent insulation problems are poor workmanship and moisture condensation. Neil Meador with the Missouri Department of Agricultural Engineering points out that you’ll pay for the decreased effectiveness of improperly cut and fitted insulation as long as you own the house. During winter, moisture is added continually to the warm air inside your house, creating water vapor. When water vapor encounters a cold surface, such as inside an insulated wall, it condenses to a liquid, causing the insulation to become wet. Using a vapor barrier will stop water vapor from entering the wall or ceiling and condensing on cold surfaces. Stop messing with the thermostat Seems like most families have members who “run hot” and others who “run cold,” resulting in constant fidgeting with the thermostat. Some like it hot, and some like it cold. It’s true that seniors, small children and invalids may benefit from higher temperatures; otherwise, consider the following information about regulating the thermostat:
Windows and efficiency Windows add personality to your home, allow sunshine in, provide views outside and enhance air circulation. But they also can be big sources of energy leaks. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, about one-third of a home’s heat loss is from windows and doors. Single-pane windows are still common in older homes, and should be candidates for replacement. New window technology now offers double- and even triple-pane windows, windows with argon gas between panes and windows with special glass to reduce heat loss and the entry of harmful rays. These windows are much more energy efficient but also costly. Replacing all the windows in an average house could cost $7,000 to $20,000 and could take 20 years to pay back your return. Here are some tips for making sure your windows are as tight as possible:
Smart window shopping If your windows are beyond simple caulking and weatherstripping, if they’re rotting, don’t open or close easily, it’s time to go window shopping. Start by checking out Energy Star’s information about windows at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=windows_doors.pr_tips_windows. Energy Star windows can save 10 percent to 25 percent on your heating bill. Energy Star windows are independently tested and certified according to procedures of the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC). NFRC rates performance for several categories, including U-Factor, which measures the rate of heat transfer and tells you how well the window insulates. The lower the U-Factor, the better the window insulates. U-Factors range from 0.25 to 1.25. Other rating categories measure how well the window blocks heat from sunlight, how much light it lets through, air leakage and condensation resistance. Use Energy Star’s Climate Zone Finder at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=windows_doors.pr_crit_windows to determine your climate zone and the window ratings best for that zone. Most of Missouri is in the north/central zone. Roughly the top 50 miles of Missouri is in the northern climate zone. |
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