by srmi | Feb 17, 2014 | Energy News
Congratulations Dr. Al-Widyan! Congratulations to Professor Mohamad Ismail Al-Widyan, on his Arabic translation of Saturn’s publication: The Homeowner’s Handbook to Energy Efficiency. Mohamad is a professor of mechanical engineering at King Faisal...
by srmi | Jan 9, 2014 | Energy News
Why heat pumps aren’t the answer to space heat yet I talk to people who are convinced that the future of heating and cooling is heat pumps. If you have a passive house and you heat and cool with an on-site PV-powered heat pump, you are living this ideal...
by srmi | Jan 5, 2014 | Energy News
The combustion-testing paradox in our industry The recent literature review by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, titled: Assessment of Literature Related to Combustion Appliance Venting Systems, asserts that worst-case depressurization testing isn’t likely a...
by srmi | Dec 26, 2013 | Energy News
The Best Investment For Buildings We energy specialists brag about investing the customer’s money at 50% to 100% return on investment, which translates to a one or two year payback. Preventive maintenance (PM) can provide much better payback compared to insulation or...
by srmi | Dec 16, 2013 | Energy News
This post is a continuation of a description of applying liquid EPDM roofing to our existing black EPDM rubber roof. Here I discuss what I learned from that job. See Our New $2 per Square Foot Rubber Roof Inspect Your Rubber Roof – before applying EPDM rubber...
by srmi | Dec 12, 2013 | Energy News
On Thin Ice My wife Mary, our dog Finny, and I were this season’s first skaters testing the ice at Spring Meadow Lake. We didn’t invite anyone else for fear that the thin ice might give way. Fortunately, the 2.5-inch-thick ice sheet proved support enough...
by srmi | Dec 2, 2013 | Energy News
My Rubber Roof Dilemma I own a 6600 square foot commercial building, which houses Saturn and one other tenant. The roof is a 20-year-old black EPDM rubber which had puddles in five places. The roof had leaked for a few years during which time we paid a local roofer to...
by srmi | Nov 25, 2013 | Energy News
It was a bit chilly in Helena, Montana the other day. A cold front from Canada combined with clear skies to take the temperature down to 3°F. Great conditions for frost. Not Robert Frost the American poet. I’m talking about hoar frost. When conditions are the...
by srmi | Nov 20, 2013 | Energy News
Energy specialists have been using electronic combustion analyzers for decades. These analyzers measure the percent of oxygen in combustion gases. Oxygen is one of the reagents in the combustion process. If you find oxygen in the combustion gases that almost always...
by srmi | Oct 14, 2013 | Energy News
For new energy-efficient homes and superinsulated retrofits, I prefer steel siding to wood, fiber-cement, and vinyl siding. Wood cracks and cups, hail can destroy vinyl, and fiber cement is heavy and needs painted. Steel is lightweight, easy to cut, and recyclable....
