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....
by srmi | Sep 17, 2013 | Energy News
John Krigger has practiced home performance and energy efficiency for more than 30 years. Over that time he’s collected a lot of research papers and articles.. We were doing some house cleaning recently and came across some of these older articles and papers in...
by srmi | Sep 7, 2013 | Energy News
Foundation Moisture Problems Many brand new homes have foundation moisture control problems even though these problems are easy to prevent during construction. The moisture problems include the following. Crawl spaces and basements become moisture sources by leaking...
by srmi | Aug 27, 2013 | Energy News
Dampproofing and Waterproofing for Foundations For basements and crawl spaces, install dampproofing, waterproofing, capillary breaks, insulation, and drains as soon as possible so that rain during construction doesn’t create moisture problems in the new home....
by srmi | Aug 18, 2013 | Energy News
Irrational Exuberance about Heat Pumps The Passive House and Net-Zero movements have spawned some irrational exuberance about heat pumps. When you build a home that requires less than 5 BTU/hr per square foot of floor space, you can often heat and cool it with...
