Tight fit...new ASKO dishwasher installed

Today, the magicians from Boulder Valley Appliance fit a new ASKO dishwasher into a tight space. Turns out my counter height was 3/4" lower than is typical. It took a lot more work to get the old dishwasher out (over the ceramic tile floor that was installed up to the front of the dishwasher) and the new one in.

I'm using the liquid detergent from Seventh Generation because I heard from Eric Doub that some Asko models (theirs) had problems when using regular powdered detergent...too much sudsing.

See post from a few days ago below for dishwasher specs.

ReSource for recycled light fixtures

Today I ventured out to ReSource in Boulder. I always feel like I'm entering the set of the Mad Max movie when I visit. I found two sconces that might be useful as well as a couple exterior fixtures ($6 each). It's a great place to wander around.

I also stopped by the Boulder County Household Hazardous Waste area. I'm considering painting some of the fixtures. Does using spray paint that has already been manufactured and donated, but is still probably pretty toxic, qualify as a green building strategy??? Probably not.

How'd that get there...another CFL install

I thought I'd changed all, or nearly all, the lights in this wacky fixture that I have seven of sprinkled inside and outside my house. It looks like an emergency lighting fixture. Anyhow, I checked one in the hallway and ojala! Found a 60-watt incandescent light lurking inside. It took a total of five minutes to remove it and change it to a 15-watt incandescent. Hmmm...need to do a thorough check throughout the house to see what else I've missed.

Ceiling fan lights...easy change 120W down to 30W

With a friend coming to visit, it's time to move the ladder from the upstairs spare bedroom down to the garage. But first, better check what's hiding in the ceiling fan light fixture. I set the ladder up and remove the one decorative screw thingy that holds the fixture up and discover (not surprisingly) two 60-watt incandescent light bulbs. I put two 15-watt CFLs in and we're good to go. That entire process, including taking the ladder downstairs, took less than 10 minutes. How long did I put that off? We moved in in August...

Now I'm off to jump on the trampoline with my nephew!

Showerhead replacements...same amount of water, lower temp

My roomie Jessica noted that the showerhead in the downstairs bathroom delivered water that was too cold by the time it gets to your skin. I turned the temperature up on the water heater then went shopping for a new showerhead. I found a WaterPik brand at Wal-Mart. Funny to find the product made locally in Colorado at Wal-Mart. The price was less than $10.

The new showerhead uses the same amount of water 2.5 gpm, but now I can set the temperature down on the water heater, which will save energy 24/7.

Photo: old showerhead in hand, new showerhead installed

LED over-cabinet lighting in kitchen

Another place where LED lighting is starting to gain ground is in cabinet lighting. I saw some at Home Depot that was about 50% higher in price, or around $30 for a strip of 2 feet or so.

Instead of going under-cabinet, I found that using a string of white LED christmas lights (for $6.99 at King Soopers) provides an elegant touch for night way-finding lighting in the kitchen. Oftentimes you want to have the kitchen accessible (during TV watching or when someone is awake downstairs and I want some ambient light in the main area.

This string of lights draws less than 1 watt of electricity, so I don't worry about leaving it on all night. For now, it's just plugged into one of the outlets. I might want to fancy that up a bit and wire it directly to get that white extension cord out of view. But for now, it's a nice solution.

LED night lights

While LED lighting is supposed to be the next big thing, for many applications they just aren't here yet. Luckily they really have arrived for night lights. Check out this little fella i got at Home Depot, 2 for $7. This is a 0.35 watt night light that has a built in photo sensor so it turns off during the day. Considering that many night lights use a 7-watt light bulb and have no photo sensor this little baby is brilliant!

I have found too that using one in the bathroom allows quick bathroom use without turning on the overhead light at all. (I must note that someone who has to, say, stand up to pee, this might not be enough light!)

New dishwasher

Today I ordered a new dishwasher from Boulder Valley Appliances. Ive been looking for a few weeks and most of the models had ratings on their Energy Guide lables of 400+ kWh per year. When I went to the Energy Star website I found that ASKO makes several models with energy ratings of around 200 kWh per year. These models are also super quiet, which is helpful for me because the kitchen area is attached to the living room where TV watching and conversation often happens...but with the old dishwasher, it's too loud to run the dishwasher when anyone is using the living room.

There are many Energy Star models available out there. Most barely make the Energy Star requirement of beating the minimum allowable performance by 40%. The ASKO model I found beats the standard by 91%. How much more does it cost? Boy, it's so hard to tell. Seems like you can spend as much as you want on any appliance...ranging from the low end up to about four times more. I'd say that this one is a couple hundred more than the lowest price models I saw. I know these models use a lot less water too, but I don't have the figures on this yet. It's not published on the Energy Star website, so maybe I can find it on the ASKO website

ASKO Model D3122XLW
Energy Guide rating 242 kWh per year
91% better performance than min std
Cost $799
Deliver and removal and haul away of old dishwasher $65
Installation of new dishwasher $70
Taxes $44
TOTAL $978.37

Home on the Range

Today Warren Appliances of Longmont delivered a used electric range and removed my existing gas range. In the Home Performance With Energy Star testing we measured some carbon monoxide production from the gas burners and the oven. As I tighten the house more, I don't want to create a problem with indoor air quality. The other option would be to add venting for the gas range...I'm trying to seal the house and that would seem counterproductive.

This is not an energy saving strategy, but I think is necessary as part of thinking of the house as a system. I like that the range has replaceable elements which makes it easier to maintain longterm. I don't like that there's another glowing clock that uses a tad more electricity all the time. :-(

The range is a used Maytag range, which retailed for $275 and is costing me $322 to have it delivered and installed and the old one removed.

My roomie Jessica asked, what happens to the old one? It works and I'd hoped it would be resold but the delivery guy and co-owner of the store said it would probably be shipped off so China for the steel. Whoa!

Radon results...marginal

Today I received the radon test results in the mail. I'd sealed the crawl space vents and done the three day test, then mailed them in on February 26th.

You are supposed to set the radon tests in the lowest level of the home, where people live. So I set one in the family room on the lower level. I also put one in the crawl space to see what level it would be there, because that's where it would be the highest level and the source of radon in the rest of the home.

EPA recommends that you do follow up tests then take corrective actions to reduce levels to below 4 picoCuries per liter (pCi/l).
Living area: lower level family room 3.6 pCi/l
Unoccupied area: crawl space 27 pCi/l

While technically these results show okay levels in the living space, it does make me want to make sure we understand how any changes we make impact radon...hopefully reducing it.. as we move forward

Ahhh vanity: 240W --> 66W with new globe CFLs

Today I installed compact fluorescent lamps.... CFL bulbs in the vanity light fixture above the sink in the downstair bathroom. When I got here, there were six 40-watt incandescent light bulbs in the fixture. I tried taking some of these out and using swirly CFLs, but that looked ridiculous...basically.

Yesterday I found CFLs that said on the package 'ideal for bathroom vanities' and indeed they were. These CFLs were small globe shapes...the same shape as the original incandescent bulbs. The new CFLs are 11 watts each. So now instead of the original 240 watts this fixture now uses 66 watts. Cool!

They take a few seconds...about 30... to warm up, but my roommate and I decided that we like them.

Washer and dryer delivered

Today the new front loader washer and dryer were delivered by Appliance Factory Outlet of Longmont. They hauled away the old ones and hooked up the new.

The old dryer's venting was plastic, crimped and torn and had to be hurting the dryer performance. This time I made sure the venting was as robust as possible...but doing so meant positioning the washer and dryer in such a way that the folding bifold doors blocked the washer and/or dryer doors. Since the washer and dryer are in the closet of the downstairs bathroom, I decided to opt to remove the doors in order to ensure better performance and better access to the machines.

Not a choice I wanted to make. Probably could have stacked washer and dryer but I wanted the tops of the appliances for space for folding clothes or for laundry baskets.

Need to remember to contact the City of Longmont. I'm pretty sure this qualifies for a $50 rebate.