One of my favorite things about living in the Midwest is the seasonal changes. As we enter the fall season, I enjoy sitting outside on my porch and watching the trees along my street transform themselves into a carnival of orange, yellow and reddish brown colors. But as the leaves begin to change, so does the temperature.

I’ll tell you one thing, there’s nothing pretty about watching your utility bills go up during the colder months. With energy-costs expected to skyrocket this winter, I’m making a conscious effort to find more efficient ways to reduce my heating bill.

Just last week I was sitting in a meeting with our Homescape sales team, when one of our account executives, Mike Consoli, told me about how much money he has saved since installing a pellet stove in his home. My initial reaction was, “What the heck is a pellet stove?”

Wood pellet stoves
Wood Pellet Stoves are a new and very popular way to provide heat in homes. A pellet stove uses wood pellets as its primary heat source. These wood pellets are tightly compacted and dense, which allows the stove to burn powerfully yet very efficiently. Pellets usually come from the byproduct of sawmills and are very easily transportable due to their small size (about half and inch) and light weight. These days, the prices of stove-burning sources such as fossil fuels, chopped wood, natural gas and electric gas are gradually going up. Wood pellets, on the other hand, are inexpensive and easy to manufacture and cause very little pollution.

Mike lives in North Andover, MA, just outside Boston, in a 1930’s farmhouse that’s just over 3,500 square feet. So as you can imagine with the brutal winters in Boston, it takes a lot to heat his entire home.

Mike tells me that when the first floor in his home is heated the second floor is only “lukewarm.” The way his home is laid out, there’s a separate addition consisting of a large family room on the first floor and large bedroom on second floor. Both rooms have three exterior walls with six windows in each room (which acts as a conduit for cold air).

“I think that the number of windows really made it difficult to keep the rooms warm,” Mike said. “So, knowing that I’m pretty handy — he ran a small construction company for a couple years — I decided that installing a pellet stove would be economical and something I could do myself.”

Mike said he doesn’t have propane gas coming into the house, and wood stoves need much more venting than a pellet stove. In an effort to heat mainly the two rooms he had the pellet stove installed in February 2007. After getting the necessary permits, it only took him a single day to install it.

“The final result is that the two rooms I was concerned with are much warmer, actually too hot sometimes on the first floor. Depending on which doors we keep open or closed, we can heat most of the house, especially at night, with the heat from the stove rising up to the second floor all day long.

The following comparison shows the years, gallons of oil used and actual costs of heating Mike’s home before and after he installed the pellet stove:

Without pellet stove:
• 2005- 2006: 1,500 gallons of oil costing $4,050 = $2.70/gallon

• 2006-2007: 1,200 gallons of oil costing $3,104 = $2.59/gallon

With pellet stove:
• 2007- 2008: 890 gallons of oil costing $3,451 = $3.88/gallon

“Assuming the consumption of 1,500 gallons and having to pay $3.88/gallon last year, I saved over $2,300,” Mike says.

Cost savings
Prices for pellet stoves range from about $1,700 to $3,000 for the stove and from $150 to $400 for installation. When comparing prices of pellet stoves with those of wood stoves, remember that pellet stoves offer a substantial savings. They don't require installation of a full-height conventional chimney or flue, the most costly part of some fireplace and wood stove installations.

How does the cost of pellets compare with the cost of wood? According to Hometips.com, on face value, pellets are more expensive at $130 to $200 per ton, compared with firewood, which runs from $100 to $175 per cord. But comparing a ton to a cord is a bit like comparing a pound to an inch.

It’s better to evaluate usage. Wood stove users burn from 3 to 4 cords of wood per year. An average pellet stove will use from 1 to 3 tons of pellets per year. Figuring in the costs above, pellets are often less expensive than cord wood.

Thanks Mike for your helpful recommendation!

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

Once a year or so, the weeHouse hits the road to show off its unique features and educate the public on its innovative eco-friendly design. Last year, the weeHouse made its way to San Francisco. This year, with the support of General Motors and its Saturn division, the microhouse will travel to the A Clean Break outdoor exhibition located at 313 S. Broad Street at Spruce Street in Philadelphia.

The public will have an opportunity on Oct. 17-30 to view and walk through the weeHouse, which will carry the Saturn moniker for this outing. The weeHouse and VUE will be featured in a transformed vacant lot that becomes a prefab neighborhood for two weeks with full-scale modern, sustainable, affordable homes designed by architects from across the country.

The weeHouse STUDIO that will be on display at A Clean Break, was commissioned and used by General Motors to showcase the Saturn VUE, a hybrid SUV with a V-6 engine, and will be an information station for Alchemy’s weeHouse program, focused on single and multi-unit urban infill projects.

What’s a weeHouse?
Established in 1992, St. Paul-based-Alchemy Architects’ mission was to make stimulating, engaging and efficient design accessible and affordable for a wide audience of home buyers.

WeeHouses are dwellings that typically span from a few hundred to a little more than a 1,000 square feet. One-third the size of the average 2,400 square-foot home in the United States, these unique homes contain most of the amenities of larger dwellings, including kitchens and bathrooms. Many occupy just two rooms or sometimes two rooms plus a living area. Some microhomes compensate for the small layout by capitalizing on vertical space, custom-designing cabinets and furniture, raising ceilings to build in sleeping lofts or even using flat-roof space as a deck or patio area.

Good for the environment
The weeHouse program encourages efficiency in the design and planning process and ultimately in the production process. Utilizing 13 floor-plan templates, Alchemy is able to generate construction drawings quickly while integrating cutting-edge options including radiant in-floor heat, various heating/cooling methods and stylish fixtures. For the factory, these systemized drawings help to expeditiously procure stock that discourages waste. Factory production also provides a centralized location for the construction trades that come together to create the structure, allowing them to coordinate their work and reduce vehicular emissions generated from travel to the construction site.

In an age where energy costs have skyrocked, weeHouses are a contemporary, prefabricated, affordable housing solution for the 21st century.

Reinforcing A Clean Break’s mission to showcase examples of efficient, earth-friendly and cost-effective, readily available, architecturally designed solutions, the Saturn weeHouse features a myriad of green option features such as, LED, low-voltage lighting, Andersen energy efficient windows and doors, sustainable bamboo flooring and walls, and an outdoor deck outfitted with innovative lighting and eco-friendly furniture.

Alchemy has also been working with the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, part of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, to render theoretical weeHouse projects on existing vacant lots within the city.

Curated by Minima gallery, A Clean Break’s outdoor exhibition will also feature urban farming, environmentally friendly furniture, lighting, transportation, public art and other high-design, low-waste consumer products. A Clean Break is organized in conjunction with Design Philadelphia and National Design Week 2008. The annual citywide event includes boutiques, galleries, design studios, cultural institutions, universities, warehouses and city streets that become platforms for the throbbing creative impulse soaring throughout Philadelphia.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

Few would deny that these are trying times. Finding a way to live a good life in the face financial crises, uncertain weather, spiraling fuel costs, expanding population, decaying infrastructure, job losses — and the social unrest that all of this will undoubtedly foment — is a challenge, to say the least. I have some simple advice for how to carve out a niche that will allow you not only to survive, but prosper. And much of this relates to real estate and where you live.

Find a way to own your home. I know that this may sound either impossible or contrary to the common advice of financial advisors, but I see it as the very best insurance that you will continue to have a secure roof over your head in the future. Collapsing financial institutions, mortgage foreclosures or perverse landlords will not threaten your wellbeing. If this means downsizing to a smaller, less-expensive house, then this is a small price to pay for security. You can likely expand later, if necessary.

Live where you don’t have to rely solely on your car. This means being able to either walk, bike or take public transit to shopping and work, enabling you to avoid the escalating cost of fuel and develop a healthier lifestyle. And you will also be doing your share to diminish greenhouse gas emissions. Drive your car when you need it for some occasions, but try to use it much less. This will also save on maintenance costs.

Avoid natural disasters, such as flooding, high winds or fire. This may not always be easy to foresee, but care can be taken to live outside of flood plains, areas exposed to recurrent hurricanes, tornados and fire danger. Simple measures can be done around your home to make it more fire-safe, less prone to flooding and less susceptible to wind damage.

Make your home energy-efficient. Perform an energy audit on your home to find places where you can improve heat losses through poor weather stripping and insulation or lack of caulking. Take advantage of passive solar opportunities to help heat your home. Buy the most energy-efficient models when replacing home appliances. Consider adding solar water-heating panels or solar electric panels, as these will save you money over time and make you less reliant on escalating costs for fuel and electricity.

Create space for a small garden or greenhouse. Supplement your food supply with healthy organic vegetables and fruits from your own backyard, and buy fewer imported foods. The time you save by not having to commute far to work can be devoted to enjoyable gardening activities. And nothing tastes better than fresh produce!

Start a savings account. With all of the money that you will save by the above measures, you can put some of it away for the future. There is no better security than having some money in the bank, assuming that you choose a stable risk-free institution. Saving money has become a lost art in our debt-ridden society, but you can buck this trend.

Having done all of this, you will be in a great position to enjoy the gifts that a good life can offer: health, wealth and happiness!

Kelly Hart is the producer of GreenHomebuilding.com and DreamGreenhomes.com.

Having just finished reading “A Declaration of Energy Independence: How Freedom from Foreign Oil Can Improve National Security, Our Economy and the Environment,” by Jay Hakes, my mind is spinning with all of the issues that he brings up. Hakes was the head of the Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton administration, so he’s a pretty reliable expert on the topic.

In the book, Hakes makes a strong case that not only will weaning the U.S. off foreign oil dependency benefit the country in the long run, but that it is very much possible. Hakes points out that measures enacted by the U.S. government during the 1970’s energy crisis, helped the country cut its reliance on foreign oil by nearly half for a sustained period of time. This was accomplished through a combination of the government’s determination to solve the crisis and the public’s willingness to adopt some simple conservation measures. During 1970’s oil shortage, people actually drove less and at slower speeds; they turned down their thermostats in the winter and up in the summer; they began to install solar water heaters.

Understanding the past to build the future
Of course times have changed, and now we are painfully aware of the costs that we face from not having continued to boldly deal with these issues. The true cost and burden of our reliance on oil —not just foreign oil — will be paid by future generations. There is little doubt that the Iraq War is a battle for control of oil resources, for which we are paying dearly in dollars, blood and tarnished reputation.

Our reality today is one of global climate change, which has been directly impacted by the burning of fossil fuels. These changes are wreaking havoc with rising sea levels, loss of crops, loss of biodiversity and increasing severity of storms. It is important to note that we didn’t get into this environmental mess overnight.

Historically, Homo sapiens have roamed this earth just fine without burning fossil fuel. Even during the great leap into agriculture from hunting and gathering, we relied solely on our labor, with the help of a few beasts of burden. Ecologist, William Catton, wrote that, “Homo sapiens attained a kind of superhumanity by learning to convert the heat energy from fire into mechanical energy by means of various engines.” This discovery has jettisoned humanity into the industrial age, and we have comfortably settled into this new way of life, congratulating ourselves on our modern ways.

Up we go
Now, with the peaking of fossil fuel supplies and increasing world-wide demand, there is only one direction for the price of oil to go— up. With spiraling prices, all aspects of our economy will be affected. The cost of living in this modern world will continue to increase.

But this simple fact may ultimately be our salvation. Economics will force us to find alternative ways of living, and these will inevitably lead us to cleaner, renewable forms of energy. The inexorable laws of economics will eventually force us to address these thorny issues, even when politicians and an unwilling public dig in their heels to avoid change. It will cost too much to do otherwise!

We can choose to cushion the blow of economic and climatic upheaval by making wise decisions now. We can invest in renewable energy now. We can drive cleaner, more fuel efficient cars now. We can walk. We can grow more of our own food. We can make our homes more energy efficient. We can buy only what we really need. All of these things are possible, and we will be much healthier for it!

Kelly Hart is the producer of GreenHomebuilding.com and DreamGreenhomes.com.

After attending numerous home building and design shows this year, it’s safe to say that eco-friendly appliances and green home products are more than just a passing trend. If you’re thinking about sprucing up your bathroom and want to trade in your conventional home furnishings for something a little more earth-friendly, I’d recommend checking out kitchen and bath manufacturer, Native Trails’ fall inventory.

Tatra sink
When it comes to creating an eco-chic bathroom, there’s more to greening than water conservation. California-based, Native Trails’ handmade sinks, tubs and home accents are all crafted from recycled cooper. Their new Tatra sinks are an eco-friendly and striking alternative to porcelain or ceramic sinks. The textured surface and deep glow of cooper add warmth and a unique finish to any bath décor.

Aurora bathtub
Give your bathroom a cozy cottage look with Native Trails’ cooper tub. The Aurora is an oval tub made from 100 percent recycled cooper. Because cooper is highly conductive, it’s great material for a bathtub. When hot water starts filling the tub, the tub’s surface heats up, allowing it be nice and warm when you climb in.

Old World vanity
The Old World Vanity from Native Trails is a unique piece with a past. Built of reclaimed wood salvaged from barns, fencing and other sources, the vanity’s weathered texture and hand-washed finishes create a tranquil, earthy ambiance in your bathroom. Similar to the cooper sinks and tubs in the Native Trails line, the vanity is handcrafted.

Native Trails products are available at top kitchen and bath showrooms in the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.nativetrails.net to view the collection of sinks, tubs, tiles and home accents—all made from recycled materials.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.