I love to light a fire in my fireplace on chilly Winter nights — it's a great way to keep cozy. Or is it? Did you know that fireplaces are actually notorious for wasting energy? Much of the heat they produce goes up the chimney. When they're not in use, they also often allow cold drafts to sneak into your home through the chimney and suck warm air out of your living space as well. Don't Read more

If you have a guest bedroom or storage space that you rarely use, keep that room off your Winter heating radar. Do so by closing the heating vents in the room, and closing the door. Use a draft blocker on the door to prevent the room's cold air from seeping into other rooms of your house. Another good idea? Close closet doors in any room this Winter, since there's no need to heat closet space! Read more

If you live in the northern hemisphere and haven't yet switched the direction of your ceiling fan's blades, now's the time to do so. You want to make sure that the blades' direction is switched from moving in a counterclockwise direction to a clockwise direction. To do so, just flip the switch at the base so that the blades rotate clockwise (that's when you're looking up at it from below). By Read more

If you have a guest bedroom or storage space that you rarely use, keep that room off your Winter heating radar. Do so by closing the heating vents in the room, and closing the door. Use a draft blocker on the door to prevent the room's cold air from seeping into other rooms of your house. Another good idea? Close closet doors in any room this Winter, since there's no need to heat closet space! Read more

If you live in an old house, chances are that you might have some drafts coming in through window and door frames. To find out for sure, light a candle, and hold it along the frames (just don't get too close to any curtains). If the candle flame flickers or smokes, there's a leak. To fix, use caulking or weather stripping in that area. Have you tried this technique before to locate leaks? Read more

I love to see America's universities taking a lead in environmental awareness and sustainability, so I was thrilled to hear about the University of Iowa's biomass project. For the past few years, the university has worked with a local Quaker Oats plant to replace the burning of coal with the burning of oat hulls, which are a waste product from the Quaker Oats factory. About 60 tons of discarded Read more