Newsletter June 2009

How To Be More Energy Efficient - Written In Plain English.

This month (June 2009):

• This month I picked the brains of my electrician who is not just your average sparky as he also specialises in alternative energy and how to be more energy efficient at a realistic price. Because once I got him talking I couldn’t shut him up the article became quite large. I’ve therefore broken it in 6 parts and will drip feed it to you over the next few months..
• What causes those dead patches in your lawn?
• Did you see the TV documentary ‘Sex After Marriage’? Well I found this article headed’ Couples too busy to talk any more’ that you might find and interesting read.

A few tips on how to be more energy efficient

Part 1

Here are some comments and suggestions by Greg Hoskins. Greg is a specialist in energy usage and alternative energy including solar, micro hydro and wind.

I’ve asked Greg to discuss his thoughts and views with us because being more energy efficient is on all of our minds. But because it’s quite a large subject I’m going to spread it over 2 issues of the Moss Brothers newsletter.

I think it’s fair to say that we are all becoming increasingly aware of just how important, more than ever, taking care of our fragile environment is. If not for ourselves, for our future generations. And that, coupled with the ever increasing cost of energy to run our mode of transport, our heating, our cooling, and our manufacturing, what are our options?

Building costs are rising rapidly and a huge part of this increase is due to ever increasing energy costs. Even though we all want to do our part to ‘save the planet’ our budgets are usually quite finite so it becomes a juggling act between what we want and what we can afford. A large part in some of these decisions is the capital cost to supply and install many of the latest energy saving applications. This can be quite high and must be weighed up against the length of time of pay-back before they become a financial benefit to us.

There are hundreds of options available but so as not to overwhelm you here are the top few applications we’d suggest you consider and talk with your architect or designer about. Many of these listed items you might say, “I already knew about that” but what I am going to try and do here is offer a brief explanation to each.

First of all what are the main energy users? Here they are in order:

• Space heating ( and sometimes cooling)
• Water heating
• Lighting
• Refrigeration (fridges and freezers)
• Cooking
• Entertainment / office. 

Remember, these suggestions and comments apply to both a new build and a retro-fit into an existing building.

ONE – Space heating

Rural – solid fuel wood fires. If you have access to fire wood, and have a wood fire, the wood fire is by far the most cost and energy effective. “What about the smoke emissions” I hear you ask? The answer is really quite simple; if you want to get the maximum heat and least smoke emission out of your firewood it must be burnt dry. This will mean being a bit more organised by arranging or chopping your wood in late spring, and then stacking it somewhere out of the weather in summer so it’s ready for use by May.

You may have heard that there are now laws and by-laws that dictate that a wood burner must meet a specific smoke emission standard to determine if it can be used in either rural areas or built-up and urban areas, with property size being another contributing factor. It’s all because the law makers somehow believe that it’s the wood burner itself that is responsible for the amount of smoke emission, but this argument is largely garbage. The real problem is that it’s impossible to legislate to make people use dry firewood. 

Urban – The heat pump, also known as an air-conditioning unit, is the best option. Although the set up cost can be quite high the running costs compared with alternatives, is very low. To give an example, a new heat pump only costs a 1/4 to a 1/3 (that’s a 60 to 75% saving) of a gas or standard electric appliance to run, and that’s a massive difference.

To sum up: The heat pump is the second best option for rural also, especially for those that just want to flick a switch. But to maximise the energy you are paying for and the heat you have generated and produced, space heating should be combined with wall and ceiling insulation, double glazing, and a means to circulate or distribute the heat throughout the house AND more importantly from floor to ceiling. I have to say it but the humble ceiling fan (actually these days there are some very attractive models available) is the MOST EFFECTIVE (if not only) way to use all of the heat generated within a room or living space – and just for a few cents  (approx 23 cents / 24 hours of running) of electricity per day.

Also, ask your architect or designer to put some thought into how to best position rooms and the house to maximise the sun and solar energy – after all, the energy from the sun is free.

Greg Hoskins of Hoskins Energy really knows and understands his stuff on this subject. At present he is writing a book for the BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand) as one of the LEVEL sustainable series on sustainable domestic electrical systems. Another specialist area for Greg is alternative energy including solar, micro hydro and wind. If you wish to speak to him directly about any point he raises here he can be contacted (sometimes) on 0274-475-117 or after hours on 06-379-7904

What causes those annoying dead patched on your lawn?

I don’t know about you but we love to have a nice looking lawn as it’s an essential part of the landscaping. Our lawn has always been a beautiful soft green carpet around our house and when dead patches started to appear and became worse, and the grass wouldn’t grow back (it needed re-sowing), I was not very impressed.  

Well, the cause is understandable and the remedy is simple.

We have quite a large lawn so we get a contractor to mow it and he said, “Would you like to know what is causing those dead patches”? And the reason is...It was our dogs that were running around and having a play on the lawn after being released from their kennel on a frosty morning.

You see, if you walk on a lawn (or dogs run and play on it in our case) when there is a frost this will actually kill the grass and no surprise, dead spots will appear.

Another thing that man’s best friend does that kills grass or causes dead patches in lawns, and that is; pee on it, in particular bitch pee. If anyone has a suggestion on how to stop that I’d be interested to know.

Couples too busy to talk any more

According to a study published in the UK a while ago one in five couples goes through the week barely talking to one another.
The At Home Society, which has been created by Diageo Great Britain, the drinks giant, commissioned the study among 1,074 working and cohabiting adults which showed that one in five was so busy with work commitments that men and women would often go through a week without spending any weekday quality time together. And that's despite talk of work-life balance.
Nearly a third work "9 to 8" rather than "9 to 5" and, when they do get home, half spend at least two hours of the evening in separate rooms because they are putting the children to bed or talking on the telephone.

In the first hour at home, they are more likely to be separated from each other doing household chores, talking on the telephone, sorting out the children or using the internet.

The report suggests seven ways to "recover the evening" together:

• Always change out of work clothes once at home. This marks the end of the working day.
• Develop a post-work routine. Create something with your partner that you can look forward to during the day. This can be viewed as a reward for coping with the day's stresses.
• Ignore the dust. Successful and satisfying relationships can only happen when there is time to nurture them.
• Accept compromise. If young children prevent the early evening relaxation hour, push this back to after they have gone to bed. Think quality rather than quantity.
• Avoid work "polluting" home time in the evening. Try not to bring work home and let off work-related steam early in the evening rather than later.
• Consider priorities. Happy people put quality time at the top of their list of priorities.
• Learn how to resolve conflict. People who deal with disagreements by withdrawing, ignoring their partner's feelings and escalating the intensity of the argument head towards failed relationships. Use the evening at home to set aside time to talk when you will not be interrupted.

Next month I’ll include part 2 from Greg – Water Heating. And I’ve just started to speak with Doreena Edwards. Doreena is one clever lady when it comes external colour coordination and interior colour and design. What she has done in the Waikanae show-home is blowing people away.

Oh, and by the way, if you have any questions you’d like me to answer and maybe even include in my e-zine just drop me an email or call on 0800-266-772 or one of the other numbers below for a chat.

Kind Regards

Julian Moss
For Moss Brothers Ltd.
Franchisor
Call us free - 0800-MOSS-BROS (66-77-27)
Visit our website: www.moss-brothers.co.nz

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