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During the Greenovation Evaluation of Dr. Anna Marie’s home, the Greenalysis Team finds virtually zero insulation, an ultra-wasteful toilet, an inefficient oil furnace, a 36 year old water tank, and more wallet busters than you can shake a Benjamin at.

About 58 million homes in the U.S. have no insulation at all.  Yet, it’s one of the easiest ways that you can save energy and lower your monthly bills. The team recommends a new castor oil based spray foam insulation in all of the walls and the attic.

Unbelievably, the original gas water heater from 1973 is still working. Lowering your water heater to 120 degrees can lower your energy use by 5 – 10%. Insulating your tank with an inexpensive tank wrap can help keep the water hot when not in use. Dr. Anna Marie has decided to install a new Rheem solar hot water heater to reduce her carbon footprint even further and ensure a comfortable flow of hot water.

Dr. Anna Marie bought the home with its original oil furnace. After recycling the old tank, she’ll be installing a state-of-the-art geothermal heat pump to heat and cool the home year round for a fraction of the energy of a traditional furnance and a/c. It’s a great choice made even more affordable by the new 30% tax credit from the federal government. The EPA calls geothermal the most efficient home comfort system available.

Anna Marie’s old-old school toilet uses about 5 gallons per flush!! She’s wasting over 8,000 gallons of water per year. She’ll be installng a new high-efficiency toilet with a dual flush sytem – half flush and full flush. The half flush will use only .8 gallons and will be almost impossible to clog. The complete list of recommended improvements for Dr. Anna Marie’s home can be found on her website www.TerraVerdeTV.com and more information can be found on how you can improve your home at www.Greenovation.TV

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One Response to “Greenovation Evaluation – Energy Detectives Part II”

1. Andrea Says:
   July 17th, 2009 at 5:46 am

   Toilets account for approx. 30% of water used indoors. By installing a Dual Flush toilet you can save between 40% and 70% of drinking water being flushed down the toilet, depending how old the toilet is you are going to replace.
   If you are serious about saving water, want a toilet that really works and is affordable, I would highly recommend a Caroma Dual Flush toilet. Caroma toilets offer a patented dual flush technology consisting of a 0.8 Gal flush for liquid waste and a 1.6 Gal flush for solids. On an average of 5 uses a day (4 liquid/ 1 solid) a Caroma Dual Flush toilet uses an average of 0.96 gallons per flush. The new Sydney Smart uses only 1.28 and 0.8 gpf, that is an average of 0.89 gallons per flush. This is the lowest water consumption of any toilet available in the US. Caroma, an Australian company set the standard
   d by giving the world its first successful two button dual flush system in the nineteen eighties and has since perfected the technology. Also, with a full 3.5″ trapway, these toilets virtually never clog. All of Caroma’s toilets are on the list of WaterSense labeled HET’s (High Efficiency toilets) http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/find_het.htm and also qualify for several toilet rebate programs available in the US. Please visit my blog http://pottygirl.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/what-you-should-know-about-toilets/
   to learn more or go to http://www.caromausa.com to learn where you can find Caroma toilets locally. Visit http://www.ecotransitions.com/howto.asp to see how we flush potatoes with 0.8 gallons of water, meant for liquids only. Best regards, Andrea Paulinelli

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