Healthy Homes of Rochester

Even if you don’t use hot water to wash your clothes, your water heater still gets plenty of use but there are a couple of easy ways you can reduce energy consumption here. First, lower the heaters thermostat down to say a 120 degrees or the “vacation” setting.  Then, wherever you have access, insulate the hot water pipes that are going to your faucets inside the house with foam pipe insulation.  The foam pipe insulation is very reasonably priced. The pipe insulation also adds comfort to you when you need hot water in your shower or faucet, it will be available quickly.

Now these things alone can reduce your energy bill as much as 5% or more.  To make your water heater a little more efficient, two or three times a year, drain a bucket full of water from the drain valve at the bottom of the heater. You will be removing all of the sediment and hard water deposits that build up in the bottom of the tank which reduce the water heater’s efficiency and capacity.

just another simple DIY tip on saving energy and money by The Fixie Chick

Since we are all about going green, why not grow your own green? Yes, wheatgrass. I have been growing wheatgrass for about a year and half. It did not hit me until now that I should blog about my personal experience with the benefits of wheatgrass.

We are all collectively trying to go green now to save our planet, save energy and to save money. Well, what about growing your own wheatgrass to save your life? I don’t want to imply that I have proof that it will save a life but let me explain what happened in the past year:

I had been harvesting my own wheatgrass and juicing it almost daily for a few months. Remember, I did all the research on wheatgrass to find that it was wonderful for the body to take in . I learned about all the potential health benefits that it could provide so I decided to grow a small crop of wheatgrass and harvest it every few days then juice the wheatgrass. So, after a few months of doing so, a friend informed me that he had an accelerated form of cancer. The doctors told him he did not have long to live, maybe a year. I suggested for the heck of it to try drinking juiced wheatgrass daily. This friend said he had nothing to loose by doing so and tried it. He then made it his routine to stop by my house every few days for the next 8 months or so. During this time my friend was undergoing some serious radiation at the hospital frequently. He was struggling with it and did not look good.

I swear, after about 8 or 9 months the cancer was gone! I am telling you the truth as I sit here and write this. My friend does not have a bit of cancer at all now. I am not paid to promote anything here, this is just my personal experience. Did it have to do with the wheatgrass? Was it simply a miracle? Or did the radiation treatments cure him within a year? Who knows, but I have my own beliefs on it. I would suggest if you would like to try your own green thumb out and grow some wheatgrass here is a starter kit I would recommend which is very reasonable and has everything to get you started.
I am including a wheatgrass juicer link below to make it convenient for you.
Thank you – DIY Fixie Chick

Here in upstate New York our summers are more humid than some other places such as Arizona or Nevada. Therefore I would not have considered one of these great misters before now. I was under the impression that we needed a dry climate to use one of these misters properly. However on a recent trip to Atlanta, I found that many public places use the misters there too. Atlanta’s climate is very humid also, and these misters work just great. That is why I decided to purchase one of them for my deck. Not to mention it has been very hot here in upstate NY this summer.

The mister was very simple to install, all I had to do is connect it to my garden hose after I strung it up along a pergola above my deck and patio. The instructions state to place 8 to 10 feet off the ground or patio. This is why I chose my pergola to attach the mister too. The kit came with fittings to attach it to any wood structure.  No extra plumbing or anything, just a garden hose. It took me 30 minutes to have installed and ready to mist the air.

 What a great product to aid in cooling off part of my deck and patio! It just sprays a fine mist in the air which dissipates as it falls to the ground. Yes I do get some puddling of water on the deck but I don’t mind when it is 95 degrees out and full sun. Overall, it is a great inexpensive new DIY product for me to tackle and enjoy. In addition, the mist is so fine that the mister uses very little water at all.   Here is the one that I now enjoy.

Another Home Product by the Fixie Chick

Whatever you pour down your drain eventually become someone else’s drinking water. To help keep your drains clear pour a tea kettle of boiling water down the kitchen laundry and bathroom sinks, and tubs or showers. Do not pour boiling water down the toilet or any other fixture that has an integrated trap, such as a bidet or urinal since the sudden change in temperature could damage the porcelain. This is the best preventive maintenance, homeowners can do. If you do this frequently it will keep the buildup in the drains from getting to the point where they get clogged.
Use chemicals in clogged drains as a last resort, after plunging pouring boiling water down the drains and using an auger or plumbers snake. Using harsh drain clearing chemicals as a last resort ensures the least amount of toxins gets into the water systems. Also, a gas is formed by the chemicals in the drain cleaner which are released into the air in your home. After using chemicals flush them completely with water. Never plunge drains after using chemicals since they could splash up in your face.
In most cities water that flows into storm drains does not go through wastewater treatment. So it is important not to let chemicals and contaminants reached the storm drains. For example, don’t drain your pool into or poor auto fluids down the storm drains. These materials have no place in our water. Just some simple ideas to keep us all a little healthier.

Just another green tip from the Fixie Chick

Dimmer switches are a great convenience. They help save electricity and allow you to adjust the atmosphere of a room. Sometimes you just don’t want to be blasted in a pool of light. But many people are intimidated away from installing one where a standard switch already resides. Others have fluorescents and worry the dimmer won’t operate properly. All those problems are easily solved.

Dimmer switches today come in a variety of styles, but two are still the most common: round and slide. They both work essentially the same way. They change the resistance of the circuit, altering the amount of current applied to the bulb.

That fact introduces the first possible problem. If the switch controls a fixture with a fluorescent bulb, ensure it’s the type that can be dimmed. In years past, no fluorescent was capable, but the situation has changed in recent years. Many CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights), often used to replace incandescents today, can be dimmed within 80-20% of their normal output.

Once you’re ready to go, the process is usually simple.

First, TURN OFF THE CIRCUIT BREAKER that controls the electrical supply that includes that switch. Never rely only on using gloves or ‘being careful’ to change a switch, though those are both good habits. Make sure you have the right one. Then make doubly sure by using a volt-amp meter to test that there really is no current at the switch.

It only takes 2/10ths of an amp to kill or do serious harm. Moist or salty hands can easily lower the body’s resistance so that it takes only a few dozen volts to push it through you. Amps measure the amount of current, voltage is a measure of how ‘hard’ that current is pushed through the circuit. Watts = Volts x Amps.

From there on, the task is usually simplicity itself. Just unscrew the screws holding the faceplate on. Remove it and, with gloves on, pull the switch gently out of the hole. It will be attached by thick, difficult to move wires. Avoid yanking anything loose.

Then, unscrew the large wires from the old switch. Sometimes it’s possible to just unscrew a plastic cap holding two thick wires together. More often, the thick copper wire will be attached to the switch by being looped around a screw post. Loosen the screw and slide the loop off the post.

Be sure to keep straight which wire was attached to which post. In many homes, the color coding is non-standard. It may differ from house to house. Though red and green or white and black are common colors for ‘hot’ and ‘ground’ the scheme is not universally respected.

Examine your dimmer switch or the directions it came with. Put the appropriate wires onto the appropriate terminals on the back. Wiring the switch backwards may allow it to still work, but it generates confusion. Down is typically lower, or less current. Ditto counter-clockwise is usually off. Getting them backwards is inconvenient, even when it still works.

Ensure that the wires are well separated, then turn the circuit breaker back on to test the switch. Make sure to keep your hands away from the wires. When the test is successful, turn off the circuit breaker and replace the whole assembly. Make sure no bare piece of wire touches another.

Done!

I have the following dimmer switches in my home and love them! Try one.
Thanks for reading, the Fixie Chick

…Without spending a dime!
1. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth and get a Faucet Aerator.
2. Purchase an inexpensive Toilet Tummy and place it in your toilet tank to displace water.
3. Purchase an inexpensive Shower Timer and use it to cut showers down to 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the water while shaving.
5. Fix toilet and faucet leaks immediately.-to check if your toilet is leaking drop food coloring into the tank if it shows in the bowl w/o flushing-you have a leak
6. Don’t use your toilet as a trash can.
7. Collect “warm-up” water to irrigate your lawn and flowerbeds.
8. Conserve energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that .47 gallons of water are lost for every kilowatt-hour of power generated by coal power plants.