Garden Gnome at Home

A Forgotten Cleaner - Rubbing Alcohol

2009-11-08T16:55:00.000-08:00

When it comes to eco-friendly cleansers the top of the list cited are: baking soda, ammonia, soap, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. However, rubbing alcohol has played a role in cleaning laboratories for years. In labs the alcohol of choice is 95% ethanol but that isn't available to the general public and if it was it would be more expensive than isopropanol or rubbing alcohol. Isopropanyl

New Phone System

2009-11-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

When we were newlyweds there really wasn't a lot of choice in phones other than colours. They were corded units with no extra functions. Over the years as times changes with a busier lifestyle stand alone answering machines became quite popular. These devices used micro-cassettes but they served the purpose. The down side answering machines was of course power outages. Well Bell Canada saw

More Electrical Outlet Sealing

2009-11-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

Electrical outlets can result a considerable source of air leakage and infiltration. A couple of posts ago I discussed sealing and insulating electrical switches on outside walls. This is necessary to eliminate as much air infiltration as possible thus reducing drafts. If you take a good look at the actual metal or plastic box though it is quickly apparent that caulking around electrical box

Cold Busters

2009-10-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

My childhood home was definitely not energy efficient! It was a small 2-story home with dirt floor walk-out basement. The gas hot water tank was in the basement. My Mom kept bushels of apples, potatoes and home canned foods down in the basement aka dungeon. The main level was heated by 2 natural gas space heaters and I can still remember my Mom's excitement when one of the space heaters was

Solving Small Problems

2009-10-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that we are constantly on the outlook for any air leaks year round I tend to go into serious overdrive just after the busiest canning season. This will be our third winter here. I honestly do think it takes a full three years to seal up a house after just moving in. That is because you are still discovering problems that were overlooked or incorrectly repaired by the former

The Ultimate in Winterizing Water Pipes

2009-10-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes winterizing involves closing up a house or cottage for the winter months and this is typically the time for doing that winterizing. When it comes to dealing with winterizing there really are two options available. The first is to leave some type of heat source on or use a pipe heater and hope there is no power failure. This option has the downside of costing money while the house or

Winterizing Electrical Switches

2009-10-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

It is extremely important with the ever increasing cost of home heating to continuously be on guard for any points of air leakage or infiltration. Sealing these cracks and crevices achieves a few goals. First it keeps cold air out and heated air inside. Eliminating the drafts make your home feel more comfortable as well. At the same time sealing these cracks can cut off a port of entry for

Towel Solution

2009-10-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to find eco-friendly solutions for keeping the household running smoothly. When we bought the extra capacity washer and dryer (more here) the main consideration was energy efficiency and low water usage. An unforeseen problem I quickly learned was it took a long time to generate enough whites for a load of laundry. During heavy canning sessions this was a huge problem

Extra Sleeping Arrangements

2009-10-19T14:30:00.001-07:00

I grew up in a rather small house that was often overflowed beyond capacity. So finding sleeping arrangements for overnight guests was always a challenge for my Mom. Usually the kids gave up their rooms and beds for the adults and we had a chesterfield that pulled out to make a bed as well. The kids usually found a sleeping spot on the floor with heavy blankets and quilts. The upper bedroom

Sealing Drafts

2009-10-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Winter is just around the corner so it's time to increase the draft sealing efforts. While draft sealing should be an ongoing project year round, catching any new air leaks as they appear it is the quickly approach heating season that serves as a reminder to get sealing. For those considering adding more insulation, sealing drafts must be your first step. The nice thing about sealing drafts is

It's Coming

2009-09-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

Victorian WinterThere is no doubt after the last couple of days that winter is making an entrance early this year. Heavens I have really used a lot of personal restraint to not put on the fireplace to take the chill out of the house. I'm determined to hold out to get to as close to November 1 as possible before using any heating other than solar. The cooler temperatures at a balmy 18ºC (64ºF)

Solar for Emergency Preparedness

2009-09-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Solar Emergency PreparednessAs summer comes to an end it's time to make sure we are well stocked for the winter months. Not only am I busy making sure the pantry is well stocked with home canned and dried foods, I'm also adding to the freezer stock. However, preparedness is more than just have a 1 - 2 year supply of food on hand. This is also the time of the year to stock up on sundry type

Plumbing Update

2009-09-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

I know many readers have been waiting for the current plumbing problems. If you recall my last post talked about our plumbing problems (more here). The plumber snaked from the house and back the other way hoping to solve the problem. Ideally had this worked we would have noted a great improvement in our drainage problem.IndicationSnaking should have opened the drainage lines but what we

Quick Plumbing Update

2009-08-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

As of tomorrow it will be two weeks that the patio has been dug up with a hole about the size of a grave. The good news is everything appears to be draining fine. The bad news is our plumber is on holidays so we still have the hole. He is supposed to come out the first of the week. So there's where we sit with out plumbing problem. I'll update more as soon as the plumbing is being worked on.

Why Install a Broan® EcoVent?

2009-08-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Broan® EcoVentAugust 16, 2009One question immediately arises with the final installation of our Jenn-Air® down draft system and that is why use a Broan® EcoVent? In the winter of 2006 we installed our Jenn-Ai® slide in range (more on my range here) with down draft system in our previous house then moved it here in June of 2007. At the same time we installed our front loaders in the old house in

Hooking Up the Down Draft

2009-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

We moved here in the spring of 2007. I have a down draft Jenn-Air® slide-in range with down draft system (more here). Hooking up the down draft in our previous house was as simple as attaching the down draft to the floor the going through the outside vinyl sided wall. It took minimal effort and about an hours worth of time. Here it was a different story. The house is earth bermed with the

Plumbing Problems

2009-08-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

We have had on and off plumbing problems since buying this house. We actually are dealing with two drainage systems possibly three, faulty design for both and roots. The first system is the municipal sewage system. The two bathrooms and laundry room drain into the municipal sewage system. Shortly after moving in we discovered a problem with this system which we thought was fixed until another

A Simple Inexpensive Solar Heater

2009-07-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

Heating costs continue to rise and while energy conservation through lowering the thermostat combined with insulating and sealing your home helps keeps those costs down there are other ways to help reduce your heating costs. A logical place to look for a free heat source is the sun. Many of us already take advantage of solar energy during the winter months by opening window coverings on sunny

Scrapbooking - Cooking Layout

2009-06-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Scrapbooking and family history just go hand in hand. Back in 2005 I started experimenting with digital scrapbooking as a way to extend my scrapbooking experience as well as document our life through both pictures and journaling. A contributing factor was not being able to find the right sticker or background mixed with wanting something unique. If you have been following this blog you will

Scrapbooking - Old World Map

2009-06-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Old World MapJune 28, 2009There are so many free graphics and images available online that can be used for digital scrapbooking and web design. At some point especially with digital scrapbooking you will want to make your own unique images. I use Photoshop® CS as my main graphic editing software. There are many online sites dedicated to providing free Photoshop® tutorials. There are also many

Feather and Fan Afghan

2009-06-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

A lovely way to spend a cold, blustery afternoon or evening is to snuggle up in a warm afghan with a good book. Over the years I have made several afghans in both knit and crochet. I posted earlier about a granny square afghan I made to resemble an Amish quilt (more here). As far as preferring knit over crochet or visa versa, I really don't have a preference even though the family favourite

Saving on Dishwasher Rinse Agent

2009-06-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

If you have been following this blog you will know we installed a high efficiency Bosch SHE44C02UC (more here) dishwasher shortly after moving here. You will also know that energy conservation and energy efficiency is a huge concern to us. I vary between using dissolvable dishwasher tabs (not the individual wrapped kind) and am currently in the process of switching over to using phosphate free

Natural Gas Factored Over Entire Heating Season

2009-05-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote about how energy and water conservation pays off (here). Wouldn't you know that this morning the notice that our gas bill was available online so I had to check to see if adding in the periods of April 22 to May 26, 2008 and April 24 to May 25, 2009 would affect the overall natural gas comparison. Including the 2009 month that was not available when I wrote the article, did

Energy and Water Conservation Pays Off!

2009-05-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

Energy conservation is something that is on everyone's minds today. The driving force for many is simply a desire to save money on their utility bills. However, many more including ourselves have a desire to reduce our carbon footprint and put less of a strain on the environment. The primary method I use to determine if we are lowering our water, natural gas and electric consumption is to

The Changing Faces of My Stove

2009-04-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

I do a lot of cooking and canning so it comes as a surprise to some that I don't have professional style gas burner range. There's really a couple of reasons that boiled down to space limitations and wanting something different. In late 2005 we bought a new but almost stripped Jenn-Air JES9860AC downdraft slide-in range that needed several additional parts including grill cartridge, burner