Down there on the list of “recommended guides” you’ll find “Build Your Own Solar Panels” listed as an option.  I’ve had some questions about this item, recently, so I wanted to address what it was, how much it costs, why I recommend it, and so on.

Earth4Energy is a video tutorial series and guide that teaches you how to reduce your dependence on the energy company by creating your own energy generator.  Earth4Energy does this by showing you how to build your own solar panels and wind turbines.

I’ve been promoting Earth4Energy for a few years with no returns from buyers and lots of positive feedback.  The kit shows you how to build a solar panel to help power your home for under $200 and I know it can be done for as low as $150 — a lot of it depends on what you pay for the solar cells, which you can get on eBay to save some money.

As an avid do-it-yourselfer, I thought the Earth4Energy projects were fun (and they are) and they can save you a fair amount of money on your energy bill.  In the process, you learn a lot of solid construction techniques, too.  The kit sells for $49.97, so if you can get a deal on your solar cells, you’re still under $200 for a solar panel!

I’m including a video from Earth4Energy.  I added my own intro and outro to the video, along with a few notes, but the video is theirs.  I thought it gave you some good information about what the kit will show you, even if it gets a little “sales pitchy” in parts.

Another option you may consider as a do-it-yourself type person, you could easily build these solar panels or wind turbines using the instructions in this kit and turn around and sell them for a profit!  It’s one thing to build one yourself because you have fun with these types of projects, but some people just prefer to have it done for them.  Why not provide that service to them and make some money, yourself?  That’s part of what I love about DIY — I get to do something I love to do, anyway and I get to make a living doing it to help others.

There are a few of these types of kits available — all for about the same price, but Earth4Energy has the most professional, easy-to-follow kit I’ve seen for the money.  It’s also the bestselling one, available.  If you’re interested in helping out the environment by reducing your energy footprint, saving some money on your energy bill, or just a fun DIY project; you may want to give this kit a try.  Frankly, I just wanted to get it and see if I could build it.

If you want to learn how to save more money on your energy bill for free, sign up for our email newsletter.  You’ll receive our free guide with tips to saving energy in your home.  My gift to you just for signing up for the free newsletter.

Recently, a reader had a question about their home air filter:

Good day. I’ve been using the Dupont Filtrete filters for about five years and since we run a landscaping business and track alot of dirt in with us at the end of the day, I change out our filters about every three weeks. Within the past couple of years though, I’ve noticed that the metal mesh within the filter makes a flexing noise similar to water dropping for the first couple seconds after the condenser shuts off. It doesn’t make the noise when first installed and also when the a/c is not run for long periods of time, like during the middle of the day. Definitely nothing is leaking and even a Trane representative verified that the noise is made by the filter. Could you recommend a good filter that either doesn’t have the metal mesh or one that is sufficient in thickness that it doesn’t flex enough to allow this noise to occur? Thank you for your time and help.

I’ve chosen to answer the question in a post, as this may require a bit more explanation than a comment can handle.

To answer the question, both Natural Aire and Accumulair make filters that do not have a metal webbing to stiffen the filter.  Pop one of these in and maybe your problem is fixed.  Maybe.

Now, for the more complicated part.  This air filter should not be “sucked up” into the AC unit, as described by this commenter.  Additionally, a filter without the metal mesh will only be more flimsy and may even be sucked up into the coils of the unit.

So, what’s the solution?

Well, I’ve had a similar issue with an AC unit that would crumple the air filter.  I later determined that the unit used a custom-sized air filter that you could only get from the AC manufacturer.  It had strange dimensions that made store-bought filters not fit, properly.  This could be the issue, here.

It could also be an issue with a necessary pre-filter, post-filter, humidifier, or other component that needs to be in place.  I would think the Trane representative would have mentioned this in the visit, but they miss stuff, too.

Regardless, the AC unit should not be sucking-up or otherwise deforming the filter.  I would call out your local HVAC professional to take a look at the unit and filter to determine the proper solution for that unit, after confirming that you have the right size air filter.  Every unit is different and even HVAC companies specialize or represent specific brands, so make sure it’s a Trane endorsed contractor.

In 2014, the only lightbulb choice we’ll have is those little, coiled compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) that everyone’s selling, now.  I posted a video, last week, that detailed the clean-up procedure for these CFLs.  In honor of Earth Day, I thought I’d post about the hazards, energy implications, and truth about these CFL bulbs.

Not only do these bulbs contain mercury, they require lighting fixtures rated for CFLs, go through an expensive recycling process (on the few occasions that people actually recycle them), and when they’re not recycled, you’re wrapping them in two plastic bags to prevent mercury leakage into our soil.  Let’s break down each of these items.

CFL Mercury Content

Every single CFL contains a very small amount of mercury, one of the most powerful neurotoxins known to man, amounting to about 4-5 milligrams.  Let me start by saying that this is a very small amount, especially if it’s released outdoors.  However, releasing this amount of mercury in your home or even a small room in your home can pose serious health risks to children, elderly, pets, and those sensitive to mercury.  You can see in the clean-up procedure recommended by the EPA that you must take extreme measures to clean up a CFL break in your home.  Note the clothing and bedding section where it’s recommended that you throw away any clothing or bedding that comes into contact with the broken CFL!

You will also find on the “Energy Star” site, linked above, a pretty little chart showing that the mercury in a single CFL is overcome by the energy produced to power a standard incandescent bulb versus the energy produced to power a CFL.  It looks rather convincing, but I’ll show you in a bit why it loses a lot of validity when examined further.  Also, these “mercury” levels emitted by energy producers cited by the EPA don’t take into account that the mercury from power plants goes through “scrubbers,” is monitored by the EPA, and is emitted into the air, not my bedroom.  I’d also like to know how they arrived at a mercury impact of only 0.6 milligrams for landfilling a CFL when each bulb contains between 4 and 5 milligrams?

Longer Life Span

As noted in the graph above, the longer life of a CFL bulb accounts for the “less mercury being emitted into the air” claim.

“CFLs last SO much longer than those old incandescent bulbs!”  That’s how they sell these bulbs, right?  ”They’ll last for years!”

Not so fast.  Let’s start with the time that you have a CFL on.  Compact fluorescent bulbs are designed to be on for extended periods of time to meet their rated life — I’m talking 4 hours, continuously.  If you only leave one on for an hour, the rated life drops by 20% and as much as 50%.  If you cycle it on and off like most of us do in our homes, you’ve reduced the rated life by 70% – 85%! So, for the example the EPA uses in the graph above, an 8,000 hour CFL would now only last 1,200 hours.  You’re now down in the range of many incandescent bulbs rated life.

We’re not done, though.  CFLs function optimally in light fixtures designed for compact fluorescent bulbs.  Not only will installing a CFL in a non-CFL rated fixture reduce the service life of the CFL (now we’d be getting down below the service life of those nasty, old incandescent bulbs), but the CFL bulb may not fit or produce the same lighting for the area.  Additionally, most CFLs do not work in a dimmer fixture, unless the CFL is rated for dimmers and the fixture is designed for a dimmer CFL.  How “environmental” will it be for homeowners to tear out and install new light fixtures?

It’s sounding more and more like these are not the grand solution everyone’s expecting and in 2014, you’ll have no other choice.  Let’s continue looking at these “green” Earth savers.

Recycling CFLs

To start this section, let’s look at how many people actually recycle CFLs.  In 2007, approximately 400 million CFLs were purchased with less than 2% being recycled means we put 320 million into our landfills.  How many of those do you think were put into two plastic bags to prevent mercury from leeching into the earth’s soil?

I had a great deal of difficulty finding any information on what exactly the process is for recycling a compact fluorescent bulb.  You can find it, you just have to search Google a bit (something I recommend for you to do with any information you’re provided online, including this post).  No one seems to account for the massive amount of energy, the machinery needed to recycle a CFL, the extra trucking for transporting the CFL to the recycling facility, the cost of packaging required for CFL recycling, and so on.  All these costs in both energy and money need to be considered, if we’re going to make a fair comparison between CFLs and incandescent bulbs.  Let’s break this down a bit.

To recycle a CFL bulb, you must first package it in an appropriate container to prevent breaking.  Most recycling facilities will not accept broken CFLs — probably because their job is done, the mercury has already been released into your home.  Now it’s just a bunch of glass.  As for the packaging, the EPA recommends re-using the box the CFL bulbs came in or using the one from the replacement bulbs.  You can also purchase boxes from your local home supply store to safely hold and transport your CFL bulbs to your local recycling location.  I’m sure those boxes aren’t using trees for the cardboard, right?

Once you’ve dropped your CFL bulb, unbroken, in a cardboard box, off at your local Home Depot or IKEA (two of many retail locations that accept CFL bulbs for recycling), they must now be transported in a recycling truck (a different one than picks up your home trash, home debris, or home recyclables) to the nearest CFL/mercury recycling facility.  I’m sure that giant trash/recycling truck runs on biodiesel or propane, right?

Whew!  We’re almost there.  By the way, your old incandescent bulb went out with your trash on the same truck that picks up everything else and has been safely deposited in your local landfill for over a week,now.

As for your CFL, it’s on it’s way to the recycling center where it will be mechanically broken, have the mercury extracted, be tested to ensure that all mercury was extracted from the bulb, re-extract mercury if necessary, assuming the mercury can be recycled on-site it will be recycled for use in new CFLs, otherwise it will have to be shipped to a mercury recycling facility.  Once recycled, you must ship the mercury (remember, a powerful neurotoxin) off to a CFL manufacturer (almost every one of them is made in China — just a short boat trip that doesn’t use any fuel, I’m sure), and finally deposit the remaining glass into the landfill.  Oh yeah, now that truck that picked up your incandescent bulb has to come to the mercury recycling facility to pick up the left over glass do put in the landfill with your other incandescent bulbs.

I think you can see now that CFLs may not be the “green” solution we’re hoping for with regard to our indoor lighting.  However, with little or no forethought or research, the US Congress has deemed these CFLs to be the lighting you need in your home.  In 2014, incandescent bulbs will no longer be available for purchase.

I would love to have your input on this topic.  What’s the solution?  Can we stop the incandescent ban in 2014?  Are there alternatives to the CFLs that will be available in 2014?

Please note: I specifically did not “blame” any political party or group.  This is not a political blog.  If you want to comment on some of the items discussed in the post or refute the technical aspects of CFLs presented in the post, I welcome that.  Political back-biting and mudslinging comments will be deleted.

While I poke a little fun at the procedure in our video, I followed the EPAs instructions for cleaning up a compact fluorescent lightbulb (cfl) break on a hard surface.  DISCLAIMER: I used an incandescent bulb in the video, because I frankly did not want to break a CFL inside a home, if I could avoid it.  This has no effect on the procedure and we still followed the EPA instructions for cleaning up a CFL, not an incandescent bulb.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs  contain a small amount of mercury; a deadly neurotoxin.  Even though the amount of mercury in a CFL is very small (4-5 milligrams), you still need to take precautions and follow this procedure for clean up and disposal of compact fluorescent bulbs in your home.

Here’s the full clean-up procedure from the EPA (Italicized text are my own comments):

How should I clean up a broken fluorescent bulb? Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:

1. Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room

• Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
• Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more. (Some groups recommend as much as an hour)
• Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

• Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass pieces and powder.
• Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
• Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:

• Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
• Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:

• If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away.
• Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
• You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
• If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes.  Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.

5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials

• Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
• Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
• Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area.  Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming

• The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
• Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

I’d love to have your feedback on compact fluorescent bulbs, their dangers, and their benefits.  Please, leave me a comment, below.

Most swimming pool pumps include a timer to regulate when the pump comes on and turns off, throughout the day.  This is also a common point of failure in home swimming pool systems.

Many homeowners with pools call the company that services their pool to replace the pump timer.  This can cost the homeowner a lot of money on a project that’s perfect for the DIY person in your family.  It’s easy, it saves you a ton of money, and looks really complicated, so you can show it off to all your friends when you’re having your next pool party bar-b-que!

You can pick up a replacement pool pump timer in the electrical section of your local hardware store.  They’re just generic outdoor timers and come in various sizes and features.  For this project, I just replaced the timer that the homeowner currently had installed.  It cost $69.95 and the only other item you might need is new anchors for the timer/switch box.  I just reused the existing anchors, thereby eliminating that cost.

To start this project, as with all projects that involve electricity, you need to turn off the electricity to the item your working on.  We always recommend that you just shut off the main power switch at your breaker panel.  It’s better to be without power for a little bit and know you won’t get shocked than to take the chance that you shut off the right breaker.

Fortunately, with pools, you often have a sub-panel with breakers that just control the pool equipment.  This is a convenient alternative that works, perfectly.

Once the power’s shut off, you can begin dismantling the old timer switch.  Before you do begin, though, take a digital picture of the timer to make sure that you install the new timer exactly the same way as the old one.

Set the camera aside until later and start the dismantling by disconnecting the wiring.  This just requires a screwdriver to loosen the screws holding the wires in place.  Then, back out the screws that anchor the box in place to remove the box from the wall or mounting surface.

Next, begin to take apart the grey conduits at the base of the timer box.

Just using your hand, take these “pass-through” nuts and bolts and install them in the base of your new timer switch box.  You will likely need to “knock out” the holes in the new box for your wires to come through.  There should be pre-cut holes all the way around your timer box that just require a quick tap with a screwdriver and hammer to get the circular tab out of the hole.

With the pass-through nuts and bolts installed, you can now pull the wiring through and mount the new box to the wall (likely using whatever fasteners were used for the old box).

Now, pick up that digital camera and take a look at the wiring pattern.  Copy this picture as you install the wiring on the new switch.  Once completed, turn the breaker(s) back on.  You now have a new pump timer switch installed!