|
|
||
|
My new blog, Tracy DeCarlo's Home Building Lessons is live! For more practical ideas for building your home, click the above link.
Building or Remodeling? Do yourself a favor and increase your knowledge of the construction process and your options. Being informed can have a direct positive effect on the bottom line, the conveniences inside your home, and the future cost of running the home.
The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner's Planning Guide to Building a Functional Home not only provides hundreds of tips like these, it also provides lives links to suppliers and organizations. This photograph-filled e-Guide shows you how to adjust the building sequence to your financial advantage while helping you create a healthy, energy-efficient home that works for your family - inside and out, from the foundation to the rooftop. “With dozens of “how to build
your new home” books available, what could be left out? Plenty, as author DeCarlo shows in her
practical approach to topics often left out, forgotten, or given scant attention. Readers will thank her
for raising subjects to consider in the earliest stages of planning a new home.”
|
||
Good and Bad LEDs LEDs (also referred to as Solid State Lighting or SSL) are shaking the foundation of the lighting industry as we know it. Now that a few companies have developed techniques to produce quality Solid State Lighting without the drawbacks inherent in earlier offerings, this revolutionary technology is turning up everywhere. The Bad News: The Good News: In order to offer some assurance to consumers, Energy Star® began rating five different categories of LED fixtures in mid-2009. So far ceiling-mounted downlights (can lights), under-cabinet lighting, and wall-mounted porch lights have been rated. However, Energy Star® is just waiting for manufactures to submit compliant products in the other categories. The rating program requires certified fixtures to meet criteria such as:
Certified products also must offer a three-year warranty. Energy Star® will begin rating LED bulbs next month (August 2010). Test procedures will ensure only bulbs complying with their high quality requirements will receive the Energy Star® label. Lighting makers are rushing to get the first “mainstream” LED light bulb to the market. Lemnis Lighting is one of the first with its Pharox 500, a 7 watt, 500 lumin bulb. Phillips recently announced that their EnduraLED lamp (12 watts) should be available late 2010. Osram Sylvania is expected to release their Ultra LED bulbs in August 2010. The bulbs contain no mercury and are designed to produce high-quality light, but the cost is expected to be around $40.00 per bulb. Let’s hope that price comes down very quickly as more manufacturers enter this market. The Benefits: Well-designed LED lighting benefits not only our comfort, convenience, and pocketbook; it's also a boon to the environment.
A Superior LED Can Light: Keep an eye on the LED selections from Cree LED Lighting Solutions, Inc. Cree is the leader in this industry, and they've come up with a unique way to produce bright, warm, dimmable LED lights that maintain their brightness and integrity for 50 years. These remarkable, Energy Star® rated can lights use 85 percent less energy than their incandescent counterparts and less than half the energy of comparable fluorescents. Those of you who are remodeling will appreciate that these lights fit into a regular, existing six-inch can light housing.
Another benefit of Cree LED can lights is their appearance, as shown in the picture on the left. Sure is an improvement over the traditional can on the right, isn’t it? Cree offers an Energy Savings Calculator to help you determine how much you can save by installing their LED can lights. Even though these lights are much more expensive than conventional models, you might be surprised by the results of this exercise. After reviewing the results shown by the calculator, one builder told me he intends to use these LED cans as a standard in his custom homes. For more information on Cree's new technology, its emerging LED product line, and the Energy Savings Calculator, visit www.CreeLighting.com For a list of Energy Star qualified LED lighting fixtures, visit www.EnergyStar.gov IS THERE A SUBJECT YOU'D LIKE ME TO COVER? Let me know by sending an email to tracy@tracystips.net. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? All past issues of this ezine are in the Ezine Archives on our web site. Click here for Ezine Archives ! WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Tracy DeCarlo, author of "The Difference is in the Details" publishes the idea-packed, monthly e-zine "Tracy's Home Building Tips." If you're ready to learn how to plan a more durable, energy-efficient, and easy-to-live-in home, get your FR*EE tips now at www.DetailedSolutions.net.
By working with homeowners to focus on their daily habits and preferences, she helps them create living spaces that support and compliment their lifestyles, while at the same time teaching techniques to manage the bottom line.
I’d love to hear from you:
Tracy DeCarlo, Detailed Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 161644 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, United States Phone 407-814-2328 |
||
|
Want to take yourself off our list or change your e-mail address? See below. |
||
|
Copyright ©2010 Tracy DeCarlo Detailed Solutions, Inc. |
|
Twitter
Home Building Lessons Blog
Facebook
Today's market still contains many inferior LED fixtures and bulbs. Substandard LED products can flicker, shift in color, look dim, offer
uneven light, or continue to use power when turned off, among other problems. The photo on the right, from the Energy Star
Tracy
DeCarlo owner of Detailed Solutions, Inc. and One Stop Green Home Certification, has more than fourteen years'
experience in the residential construction industry. As a Home Building Function Analyst,
Certified Green Professional, Green Certifying Agent,
and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, Tracy addresses the functional aspects of home
construction, design, and usage, including items such as energy efficiency, disaster mitigation, air quality,
aging in place, green building, plumbing, electrical, lighting, and storage. 
